As with dance, so with juggling—the moment that the performer finishes the routine, their act ceases to exist beyond the memory of the audience. There is no permanent record of what transpired, so studying the ancient roots of juggling is fraught with difficulty. Using the records that do exist, juggling appears to have emerged around the world in cultures independent of one another in the ancient past. Paintings in Egypt from 2000 BCE show jugglers engaged in performance. Stories from the island nation of Tonga place juggling’s creation with their goddess of the underworld—a figure who has guarded a cave since time immemorial. Juggling games and rituals are pervasive in isolated Inuit cultures in northern Canada and Greenland. Though the earliest representation of juggling is 4,000 years old, the practice is surely much older—in the same way that humans were doubtlessly singing and dancing long before the first bone flute was created. This book is an attempt to catalogue this tangible history of juggling in human culture. It is the story of juggling, represented in art and writing from around the world, across time. Although much has been written about modern jugglers–specific performers, their props, and their routines–little has been said about those who first developed the craft. As juggling enters a golden age in the internet era, Juggling: From Antiquity to the Middle Ages offers a look into the past—to the origins of our art form.

Juggling - From Antiquity to the Middle Ages: the forgotten history of throwing and catching

Wall, Thom

Reference

Modern Vaudeville Press

The ABC Tour: 26 Letters, 26 Venues, One Juggler

Biographies & Memoirs

Udry, Jon

Arts & Literature

From the foreword:Rupert Ingalese, born Paul Wingrave, was a British juggler who worked in the first half of the 1900s, both as a juggler and as a producer and manager of variety shows across England.Ingalese’s performances, as we know by searching through online newspaper databases, were very well recieved. The first review to appear of his work was printed on September 14th, 1920, in The Daily Mail:The variety programme at the Tivoli this week is of high standard. At the top of the bill is Rupert Ingalese and his flunkeys, supported by Miss Angela Grey (pianist). Rupert Ingalese proves himself a skillful juggler and performs with one hand whilst he plays the piano with the other. On May 31st, 1921, The Daily Telegraph called him “...a juggler of bewildering skill and finesse.” A few years later, on March 18th, 1924, The Citizen called Ingalese’s performance in a top-notch musical variety show “...one of the best things in the programme.” Ingalese wasn’t the only remarkable act in the shows he produced. The Devon and Exeter Gazette offered the following remarks about his production A Show Superlative on July 29th, 1930:A Show Superlative, which opened to good houses at Exeter Hippodrome last night, claims to be the pioneer road show - but it woul dbe a great mistake to suppose that it contains a single back number. It is a very successful effort to please everybody, for while one moment one is admiring equilibristic feats, the next moment brings the sheer loveliness of classical music - and then we are left laughing by some delicious fooling.......it is impossible to assign precedence to any turn when ability was expressed in such diverse ways. The Auklands gave some excellent concertina playing, but one of the most impressive moments in their turn was when the “house” sat hushed, listening to “Little Tweet,” their canary, singing as though his little throat would burst.Another small (but not quite so dimumitive) performer was Wee Teddy. This boy - he cannot be much more than twelve - kept the audience entertained by a sole turn to such effect that he had to decline an encore, pointing out that he was to reappear later in the programme.Two things contributed to the popularity of Grifi the clown. He blew bubbles of such elasticity and strength that considerable liberties could be taken with them. And he offered to give a free morning or afternoon performance to any hospital or institution in Exeter. It is to be hoped that this generous offer will be accepted.The famous Russian Bayan Singers do not speak English, but gave delight through the universal language of good music. Their renderings included the “Barcarole” from “Tales of Hofmann,” a marvellous vocal blend. Warroner seemed undecided whether to let comedy or his skill as a violinist predominate. He was a whimsical soul, but his technique, both in staccato and harmonics, was faultless......Rupert Ingalese, assisted with his gorgeously apparelled flunkeys, juggled with much of the contents of a drawing room, adding the maniuplation of flaming torches to his finale.Cyril Johnson rode a bicycle forwards, backwards, and at remarkable angles, at one time carrying his several accomplished lady assistants as a crew. Enough has been said to indicate the ingredients of an evening’s good entertainment.Ingalese’s career continued into the late 1930s - he continued to both produce shows and perform a staple act. His hometown paper, the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette published the following report of his tricks on October 19, 1937...

