The sword in the stone post from last month created quite a stir, it seems like there is interest in the history of contact juggling. A good time to post about Colinet – the statue above is from around 1930, it depicts a woman dancing with 3 balls, one held in her hand, one on the back of her hand in a cradle and one held on her foot.

The title of the sculpture is: Joueuse de Boule. It’s usually translated into English as “The Juggler” (ref: Bryan Catley – Art Deco and Other Figures”). We asked Jeanine for a better translation, she writes:

…Joueuse de boule means roughly “feminine ball player”.
The suffix -euse expresses the feminine (“joueur” would be for a man); “la boule” is almost a ball, often heavier or bigger or more precious. Let’s say sphere
And you have the proposition “de” that connects the noun and the “object”.
So…. joueuse de boule means as much as (feminine) Sphereplayer

The sculpture was Claire Jeanne Roberte Colinet (apx 1880-1950): Born in Brussels, she lived and worked in Paris, creating many beautiful and dynamic art deco sculptures often depicting dancers.

MoM has one of these sculpture – it’s beautiful, With art deco sculptures, as a rule, if you can think about affording it, it’s a modern “reproduction” (better known as FAKE! There’s usually a few on ebay of varying quality). A small (17cm) genuine version of this sculpture was offered to me for £900GBP! Ouch, and it took me a while to say no. I’d guess that ours is a good quality, and quite old, “unauthorised copy”.

Joueuse de Boule is not the only art deco sculpture that MoM research has uncovered which depicts contact juggling, there even one that is definitely body rolling… more to follow.

Above picture is from Hickman Fine arts, who’ve got one for sale, and have a 360 photo view of the sculpture. here’s another that sold at Christies a few years ago.

Finally … one of Colinets, other sculptures was called: “Les reves sont des bulles da savon” (Dreams are Soap Bubbles). I think she knew how contact juggler think.

Youtube Link

Sweet video of actual contact juggling on MoM? Never!

Some recording of contact juggling with the acrylic in Beijing – february 2012
Filmed by Matthieu Lindenlaub

At 4:44 in the clip above, Merlin the magician, as a squirrel, Contact Juggling with an acorn. It’s from the 1963 Disney classic, The Sword in the Stone.

If you still believe that Micheal Moschen “invented Contact Juggling” in the 1980′s. Don’t worry, in this movie, Merlin is a time traveling magician, so he probably learned from Moschen, then traveled back in time to 1963 to appear in the film ;p.

Thanks to Lawrens Godon and Paponda for the clue.

A Top Gun-tastic video from professional grape munchers Stunt Double Circus.
Thanks for Rob for the link… You can be my wingman, anytime.

Woah, flashback to late 1990′s Aerotech Glowball juggling routines.

In a ploy to get contact jugglers everywhere to open their wallets*, Orbotix have announced a smartphone app (Android only at the moment) which will control and choreograph multiple Spheros at the same time and they now ship Sphero internationally.

Previously on MoM.
More info.
Will we fall for it? You bet ya we will. iMark, it’s time to get your checkbook out..again.

Hand balancing and contact juggling on youtube.
Cate Flaherty performing a well choregraphed act contact juggling, juggling, some solid hand balancing, acrobatics and dance. Great stuff.

The British contact jugglers are humble folk, and don’t show off through video. Yet, Drew did a call out on his S**t Spinners Say post about how there needs to be a S**t Contact Jugglers say video. So, I hunted those punks down at Bristol’s Other Bristol convention, and grabbed any footage I could.  This is the proof that most of the people on MOM are in fact, not robots.
Dawn

Arthur Cadre break dances in a myriad of new style moves that display strength and flexibility that is beyond human.

This video begins by showing a kendama battle; a group of kendama enthusiasts throwing a series of increasingly complex tricks in a backyard competition. The small crowd explodes with excitement when the winner throws his final move, they celebrate together as if this was THE main event of the year. As a viewer, it is a unique glimpse into a very small world.

This is a collection of those awesome moments that happen when you are in the company of amazing people (and the camera just happens to be pointing in the right direction at the right time) Kyle Johnson makes the best videos, and I think he understands what this ‘ministry’ thing is all about better than we do.

Also, Canada boxes

$129 US, more info at gosphero.com, previously on MoM.

Thanks to Teku for pointing this out, Yanazo has released a new video with some great rolling and balancing ideas. You can find more Yanazo here (Edit: I fixed link, thanks Teku – Drew.)

juggling.tv/7048

Super cool contact club and manipulations. Win. JTV for the link… Edit- Drew fixed the link