The process of how to juggle appears simple, but can be challenging to grasp. However with these tips and tricks, you’ll be on your way to building up your skills in no time.
1. Start simple -- Start with one ball
Practice getting the feel of it by tossing one ball from one hand to the other. Don’t chase the ball with your hands, and make sure you keep the ball around eye level. Don’t look down - make sure to keep those eyes forward. Also starting out with balls or bean bags is ideal. Make sure to save more difficult items to juggle like pins, knives, and flaming torches until later (much later)!
2. Move on to two balls
Once you feel comfortable and get the hang of the technique, move on to using another ball. This step is essential, as it can get difficult depending on which toss pattern you try to juggle with. Make sure you maintain a “cascade pattern,” where you wait for the first ball to start to come down before throwing the next ball. Then you repeat that pattern until you feel comfortable.
3. Add in that final third ball
Same pattern applies with the final ball. You wait on the first ball to start descending before throwing the second ball, and then once that next one also starts to fall is when you’ll throw the third one. Muscle memory and concentration is immensely important in perfecting this technique. Lots of practice is also key!
One of the most popular performances in the circus still performed and enjoyed today includes juggling, which involves a selection of both standard and unconventional props to be maneuvered and maintained in the air. The first recorded evidence of juggling can be found of women in Egyptian murals at the 15th and 17th tombs at Beni Hasan, which dates back over 4,000 years ago. Over the centuries, you can find art from Greece, Rome, India and Europe which displays jugglers performing difficult and complex tricks. Although held in high regard in the earlier centuries, there were times where jugglers were seen as immoral con artists, lumped with magicians and witches and being cited as corrupt manipulators. Despite the highs and the lows, juggling eventually became a staple in circuses and is still observed by spectators today.
The circus has an interesting and vast history, as it is known as one of the oldest shows on Earth. You can find paintings of jugglers and twirling acrobats on the walls of Egyptian tombs that date back to 1250 B.C.E..Other recordings of tricks and “acts of sorcery” can be found in places like Ancient Rome and in medieval Europe. Different components of the circus have existed throughout history, but the modern circus that we know and love was not born until the late 18th century. The modern circus originated in England in the 1770s by Philip Astley, when he brought numerous circus elements together in a ring like acrobatics, riding, and clowning in London. Eventually the circus came to the states by 1793, where hundreds of spectators crowded around a wooden wing in Philadelphia to watch the nation’s official first performance. These performances included clowns, an acrobat, rope-walker, and a boy equestrian, which ended up dazzling none other than the first president George Washington himself, along with all other audience members.
The circus became such a huge hit in America that every time that the spectacle would come to town, banks and businesses closed, schools were dismissed, and the main streets were completely full and assembled of people in order to watch entertainers and animals alike parade from the train station to the circus grounds. Despite its European origins, the U.S. became a powerhouse in circus performances, and mass cultural exporter, especially when an Americanized circus did a five-year tour overseas.
By the time the first world war hit, the circus industry was already starting to take some hits when it came to employment and attendance. This was due to so many workers being sent off to fight in the war, reducing numbers significantly. Additionally, when the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 claimed more than 22 million lives worldwide, attendance fell dramatically and decisions had to be made that ended up reshaping the spectacle for decades. The amount of circus performances began to falter when theaters and film viewings became the main source of entertainment within the public.
Even though circuses aren’t as huge as they were in their prime in past centuries, the legacy and history of these performances still continue on in communities like in Peru, Indiana, which is labelled as the “Circus Capital of the World.” A variety of stunts and performances continue even today, and continue to inspire and entertain audiences from all over the country.
