What Kind of Juggling?
Contact juggling is a
mesmerizing and dynamic style of object manipulation in which the
object in question (be it a pen or the more formal "crystal" ball) is
kept in contact with the body, usually the hands and arms.
Arguably the most commonly used objects are clear acrylic spheres,
usually ranging from 2.5"-4" in diameter. These balls give
the illusion of a crystal that floats or dances over the performer's
hands. Acrylics are also practical for practice sessions, as
they are nearly unbreakable.
Contact juggling itself has been going on 'forever' (read: at
least as long as bored students have fiddled with their quills, and
jugglers have incorporated tricks such as rolling a ball down their
arm). Michael Moschen
was the first to incorporate acrylic balls. Outside of his
own shows (which include a range of innovative juggling acts) you may
have seen Moschen as David Bowie's hand double in Jim Henson's film Labyrinth (1986).
What You Need
Lots of patience:
Contact juggling takes a lot of time to learn, and much longer to
master. Let yourself enjoy practicing, as much as
accomplishing, the moves.
One ball,
about 3" in diameter, with a fair amount of weight to it. If
your hands are very small, choose something around 2.5", or if large
(and your wrists are strong, depending on weight) 4" is good.
The ideal basic CJ ball is
a clear acrylic. They don't break, and are visually
impressive. (When you're learning, it really helps for your
friends to "ooooo" and "ahhhh" even though you keep dropping the
ball!) But acrylics do break other things, and for most
people are only available online (see sidebar).
Alternatives
include lacrosse balls, billiard balls, stage balls...really anything
the right shape, size, and weight - even a good round orange.
Still, if you really want to learn, I recommend getting an acrylic as
soon as you can.
There are an infinite number of moves in contact juggling - limited
only by your imagination - but by general consensus the basic move is
the Windshield Wiper. In this move, you roll the ball from
your upturned palm, over your fingertips to the back of your fingers -
then back to your palm - so your forearm moves like a windshield wiper.
How to Start: Balance
You know how to hold a ball on your palm, so the first thing to do is learn to balance the ball on the back of your hand.
Hold one hand at about chest level. Now lower your middle
finger a tad, to form a sort of tripod from the knuckle of your middle
finger and the second joints of your ring and pointer
fingers. Settle the ball on this tripod. You will
need to keep your fingers stiff enough to take the weight, but flexible
enough so you can find the sweet spot where the ball sits comfortably.
See how long you can balance the ball in that spot. Then, try
moving your hand around a little, still balancing the ball.
When that seems easy, walk around with the ball balanced on your
hand. See if you can stand up and sit down with the ball
still balanced. Try making a sandwich with one hand while you
balance the ball on the back of the other. You get the
picture. Then, practice holding the ball on the back of the
other hand. Only when all of this feels like second nature,
will you be able to go on to movement.
What's Next: Movement
Get the ball settled on the
back of your hand. Toss it - just a little bump - straight
up, and catch it on the back of your hand. Keep on with this
until it feels natural, increasing the height of the toss as you get
better at catching.
Now, toss the ball straight up and catch it on your palm.
(That's the easy part.) Then toss the ball straight up from
your palm and catch it on the back of your hand again.
Remember that your forearm should be making a windshield-wiper-like
movement: You are tossing the ball up, moving your hand up
and over and into position to catch it.
As this becomes easier, put less and less oomph behind your tosses,
until you feel the ball start to roll up your fingers and over your
fingertips, then back down the other side of your hand until you catch
it. When this happens - when the ball is staying in constant contact with your skin - you are contact juggling! Congratulations!