This weekend I took a two hour workshop on juggling and contact juggling with Jimmy and Maggie from Third Space Movement. Now, don’t worry, I’m not planning any wacky juggling-belly dance fusion any time soon. I took this solely for fun, mainly because I’m interested in contact juggling (in fact, I already have a glittery acrylic contact juggling sphere that is sitting around gathering dust because I’m not allowed to play with it until I know what I’m doing). I feel like it’s good to stretch my brain and body by taking the occasional workshop in a new-to-me skill, without feeling the pressure to get good enough at it to bring it to stage.
Since I was just doing it for fun, I had a pretty good time. I failed a lot, but I also surprised myself by catching on to some things more quickly than I expected. I laughed at my failure, chased my dropped props around the room, and helped my classmates chase their props. It was a nice way to spend a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon.
I really appreciate Jimmy and Maggie as teachers. The workshop had a relatively relaxed pace, giving us enough time to try out each technique and address any problems we had so we could fix them in our home practice. The students ranged in level from rank beginner to some juggling experience to a relatively experienced juggler. Each of us were given modifications, so if a technique was too hard, we could scale it down or figure out why it was too hard, and if it was too easy, another layer of challenge would be added. Corrections were given in a positive, encouraging manner, followed up with kudos when we were able to put the advice to work.
Additionally, they brought lots of props. I tried juggling two different styles of ball, rings, and clubs (I do not like clubs!), as well as using a contact juggling sphere that was a better practice size than my current practice ball.
I feel like I learned enough basic techniques of both juggling and contact juggling that I can practice at home and improve my skills from here. I’m really glad that I gave myself this fun new challenge, something that I can play with when I’m feeling bored and stressed by dance, or just want to work my brain and body in a different manner. A little improvement to my hand-eye coordination wouldn’t hurt, either!