Why was juggling invented

The use of wooden balls by jugglers surely goes back quite far, but the earliest use that I can find reference to was a statement from the s that Tongan jugglers sometimes substituted wooden balls for the typical nuts that they juggled. Ellis Stanyon sold wooden balls in In the s, Enrico Rastelli used small wooden balls covered in cloth for his ten ball flashes.

A more modern juggler that used wooden balls was Pepito Alvarez. The first juggler known to use billiard balls was Cinquevalli, who first used them in the s. They were very popular props for gentleman jugglers such as Kara and Salerno and those who specialized in billiard table acts, such as Asra. Paul Cinquevalli. Before that time, inflated animal bladders were used in some balls, but they were rarely round and not very useful for jugglers. It is often stated that Enrico Rastelli was the first juggler to utilize inflated balls into his performances, but this was not the case.

Enrico Rastelli. The earliest use of rubber bounce balls by jugglers dates back to the late s, when Russian juggler L. Street and others began to use them in their acts. Gentleman juggler Kara used tennis balls for bouncing in the late s.

Many other jugglers have used them, including Eric Philmore, who bounce juggled six of them using two tennis rackets. You might not think of bubbles as possible juggling props, but bubbles were used by Clara Braatz, Ollie and April Young, and the LaTours in their juggling acts in the s and early s.

Some of the bubbles used were soap bubbles and others were similar to gum arabic. Clara Braatz. Ollie Young and April. Likewise, other similar cultures are reported using balls of clay. Current juggler Jimmy Gonzalez uses clay in his act, creating different numbers of balls throughout the performance.

The idea of using clay in this manner originated with Erik Aberg. Juggglow introduced the first programmable lighted balls in the s. Fairly dense foam balls were used for juggling at least as early as , as with the Floyd Brothers set shown in the following photo.

Silicone bounce balls for juggling first appeared in the early s. Street jugglers entertaining the common folk were also popular in medieval Europe. In , jugglers first appeared as top acts in a circus when Philip Astley hired jugglers to perform with his troupe in England. In , juggling arrived to the circuses of the United States. Later, jugglers often provided entertainment in the theater during set changes and intermissions.

By the late s, jugglers and other acts were involved in a new style of entertainment, Vaudeville. With the arrival of movies and television, people attend less and less Vaudeville performances.

However, juggling has maintained its popularity and continues to attract new fans. Juggling boosts brain development. Research indicates that learning to juggle accelerates the growth of neural connections related to memory, focus, movement, and vision. Juggling builds hand-eye coordination in ways that improve reaction time, reflexes, spatial awareness, strategic thinking, and concentration. A: Many people can learn to juggle with JuggleFit scarves in 15 minutes or less.

Learning with balls usually takes longer — some learn in as little as 15 minutes, others may take one or more hours. Where to focus: Always watch the balance, not the juggle — the juggle should be in your peripheral vision.

With any balance, watch the highest part of the object you can see. If you can throw the ball so that it comes down in the correct place, catching it is much easier. Juggling provides a workout for your brain and body, Ms. Wolf said at the start of the minute class. She cited a range of benefits, including improved concentration and coordination and stress relief.

She also said we could burn up to calories per hour. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.