Juggling Club
The Springer jugglers are 4th-6th graders who are interested in juggling, plus parent/juggler volunteers. We meet every Wednesday morning in the Springer multi-purpose room from 7:45 AM until the start of school to warm-up, practice, learn and take tests to get to the next level.
The juggling class is run by Michael Van De Vanter with lots of assistance from Randy Strauss.
Find out more in the following sections:
Format
7:30 am |
Doors open for early bird jugglers |
|---|---|
7:45 am |
Warm-up- Please be on time! |
8:10 am |
Every 2nd week, milestone testing starts at 8:10. |
8:25 am |
Free time for those who arrived on-time and have passed the first juggling milestone. Mr V makes available his interesting collection of rings, plates and other juggling props. |
8:30 am |
Get to class on time! |
Class Rules
- Have fun!
- Class begins at 7:45 am sharp, starting with warm-up exercises. Please join the class if you're late, but you may neither take a test nor participate in free time that day.
- Please sign the attendance sheet when you arrive, but only for yourself.
- Jugglers are helpful to other jugglers; no other behavior is appropriate.
- Juggling props are personal; borrow them only with permission (each time).
- Juggling props are for juggling only, even if they are your own.
- Work only with balls (except during free time); the head juggler will tell you when it is time to start working with clubs or other advanced props.
- Have fun!
Michael Van De Vanter
The Head Juggler
Juggling Props
Jugglers call their equipment props: typically balls, clubs, and rings. It is best to start learning with balls.
A few juggling balls are available for you to borrow during class while getting started, but it is a good idea to get your own juggling balls as soon as convenient. You'll have more fun, and you'll learn faster that way. Between classes keep them sitting in plain view at home so that you'll be reminded to practice. Any practice you do at home will help you learn much faster, even if only 5 minutes a day. Practicing 5 minutes twice a day, every day, will move you along faster than if you practice the same total number of minutes in one session per week. Really.
A set of 3 Klutz beanbag cubes (which come with the book " Juggling for the Complete Klutz") is a good and inexpensive set for learning; they may be available in some local stores, or online at Klutz.com . Sad to say, the Klutz store in Palo Alto has closed, so there is to no longer a walk-in store in the area that carries quality juggling equipment. A wide variety of good equipment is available online at stores such as Renegade (based in Santa Cruz), Serious Juggling, and Dube.
You can practice with other kinds of balls, but it will probably take you longer to learn. Tennis balls, for example, are more challenging than juggling balls.
Please don't bring to class any ball that will bounce when dropped on the hard floor in the Multi. Thanks.
Links
Nearby, there's the Stanford Court Jugglers and the more distant California Juggling groups. For information on juggling world-wide, see the Juggling Information Service site, and the International Jugglers' Association.
Events
Portland Juggling Festival: September 24-26, 2010, Portland, OR
Humboldt Juggling Festival: March, 2011, Arcata, CA
Isla Vista Jugglers Festival: April, 2011, Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Cruz Juggling Festival: May, 2011
World Juggling Day: June 16, 2011
International Jugglers' Association Festival: July 18-24, 2011, Rochester, MN
Berkeley Juggling Festival: Summer, 2011, Berkeley CA
Juggling Software
Some interesting juggling software is available for Macintoshes and PCs; we are especially fond of an old application called Jugglemaster, now available as JuggleMaster Java. For a rather more complicated piece of software, including advanced passing patterns, see JoePass!.
See also:
For more information, contact Mr. V.
Juggling Levels
3 Ball Basic Pattern |
Cascade |
|---|---|
3 Ball Variations-Level 1 |
Cascade (stable) Tennis pattern |
3 Ball Partner Juggling-Level 1 |
Buddy (half) juggling Steals (front or side) [2 times each] |
3 Ball Variations-Level 2 (Reverse) |
Cascade Half shower (each side) Reverse cascade |
3 Ball Variations-Level 3 (Take Outs) |
Head or thigh plant (every 3rd or faster) Eat the apple (every 3rd or faster) |
3 Ball Variations-Level 4 (Under wrist) |
Inverted tennis pattern Inverted half shower (each side) |
3 Ball Variations-Level 5 (Columns) |
1 up - 2 up (each side) Lazy (fake columns) |
3 Ball Variations-Level 6 (Claw) |
Individual claw catches (both hands) Upside-down juggling |
3 Ball Shower |
Left hand shower Right hand shower |
3 Ball Passing - Level 1 |
Every other |
3 Ball Body Throws - Level 1 |
Under alternating legs Juggler’s choice |
3 Ball Passing - Level 2 |
3-3-10 |
3 Ball Body Throws - Level 2 |
Behind back ??? |
3 Ball Flash - Level 1 |
Clap |
3 Ring Basic Pattern |
Cascade |
3 Club Basic Pattern |
Cascade |
3 Club Body Throws - Level 1 |
Under alternating legs |
3 Club Variations-Level 1 |
Doubles |
3 Club Variations-Level 2 |
1 1/2 |
4 Ball Fountain |
Synchronous Asynchronous |
4 Ball Variations-Level 1 |
Columns |
4 Ball Variations-Level 2 |
Half Shower (both sides) |
3 Ball Flash - Level 2 |
Pirouette |
3 Club Passing-Level 1 |
Every other |
3 Club Passing-Level 2 |
3-3-10 |
3 Ring Passing-Level 1 |
Every other |
3 Ring Passing-Level 2 |
3-3-1 |
Notes:
- Every skill after the basic test must be done in place
- Most skills require 10 throws (counting just one hand)