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Rad Teens Rule the Fest

By San-D

The thing that struck me most about this year's festival was the kids. I'd scan the gym floor looking for the good tricks, and nine times out of ten, under the patterns of balls, clubs or circles I found a kid. I thought it would be neat to see where they came from and how they see the future of the sport.

"I think it (juggling) should be an Olympic sport. Volleyclub should be an Olympic sport. I won the championships last year."- Sasha Nally (13), Hawaii.

Sasha has been juggling for less than two years. His inspiration was Graham Ellis, and his best trick is a reverse cascade with five balls. He hopes to someday do a five ball Mill's Mess. (He will!) His favorite place to juggle is at the Hawaiian Vaudeville Festival.

"I think it should just get a lot more popular (and then with a smile he says) and that way equipment would be cheaper." - Paris Goudie (14), New York City.

Paris has been juggling for almost three years. He learned when members of the Big Apple Circus taught at the performance arts juggling school where Paris majored in circus arts. He also likes to watch Kris Kremo. His best trick is four club double-singles with back crosses and club exchanges, and his favorite place to juggle is the Carmine Street Juggling Club.

"Just not get too into it. Stay cool, so it's fun. When it starts to become not fun you should chill with it. Take a break." - Jeff Civillico (1 4), Drexel Hill, Penn.

Jeff has been juggling for about four years, and his inspiration is Kris Kremo. He does a lot of neat three club tricks and and would really like to be able to do seven balls. He'd also like to win an IJA medal, and I'm sure he will. His favorite place to juggle is outside on his deck.

"I think that... let's see... all kids should have the chance to learn the skill and experience juggling." - Dorothy Finnegan (13), world traveler.

Dorothy has been juggling for four years and her inspiration is Cindy Marvel. She is currently learning the six ball synch cascade and aspires to do continuous backcrosses with five clubs. Her favorite place to juggle is at the IJA fest because there are so many other jugglers.

"More popular." (Marty) "Oh yeah, I hope it gets a lot popular. Yeah, the Olympics, in the Olympics." (Jake) - Jake and Marty LaSalle (13), Kenneth Square, Penn.

Marty has been juggling for a year and Jake has been juggling for an additional two months. Both were inspired by Neil Stammer and also like Ignatov. Both pass nine clubs and want to pass 12 in the future. Marty likes to juggle in a gym. Jake likes to juggle at the Philadelphia Jugglers Club meetings... and on second thought Marty likes that, too (can you tell they're twins!).

Our final interviewee was just living for the moment. I guess there's not much time to think about the future when you're cranking on a seven ball cascade. Christian Scholz (13), Sweden.

Christian has been juggling for three years. His friend Rick inspired him. His favorite trick is his three club-ball bouncing combination. He hope to do a nine ball flash someday. He may not do that, but I bet he cascades them! His favorite place to juggle - "Right here at the IJA Fest!"

Juggler Body Art Proliferates in Pittsburgh

by Roni Lynn

I was interested in noting that several festival participants came to Pittsburgh sporting a particularly visible sign of their interest in the art - tattoos! Monica Buck from Sacramento, Calif., described hers to me as a juggling girl on top of the world. Don Scott, an engineer in a Massachusetts paper mill, chose a promo shot of the famous Bobby May. Steve Brown from Florida has covered both forearms with large letters spelling out his passions - "juggler" and "yoyoman." He also has the three ball and five ball infinity cascades tattooed on one inner arm and a very colorful top and yo-yo on the other.

Larry Rettig, also known as "Flippo the Clown," showed me an entire circus scene tattooed around his lower leg. Famous tattoo artist Mark Herlehy engraved Rettig in the scene in his Flippo persona, along with tigers, a unicycle, seals balancing balls, jugglers and acrobats.

Bill Ritchie wears a juggling serpent twining around his nipple. Danielle Bushar has a juggling Pooh bear riding a unicycle, and Adam Smith from Tucson, Ariz., sports a Cat in the Hat juggler. Nat Williams wears a joker juggler taken from a Renegade t-shirt, and surrounds his entire right shoulder with the juggler's props. Mark Kolbusz, just 19years-old, has a juggling jester riding a bed of waves and juggling five balls.

Laura Green wears on her ankle a beautifully scripted juggler, and another woman with juggling clubs. Deena Frooman has a small, dainty tattoo of three clubs and five balls encased in a swirly design on top of her right foot.

Dave Finnigan tried to get into the act with a "wannabe" tattoo of his JuggleBug company logo on his upper arm. And I had our resident artist draw a juggler on a motorcycle on my upper arm. Here's hoping other jugglers will send me photos of their tattoos to add to the gallery. Contact biker juggler Roni Lynn, Hollywood FL.