DIFFICULTY SQUARED

 

High level baton twirling is hard. It requires exceptional hand and finger dexterity, a degree of coordination I can't imagine. Then take three batons, twirl them and juggle them. Cody Carter, the first act at Circus Flora, had the crowd gasping.                

THE COURTING JESTERS

 

One of the first acts the family encountered when we arrived at the Renaissance Festival was Ace and Rosie, a charming young couple from Minnesota who perform as The Courting Jesters. (They are an item but not married, so, get it?) He is a juggler - balls, knives, flaming torches, or all at the same time. She is a hula hoop adept, spinning up to 10 at a time from her neck to her ankles. She can even spin a hoop on her nose.  

And funny, too. Locals, there is one last weekend to see them at the festival. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565555291701                  

EYE - HAND COORDINATION

Another act from Circus Flora. What this photo doesn't capture is just how fast this man was juggling. Never seen the like and only a very fast shutter speed could catch the moving clubs. Someone once tried to teach me how  to juggle three balls and I couldn't come close.         

HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

I don't know if you would describe this woman as a juggler, acrobat or something else, but she was a big hit at the Chinese Cultural Festival. This is her thing, keeping umbrellas spinning using all four extremities. The announcer said she holds the world record for keeping ten of them going at the same time. Being a bit on the clumsy side, I just can't imagine it.             

HEADS UP

More images from Circus Flora. A young man with what I assume is a deliberately wacky hairdo avoids a club on the nose. In the middle, a multi-talented woman entertains the crowd with an electric violin while entwined in cords high above the floor. Below, the same dancer-acrobats we saw yesterday strike a pose that reminds me of a scene from Bob Fosse's All That Jazz.                

Under The Little Top

 

The City Museum contains rehearsal space for Circus Harmony, an organization that trains young people in the skills of that performing tradition. Kids who might otherwise be on the street work vary hard and learn to do amazing things. Some of the members show their stuff at the museum on weekends.

I don't understand how anybody can do this stuff since, for starters,I am not well coordinated and have zero athletic talent. But he sure has it. Four balls in the air (and another in his right hand)? Amazing.           

Pinhead

Really, kids, you should absolutely never even think about tyrying this at home. Well, maybe if you are dressed in a football lineman's uniform but ask your parents anyway.

Of course there are skilled jugglers off camera to the left and right and of course the clubs are passing in front of and behind his head. But of course the crowd was desperately hoping that one of them would smack him in the bean.                                       

Third Eye

We had a different fire eater yesterday. This man is a metal craftsman. He and his crew make these chain-mail juggling balls. They will make you a sword if you want them to.

The caption was chosen partly because the second comedy bit on yesterday's link was The Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye. Audio sample here.

In Your Face

Hello from Indianapolis. It is a city in our region, four hours drive away, which is modest by Midwestern standards. It's someplace I have driven through many times going back east but not a place I really know. Downtown, where my conference is, is less derelict than central St. Louis, but has little interesting architecture, less spunk, no Arch and no Mississippi River. It's nice and plain.

So this is another image from Train Day at Union Station. I don't understand juggling, being the least coordinated person I know. Their art is magical to me.                 

Potato Juggler

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There have been food vendors at the site of Soulard Farmers Market continuously since 1779. It's a busy, off-beat and inexpensive place to shop food (one vendor sells roasted alligator on a stick). There was a small craft fair at the market yesterday (more about that soon). I took some pictures there and among the vendors' stalls. This young man was playing with the merchandise. I certainly couldn't do it.

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Another Installment Of That's Entertainment

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Mrs. C., daughter Emily and I made it to closing night of our Shakespeare In The Park festival on Sunday. It was still stiflingly hot, 88 F / 31 C, when we left at 11 PM. The Dane was a bit too melancholy for me. What with the weather and a couple of glasses of wine at our picnic supper, I fell asleep in the second half. What a piece of work is man.

In some ways, the most entertaining part of the evening is the green show that precedes the play. Jugglers Josh and Jeff are always on hand. They like a little audience participation. Click on the first picture to enlarge it and look at the face of the "volunteer." They wielded the clubs so precisely that a moment later they knocked his hat sideways by hitting the bill.

Countdown to camera camp: six days.