ContactJuggling.org

So- I've been working on a bit of a routine for this show I've got a small part in this weekend.
And today I stumbled across a video of a routine that might as well be the same as mine.. I know what I was doing wasn't anything new, I've seen many prop people do similar things. Its not exactly something you can be incredibly fresh with. But it was a bit of a let down, cause now all I can seem to think is how I might be looked at as some copying fraud.

What do you do in a situation like this? Just go on with the scheduled performance knowing your video will be on youtube.. Or do you try to change everything you've been working on?

Any tips/confidence would be greatly appreciated.

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Never underestimate the complexity of buttered toast

As contact juggling becomes more popular, it'll be hard to get away with performing the same contact juggling routine (you know, *that* one) over and over again. On the other hand, I tend to think that performers past a particular skill level stop having competitors and move on to only having colleagues.

If it's your place to do the routine that you're going to do, then do that one.

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http://www.gravitydefiance.net

I believe everyone copies MM's performance inadvertently as their first contact show, to some degree or another. Contact juggling has a specific set of moves which people do. Work hard in practice time to create your own ideas from these moves, but work with what you have now and do it well.

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www.dawndreams.ca
www.thebuskingproject.com
https://twitter.com/#!/dawn_dreams

Thank you guys

I really appreciate that

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Never underestimate the complexity of buttered toast

My advice? Your performance is not about the skill - it is not about that ball you're using. It's about you. You are the performer; you are the difference. Some people can sing better than others, but they do not have the performance or stage presence, so are not as enjoyable. Put yourself to the forefront and forget about 'copying'.

I'm a little tired, so can't really...articulate at the moment. I'll come back to this later

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I think Inari means that no matter how similar your routine is to another's, the way you present it can make all the difference. It's all about the spin you put on your performance. What you can do to make your performance personal is the real thing.

I'm back, to expand.

Whatever your performance skill, be it Acro, Juggling, Dance etc, the skill is not as important as how it is portrayed. A demonstration is quite different than a performance. A demonstration is quite informal, and just shows you what the thing is. However a performance is an entirely different affair...a performance is where you use your skill to showcase you.

The crowd are watching you, and judging you, not the skill. It is much more about how you do what you do, rather than just what you do. Yoshi brought in personal spin, or angle, and he is dead right. Making a performance personal to your audience is key to being a memorable performer. Think of a stand-up comedy gig where the comedian gets the crowd involved...it means that the show will be slightly different every time.

Choreography is an important part to a show, but not as important as showmanship. Know your angles & lines. Engage the crowd with your eyes; unless you're going for the 'In his own world' approach purposefully, people can feel guilty for staring.

Notice, nothing I have said so far is specifically related to CJ.

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That makes perfect sense~ And actually makes me feel much more confident about this performance

Thank you so much for your time and re-articulation!

I was playing around with the performance today, and I came to the realization that it doesn't even need that much CJing.. that attempting "Flair moves" almost distracted more from the performance. I do know I'm not anywhere near the level of the pro's out there, and that I simply couldn't perform fluidly by tossing in all of my 'best' moves. I think this performance will get by just fine with some of the most basic moves as the arsenal. Maybe one of these day's I'll be able to hold a stage show that could impress Cjers. But as for this round, I believe I'm just going to try to impress the crowd...

Sorry in advance for the dull video everyone!

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Never underestimate the complexity of buttered toast

yunno, I think sometimes in contact juggling, it's not ALWAYS 'about you'. Notice that most CJers wear black & try to blend in the background. Notice how cameras seem to zoom in on the ball & not the individual...

With the many different shows I have seen in contact juggling, many of the best ones were 'flat' of personality, and showed pure skill. This is the circus, not the theater. I don't see silk dancers thinking about their clown character in silks, or acrobats thinking about their facial expressions while in a flip. Like the Olympics, sometimes these disciplines are best performed with full concentration on the skill itself, and that can be amazingly impressive (and additional character could take away from this)...

Inari IS right, but I think it's not the ONLY way.

