A cold day in April

A cold day kept us indorrs this week and 20 folks of all ages came out.  We are getting ready for the Children’s Festival on Bowen next weekend, and the Juggling Club will be out in full force teaching any and all how to play with gravity.

Today also saw the retun of Calder Stewart, broken jaw and all from a taekwondo tournament.  The gym was busy with Sheryl working on her club tosses, Calder working with four balls and four clubs (not at the same time).  Chris and Caitlin worked some six ball passing, a new trick for Caitlin, and Chris was working his three ball chop tricks with some inspiration from Calder.  Davin and Mike did some diablo work and a number of kids were swinging poi.

No one new to teach this week, although last week Chris Corrigan taught another Chris the three ball cascade from scratch in 3 minutes.  This beat the previous record which was Paul Stewart teaching Elsie the three ball cascade in 6 minutes (although there was a bit of a lull for talking) four weeks ago.

If you would like to learn how to juggle come on out on Saturday afternnons to the BICS gym or field and see if you can pick it up that fast.  Paul and Chris guarantee that 90% of all people can learn to juggle three balls in under 20 minutes, the time it takes to cross Howe Sound on the Queen of Capilano.  For the other 10%, in 20 minutes you’ll have the basic two ball pattern down and you won’t be far off three balls in 20 minutes.

Twenty minutes.   That’s all it takes to change your life forever. That’s all it takes to become a juggler.

February 9th isn’t all blah when you get to juggle

          Today we played with our juggling props in a shared gym space, pulling most kids away from the paper-lantern-making tables almost as soon as they and their parents arrived.  Lanterns were made, and made beautifully, but most of the time people spent in the gym today was spent learning new stuff with the juggling club members.

           Quite a few new participants were very young, so they were initially directed to the spinning plates and the poi.  Somehow, they still ended up chasing after big yoga balls and soccer balls, and really small juggling balls.  When Calder arrived, he began to juggle, but got side-tracked into a soccer game in which he was the goalie, and all the under-six-year-olds were the opposite team.  It was an epic game/battle.

           I think Calder is feeling a bit melancholy, since he is not going to be able to attend our Saturday club gatherings for quite a while.  Next weekend he starts training with the junior B. C. TaeKwonDo team in Port Moody, in preparation for the B.C. Championship tournament on February 23rd, in Surrey, and then the Canadian Junior Championship tournament in Calgary the week-end of April 4th.  So we do without him until at least after that date. 

             Paul is working on a new routine using big yoga balls.   It is very rough yet, but funny to watch one man wielding two or three enormous balls without letting them touch the ground.  He is also learning to pass to someone else.  Since Calder is not available for the next while, he is looking for a partner in this endeavor.  Any takers?

           The countdown to the Victoria Juggling Festival is raising people’s excitement level, and a couple of other club members are thinking of joining the Bowen Island contingent.  We are planning to head over early Friday March  14th, and the first event, a meet-and-greet-and-juggle, will be that evening at the University of Victoria site.  Then Saturday we get to play all day, doing workshops or being more casual in our learning process.  Sunday will be more of the same.  There is a Saturday evening dinner and show for all participants and people who aren’t actually participants as well.  I am hoping to see a bit of Victoria proper during our stay, but I know Paul will be totally immersed for the entire event.  The power of an obssession is a fine thing to see.

          Until we meet again, keep your balls in the air!             

More juggling fun in February

          First of all, let me just say that Tobi and Calder had a very successful performance at Tobi’s high school talent show last Wednesday, January 30th.  They worked hard at creating an interesting two-person show, and feel good about their performance, which was well-received by the students.  There was lots of passing, mixed in with a bit of comedy and tumbling, but they both feel that they need to work on their individual 5-ball routines, because that felt a bit rough.  Picking the right music made the show more fun to perform, according to Calder.   

         There is a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks for us Bowen jugglers.  Next Saturday (February 9th) we will be sharing the BICS gym with lantern makers again, which definitely improves our attendance numbers for the day.  All the new folks come in to make a paper lantern (for the Island Winterfest celebration taking place the following Saturday), and discover the Juggling Club and all their toys, and before you know it, they are learning something new.  Yay!  New playmates.  The last lantern-making workshop brought more than 60 people over to the juggling side of the gym to try stuff.           

