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Miguel
Herrera, a Cuban juggler seeking political freedom found
success in his
first big performance as a refugee, winning the IJA Individual
Championship with a Silver Medal performance. The evening
became
a true international showcase as a Soviet emigre Dimitri
Mourkes, and American Daniel Holzman were also awarded Silver
under the Kapell judging system.
Bronze
medals were awarded to Americans Larry Vaksman and Bob
Whitcomb, as well as Montrealer France Robert.
Herrera
found out about the IJA festival while living in Montreal
after refusing to return to Cuba upon completion of a
threemonth contract earlier this year with Cirque de Soleil.
The opportunity to hoist the IJA Championship Trophy in
victory seemed to ease the pain of having to leave his wife,
daughter, mother and father behind in Cuba. "For the
first time in my life I am working
free and on my own, without manipulation, and it's
great!" he said.
Herrera, a 23-year-old who has performed on several
continents, won the IJA prize with a flawless display of
bounce ball juggling.
Dressed
in a glittery stage costume, he made five balls dance off the
floor all around his body, and built up to a solid seven-ball
bounce routine. The act, he said, was essentially the same he
performed with Cirque de
Soleil. However in that tour he gave the act more dimension
through use of a set of stairs leading to a table-top. He
climbed up the stairs bouncing balls, did part of the act on
it, and descended the stairs with a five ball bounce for his
finale.
Herrera
came by his art naturally. His father, Argelio Herrera, has
juggled professionally for 25 years. Argelio began Miguel's
training when the youngster turned six, and by age 13 Miguel
had decided to follow his father's artistic footsteps. He
studied at the Cuban circus school from 1983-87, and has since
then has performed in Nicaragua, the Soviet Union, at cabarets
in Cuba and at this year's Verona circus festival, where he
was seen by officials from Cirque de Soleil and invited
to come to Canada.
Herrera
said he was dissatisfied with the compulsory management of his
career in Cuba and abroad by government agencies. "I
never saw the contracts that Artex (the agency
for international work) signed, but I know they got 80% of the
price. It's all a total manipulation of the artist in Cuba.
People who don't know anything about circus or performance
tell you what to do. I left to be free."
Conditions
in Cuba are so poor for artists, Herrera said, that rubber
juggling balls cannot be found. An American juggler left some
balls to his father in the early years of the Cuban
Revolution, and Miguel only got his own set in 1985 when a
relative sent them to him from Miami. He has used silicone
balls in his act since he was able to buy them while working
in Canada.
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