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Tim & Jeff doin' double spins |
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Jeff has been a member of the group for two years. He learned how to
juggle while he was a student. "When I come here, I can relax, have fun, and play.
It is very satisfying, and I look forward to Wednesday nights. I like the rhythm of
juggling and the improvising that often goes into it and getting together with the
group." |
| Julie is a Physics teacher at an area high school who makes the drive to
Metairie almost every Wednesday night. "For me it's just lots of fun. It is so
different from what I do as a teacher. When you juggle, all you have to do is think about
the rhythm of what you are doing. It is very relaxing." |
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| Julie juggles fire |
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Sam catching |
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Sam read a book in which the main character was a juggler, that got him
curious. He then looked around for a group who had the same interest, so he could learn
from them. The Metairie resident and computer programmer found the ideal group to help
him when he found the New Orleans Jugglers. He has been involved with the group for about
four years now. He juggles while riding a unicycle as well as participating in group club
passing activities. |
| Phillip has been juggling for about 10 years. He learned how when his
brother got a juggling book for Christmas and he was determined to figure it out before
his brother (and the book) went back home. He mastered many 3 ball tricks, but stagnated
until he found out about the N.O. Jugglers and was able to enter the realm of team club
passing. He is a Geologic Applications Support Analyst for a major oil company in New
Orleans. "My goal is to figure out how to do five, as well as learn club passing
patterns." |
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Mr. Phillip flips clubs |
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| Matt moving three clubs |
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Matt does a mean five bag cascade and numerous other tricks with smooth
dexterity. "I'm a chemical engineer at a local oil refinery. I taught myself to
juggle when I was about twelve years old. Until I started juggling with the N.O. Jugglers,
I practiced solo tricks only. Now I enjoy passing clubs and learning group
patterns." |
| Jacob, though 13, actually has a part-time job as a performer for
children's birthday parties. He lives in Algiers and plans to attend a two week
circus camp in Vermont this summer to improve his skills. "I learn something new
every time I meet with the group. You have some very experienced jugglers in the groups,
and everyone is always eager to help each other." |
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Jos practices clubs |
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Jos from Holland has only been in the country for about two years, but
that did not stop him from joining the group where we speak the universal language of
"toss, catch, repeat". He has spent previous time in the States and in Canada
before coming to New Orleans. |
| Rick is a student from uptown, although juggling for just two months, he
is already graduating to clubs. Rick says, "Jacob got me interested. I met him in
a homeschooler's group I joined. He showed me what he could do and I was really impressed.
He also helped me to get started on my 3-ball cascade. After that, I was hooked."
"My goal for the near future is to be able to do back crosses (with balls), but
that could take awhile since I can't throw behind the back consistently with either hand
right now." |
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Rick focuses on the catch |
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| Tim flashes five clubs |
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Tim grew up in Missouri. He worked in Illinois for 6 years
before moving here. He has been juggling for about twenty-five years. He started
when he saw it on Johnny Carson one night, he grabbed the first thing he saw, paper-wads
(about the worst thing to start with he says) and after six months... he got it.
He has since advanced considerably, I saw him cascading seven bean bags the other
night. |
| Sancho is from Metairie and has been juggling for 12 years. He is a
mentor to many of us and is always willing to give a shot at teaching passers-by the
fundamentals of juggling. I saw him take a kid that was walking by looking interested
and coaching him through his first successful juggle. That is a feeling that none of us
will ever forget, the amazement and excitement, that "Look Mom, I can do it!"
feeling. |
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Sancho discusses
technique |
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Suzanne watches "the drop" |
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Suzanne: "I've always wanted to learn to juggle but when I would try
it would just be chaos. I started working at a book store when I was 18 and I found a
book on it, and that's how I learned to juggle. I was so proud because it had be a long
awaited accomplishment. No one else seemed to have an
interest in it, so when I found the New Orleans jugglers I was excited.""Right
now I'm working on 4 objects and my goal is to juggle flaming torches and 4 objects."
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