Juggling: or: How to Become a Juggler

Arts & Photography

Ingalese, Rupert

History & Criticism

From the foreword: The art of mime is the identification with the essence of all things, and the portrayal of thought and emotion through silent physical expression. A mime works with the laws of physics: weight, gravity, principles of motion and resistance and inertia. We move through space as a visible, tangible substance.Mime training is different from other movement disciplines like dance and gymnastics. It is specific to the art of silent communication. Mario Diamond does a welcome service with this book, helping to promote the techniques and principles of our misunderstood and fragile art. - Rob Mermin

Body Talk - Basic Mime

Diamond, Mario

Performing Arts

With over 100 games organized for optimal use in cooperative movement based settings, this is a must have for every circus school, teaching artist, and arts education program! Games are organized by age, number of participant, energy level, and social/emotional learning outcome, and also includes special notes for working with a variety of populations that may require adaptation or modifications to each game.

GAMES for Circus Educators, Organizers and Innovators

Humor & Entertainment

Little, Lucy

Puzzles & Games

Judging by the books already available with the words "Plate Spinning" in the title, there is a good chance that you picked this up because you are a working parent trying to balance your home life with a busy career. If so, I can't help you. This book deals with plate spinning in the strictly literal sense. Unless you are interested in spinning ceramic plates on sticks, I won't waste any more of your precious time, save to say, best of luck with the kids and the job.If you are actually interested in spinning actual plates on actual sticks, then this is the book for you (but if you end up struggling to balance your home life with your busy career as a plate spinner, then don't say I didn't warn you).

Pottery in Motion: A practical guide to the impractical art of plate spinning

Veale, Sam

There are a few books on juggling that really bring serious content. Thom Wall's book is one of them: It brings a holistic approach by using solid scientific and historical foundations, by proposing global and modern views, so the reader can not only learn a few good tricks but understand why and how they are related so they can keep improving after reading.This book is packed with a very clear and fun presentation. It is a must-read for any juggler in the making-that is-everybody."- Denis Paumier, Director & Teacher, company Les Objets Volants"This book is the first fully comprehensive manual on juggling. No other books employ siteswap notation, despite it being the primary tool in juggling instruction for the past two decades. There are also no serious books that provide in-depth discussions about posture and mechanics.Thom Wall's practical guide should be the first step in embarking on a practiced juggling career. It uses illustrations, physics, psychology, and other approaches to explain every step. All this makes for a solid exploration that goes beyond simple tricks to thoroughly explain the science and actions behind juggling success, laying a solid foundation for anyone interested in getting on stage."- D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Juggling: What It Is and How to Do It

Malabares - desde la Antig edad hasta la Edad Media, es un divertido viaje por pa ses, por pocas. Desde el Antiguo Egipto y sus ya famosas malabaristas profesionales de la tumba n 15 de Beni Hasan, a los juegos para ni as de la isla de Tonga y otras zonas del Pac fico Sur; pasando por los edictos del rey Alfonso X de Castilla sobre la regulaci n de los juglares o los antipodistas aztecas actuando ante el Papa Clemente VII en el siglo XVI.Tambi n reserva un espacio al final del libro para, aprovechando su faceta de ling ista, realizar unas reflexiones acerca de la propia definici n de la palabra "juggling" malabarismo] a lo largo del tiempo y sus or genes.Es, por tanto, un libro ideal no solo para malabaristas o cirqueros, sino para cualquiera con curiosidad sobre la historia, en especial de aquellos hechos que en ocasiones pasan m s desapercibidos en los textos cotidianos. A trav s de este libro aprendemos sobre leyendas y juegos antiguos, fantaseamos con grandes artistas y actuaciones que nunca podremos ver y que nos hacen dudar sobre esa tan manida sentencia que a veces afirma "esto nunca se ha hecho antes".Malabares en su Tinta

Malabares - desde la Antigüedad hasta la Edad Media: la historia olvidada de lanzar y cachar (Spanish Edition)

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

We live in a society that places an increasing value in ethnic diversity and cultural identity. However, the contribution that performers from a variety of ethnic backgrounds made to the development of the circus in the nineteenth century is very often overlooked and largely forgotten. Pablo Fanque and Miss La La may be notable names of the period but there were many others besides. Using contemporary records and images, this book explores the wealth and depth of talented black and other ethnic performers, and the contribution they made to the success of the nineteenth century circus. These are iconic figures who should be drawn in from the margins of history and given the recognition they deserve.

Artistes of Colour: ethnic diversity and representation in the Victorian circus

History

Ward, Steve

Europe

What's measured is managed! The Circus Training Journal is the result of a year of collaboration between Thom Wall and Rebecca Starr, head aerial coach at Circadium: School of Contemporary Circus. This undated journal, spans three months of daily training, tracks workouts, nutrition, goal-setting, and more. Heavyweight groundwood paper optimized for ballpoint and pencil.

Circus Training Journal

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Wall, Thomas

Exercise & Fitness

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Books by Modern Vaudeville Press