          The following Saturday (February 16th) we have our regular afternoon meeting at the gym, and for any jugglers who are interested, the B. I. Juggling Club is going to participate in the Island Winterfest, which meets at BICS at 5 pm, the evening of that same Saturday.  You can either juggle something that has light- or glow- in-the-dark qualities, or carry a (paper?) lantern while we follow the Black Sheep Dancers down to Crippen Park to the bonfire.  There will be dancing, singalong, juggling, storytelling, and a chocolate fondue.  I have my fingers crossed for no rain or snow.

          And then, next month the Victoria Juggling Festival is held at the University of Victoria on the week-end of March 15th.  We do not know yet if the BICS gym will be available for our regular juggling meeting, (school closes that Friday for a two-week Spring break),  but we do know that a few Bowen Island jugglers will be attending the Victoria festivities, and will not be on Bowen to run the regular meeting.  So if you aren’t going to Victoria and you would be willing to guest host the B I juggling club meeting for us, please let us know at our home phone.  Tobi and his family will be with us in Victoria, and Ken and Sue are firing up their RV to join the fun as well.  We’ve rented a two bedroom suite with an extra fold-out couch no one has claimed yet… 

       So much to look forward to!

See you soon, all.   

Jugglers love January!

          It’s true, ya know;  jugglers love January because they get to play with their new Christmas presents.  Any jugglers out there who didn’t get new props for Christmas?  Anyone?  Anybody at all?  Yep;  I thought so.  Now the ceilings and walls have new scuff marks because they just couldn’t hold off until the first Gym meeting.  Sigh.  The good part about receiving new equipment is the new ideas that come with the things.  Even a new set of seven balls has an aura that inspires the receiving juggler to dare something previously considered impossible.                    

          Our first 2008 meeting last Saturday, January 12th saw a few new jugglers laughing at themselves as they attempted new “challenges”  – I hope you all got to see BowenTV’s 3-minute Youtube video, during which our guru Paul used the word  ”challenging”  a record number of times in describing what juggling IS.  If you haven’t yet, check out Youtube, then search for Bowen Island Juggling, and you will get the video, subtitled Love is in the Air.  It will make you smile, even if you’re just grinning at Paul’s face… he had no heads-up about this being his 50th birthday party, or that BowenTV would be there, so he was pretty off-balance.                      

          Some of Paul’s younger fans created some birthday “pinatas” (clubs) for him to juggle until they broke open and sprayed candies around the room.  A fabulously-decorated juggler’s birthday cake was prepared by Carol Wallace, head chef of Blue Eyed Marys.  Carol’s husband Stephen and their two daughters Frankie and Joey have been juggling with us for about six months, and have committed themselves to some actual personal equipment.  We all know what that means, heh, heh!                    

          I think Paul was touched by the enthusiastic attendance of more that 60 people, and surprised by some family and friends from off-island.  All in all, it was a great day, and the enormous cake was reduced to a tiny nubbin, which he gleefully ate later that night.                    

          This week’s meeting on January 19th, was much smaller in attendance.  Paul was rather thankful, since he got to do some actual juggling.  Calder and Tobi are perfecting their performance for the upcoming talent show at Tobi’s high school, scheduled for January 30th.  Neither of them have confirmed that they intend to juggle fire, but their mothers have their suspicions…  Davin’s favorite new skill is working with his three new 9-ounce balls.  He has been working on endurance and has recently managed 463 consecutive catches with these huge things.   Not coincidentally, he is very pleased with the effect on his bicep development.            

Until next week, (which I will not be able to attend,)  keep your balls in the air!      

2008: Jugglers always play with balls

Okay, it’s time to juggle again, folks!                

                This coming Saturday, January 12th, we have our first meeting of the New Year, at BICS Gym, on beautiful Bowen Island.  Also as usual, our drop in time is between 1 pm and 3 pm.  That is when we will be inside, playing with our juggling props, enjoying some great Cirque du Soleil music, and catching up with everyone else after having had such a long break from the pleasure of your company!

