The Marcus Public Library had Jason Kollum come and entertain us with his Juggling Show. Actually, it was not all juggling but did involve some “balancing” acts. I was curious about juggling and went to find out more information about it.
Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art, or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object or many objects at the same time, most often using one or two hands but also possible with feet. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props. The most common props are balls, clubs, or rings which Kollum did use.
From the 12th to the 17th century, juggling and juggler were the terms most consistently used to describe acts of magic. In the 21st century, the term juggling usually referred to toss juggling, where objects are continuously thrown into the air and caught again, repeating in a rhythmical pattern. We might describe juggling as throwing and catching things while a juggler might call it a physically challenging feat using one or more objects. Juggling, like music, combines abstract patterns and mind-body coordination in a pleasing way.
The earliest record of juggling is suggested in a panel from the 15th (1994-1781 B.C.) Beni Hasan tomb of an unknown Egyptian prince, showing female dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has been recorded in many other early cultures.
Juggling in ancient China was an art performed by some warriors. One such warrior was Xiong Yiliao, whose juggling of nine balls in front of troops on a battlefield reportedly caused the opposing troops to flee without fighting, resulting in a complete victory.
In Europe, juggling was an acceptable diversion until the decline of the Roman Empire, after which the activity fell into disgrace. Throughout the Middle Ages, most histories were written by religious clerics who frowned upon the type of performers who juggled and accused them of base morals or even practicing witchcraft. Jugglers in this era would only perform in market places, streets, fairs, or drinking houses. They would perform short, humorous and bawdy acts and pass a hat or bag among the audience for tips.
In 1768, Philip Astley opened the first modern circus. A few years later, he employed jugglers to perform acts along with the horse and clown acts. Since then, jugglers have been associated with circuses.
In the 19th century, variety and music hall theaters became more popular, and jugglers were in demand to fill time between music acts, performing in front of the curtain while acts were changed. Performers started specializing in juggling, separating it from other kinds of performance such as sword swallowing and magic. The Gentleman Juggler style was established by German jugglers such as Salerno and Kara. Rubber processing developed, and jugglers started using rubber balls. Previously, juggling balls were made from balls of twine, stuffed leather bags, wooden spheres, or various metals. Solid or inflatable rubber balls meant that bounce juggling was possible. Inflated rubber balls made ball spinning easier and more readily accessible.
In the early to mid-20th century, variety and vaudeville shows decreased in popularity due to competition from motion picture theaters, radio and television, and juggling suffered as a result. Music and comedy transferred very easily to radio, but juggling could not. In the early years of television, when variety-style programming was popular, jugglers were often featured; but developing a new act for each new show, week after week, was more difficult for jugglers than other types of entertainers—comedians and musicians can pay others to write their material, but jugglers cannot get other people to learn new skills on their behalf.
Mathematics has been used to understand juggling as juggling has been used to test mathematics. “The time that a ball spends in flight is proportional to the square root of the height of the throw,” meaning that the number of balls used greatly increases the amount of speed or height required, which increases the need for accuracy between the direction and synchronization of throws.
Juggling tricks and patterns can become very complex, and can be difficult to communicate to others. Therefore, notation systems have been developed for specifying patterns, as well as for discovering new patterns.
How many different things or acts could a juggler come up with to entertain people? Maybe this is why the Juggler that came to the Library had “balancing acts” included. Using both Juggling and Balancing acts did keep an audience of all ages interested.