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www.dawndreams.ca
www.thebuskingproject.com
https://twitter.com/#!/dawn_dreams

I always thought the flat-black tones in clothing was to give a better view of the ball for CJ performances; busy colours will detract and disguise the ball. Orange stage ball + orange t-shirt = invisible ball

@Dawn: Interesting perspective. I would disagree with the Silk Dancers & Rope ballet artists, acrobats etc not worrying about performance issues like facial expressions. They are not merely demonstrating skill; most of the time they have a distinct narrative that they are portraying. The story comes from their body, emanating from their heart - as the spectator you interpret the story based on what you see. If you see that they are angry (most people when deep in concentration look angry), then it can distort the overall message of the show. Olympic gymnasts are a whole different kettle of fish, as they are competing as opposed to performing.

Even when you're showcasing a skill, there are certain guidelines...ask any dancer and they'll tell you that knowing your lines is crucial. Nothing is worse than attempting to show someone something, and then obstructing their view, or not showing them what you want them to see. All of these things I lump into 'Performance'.

Still, food for thought. You can dress up your performance to the point that you detract from what you're showingl a more 'stripped' approach can be a lot more intimate, and also be stronger and more compelling. I'll be thinking about this a lot, so a sincere thank you

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I definitely hear you Dawn, I guess my problem is for now- I don't feel I'm talented enough CJer to hold on show based on skill. Though I can't wait until the day I can!

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Never underestimate the complexity of buttered toast

theater shows are certainly fun, and narratives and characters are deep and reflexive. I certainly use a lot of my personality in my shows, and lines are integral to contact juggling (esp body rolling) because the ball falls off without good lines. It's all true and gives extreme variance in performance within these perimeters.

I also enjoy a flat affect performance although someone is in their deepest concentration throughout. I love watching people push limits of skill on stage and take risks for me. Often this can require the deepest thought, a rarer vulnerable moment of true test of skills...

Speaking of which I just watched Mystic Ball the movie last night... Look up chinlone, it's amazing.

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www.dawndreams.ca
www.thebuskingproject.com
https://twitter.com/#!/dawn_dreams

OH MY GOD

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Never underestimate the complexity of buttered toast

I think one of the really important aspects of performing that has come up without being mentioned yet is knowing your audience. The sorts of things which impress and entertain jugglers are not the same things as those which impress and entertain an average audience. Demonstrations can be amazingly impressive, but they are only impressive to the extent that the audience can identify with the performer and understand how much skill the demonstration is taking. A random guy walking in off the street won't have any frame of reference to how difficult that is, and won't enjoy the skill as much as everyone else does. That's where the art of performance itself comes in, which is just as deep and necessary a skill as the juggling itself. Performing means finding a way to connect with the audience and get them interested in what you're doing, regardless of who they are or what frame of reference they have. If you're performing for jugglers, you throw your most difficult, your most innovative tricks. If you're performing for a theatre crowd, you make sure that your juggling informs your character at every point. If you're performing for a dance crowd, then everything has to feed into the overall image and motion that you're aiming for. If you're doing a street show, then you need to be interacting with the crowd the whole time, making sure they can't even think about taking their attention away from you.
Yeah, a lot of people end up mimicking MM's routine to some extent, and I think that's mainly because he did such a brilliant job of creating something that appeals to people who have never seen the art before. It isn't an attempt to steal someone else's routine, or to avoid the effort of creating something new, it's just because that's a very good way to connect with a neophyte audience. I can easily imagine (and I assume some exist) routines that do not share a single technical move with "Light", and yet, to us, look like mimicry of MM due to connecting with the audience in the same way the Moschen does.
To some extent, the "contact jugglers wear black thing" hearkens back to Moschen in the same way. We don't wear black to be like MM (well, most of us don't), but for the same reasons he did: the art itself is visually very simple and we want to focus the audience on the art. Black forms a very simple, serious, background, getting people into the state of mind we think will help them most appreciate the performance we are about to give them. And contact jugglers never really fade into the background, because the art is about the interaction of the ball and the control surfaces. Even in those close-up shots, it's just as much about the hands as the ball, if not more.
To summarize the whole rambling post: when you're on stage, it's about you and the audience, nothing else. At that moment, the only thing that matters is keeping their attention, and giving them what they want. As long as your routine does that, I would say that it doesn't matter if you're copying "Light" move for move (there's other problems with that...), you will have a successful performance.

Thank you for that post~

Thats actually quite similar to a conversation I had with Sennyo just before the show. I finally had the understanding that I wasn't performing for jugglers, I was performing for an audience of non-prop people, and their kids...

The above post is the more brilliant way of putting it. I may have to bookmark this page and read through all of this again. I really do appreciate the help!

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Never underestimate the complexity of buttered toast