                 And I remind you, our wonderful juggling guru is having a rather momentous  birthday this week (on Wednesday, January 9th Paul turns 50) so he is going to have a surprising number of unexpected family members and off-island friends dropping by for juggling that day.   I really hope you will be able to be there as well, if only to see the look on his face.  And if you can only drop by to give him a hug, that would be awesome, too!

               Again, we ask that no gifts are brought;  just yourselves and your juggling props.  I (Karai) will have a cake and some appetizers there, which you are welcome to augment if so desired.  So spread the word, and see you then.                

              Happy juggling,      

              Karai   

Pre-Christmas juggling in the BICS gym

December 15th, 2007

       Well, the attendance was down a little this Saturday at the gym, probably due in part to the crazy energy and busy schedules of most of us in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  I counted 25 people before I left at 2 pm.  The club has added some great new spinning plates that we ordered from Higgins Bros, and the teen-agers were trying them out with gleeful abandon.  I was surprised, because we thought these easy-to-manipulate juggling props would appeal more to the younger crowd.            

       Needless to say, once the teens started trying the plates out, there was a general clamour by all the kids to give them a spin.  Davin created the longest “stick” by connecting all the sticks together, but there was no way he could get a plate to sit on top, because the sticks simply wouldn’t stay erect…   It looked more like a long fishing rod with a really big fish on the line!

          Paul ran another two o’clock basic three-ball training session for three new jugglers, who spent a lot of time focussed on and sometimes chasing after their props, but for the most part there was a lot of laughter.  It was good to see Marcus Hondro drop in, even without The Boy.  He gifted Paul with some extraordinary juggling balls, which was much appreciated.  A juggler can never have too many beautiful balls!  

          Calder worked on getting fancy with three clubs, trying reverse spins and back-passing, while Tobi focussed on his five-ball routine and multiplexing with five balls as well.  After Davin kept some younger, energetic jugglers running after balls for a while following his experiments with the plates, he and his buddy Thayne worked on their dimwits juggling routine.  Olivia and Mike practiced different throws and catches with their diablos before I had to run away to perform in a Christmas concert.  Jasmine showed up just as I was leaving, and showed her aunt Gita her poi manipulation, while her dad Stu focussed on three-ball juggling.            

       We missed Kim and Roq and Emera and Tiera, but they are going to participate in a New Zealand juggling convention during their travels, so we hope to hear their report on that and a Christmas during the summer Down Under.  

We hope the BICS gym will be open next Saturday:  we are getting conflicting reports on whether the building will be locked up or not.  So we will show up unless we hear catagorically that the gym is locked;  knowing Paul,  we will be there no matter what, just in case!

Best wishes to you all,

Karai 

 

Undercurrent cover features Juggling Club

The Bowen Island Undercurrent featured our juggling club on it’s front page this week.

The Summer Juggling Times

Hi again, the juggling meetings, where everyone can juggle until they drop, are on Saturday outside at BICS school from 1:00pm-3:00pm. Everyone is invited, those that can juggle and those that cannot! We have enough people who can teach you, and lots of juggling props to try!Tobi

Juggling Club Meeting Aug. 04

More than 20 people showed up at the Bowen Island Community School field for our weekly juggling meeting. [To view the rest of this article click on the title... ]

Fun at IJA festival in Winston-Salem

       We spent a wonderful week doing workshops and juggling at the annual convention. Calder did the special workshop with Yuri Pozdniakov and had a great time. We saw many incredible jugglers including Viktor Kee, Peter Davison, and the Peapot Jugglers. It was an absolutely phenomenal convention.      

       Everything about the location was perfect; hotels very close by, Steven’s Centre for shows right there, lots of variety for food nearby. The hotel staff stated they were very happy we were there as this time of year business is normally very slow.

       Davin wished the ceilings were higher for diabolo, but other than that the venue was very good. Even Karai wants to go again next year, even though it was so hot at the beginning of the week that she swore she wouldn’t again do a juggling convention in a hot climate in July. She simply had too much fun, and the air-conditioning was everywhere.