Olga Riis, antipodist. How on earth have I not heard of her before? Worth watching for the 3 (small) ball cascade using only soles of feet alone.
http://juggling.tv/16098
Thanks for the share - she's fab!
Great to see an antipodist specializing in small balls - unusual.
Interesting that women significantly outnumber men in antipodism (not counting risley) - I wonder why that is? It may just be 'tradition', but I wonder if there's another significance.
I would say it's largely tradition; but it also helps very much if you are flexible in your legs and hips, which is an advantage that women naturally have over men.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Especially in the "new school" of lying on the floor instead of a trinka, the flexibility helps a lot. I know at least 6 girls who actively work on antipodism on the floor with small balls, yet not a single guy... But 6 girls in all of Europe, is that enough to start a "tradition"?
As for trinka supported antipodists: I never noticed that there were more girls... I have seen more men perform it, both live and on video, but I have more female friends who have practised it (2 vs 0)..
I remember seeing an acrobatics duo, where one acrobat was an antipodist and the other was a light kid and served as the antipodism prop. Other than that I don't remember seeing any male antipodists videos or even live. Do you have some male antipodism videos to share?
And, saving the best until last, Will Carr:
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/will-carr/query/juggling
Ah those Pathé commentaries: "Now he's starting to get really busy, so if you want his penknife you'd better ask him now"
Excellent share, thanks.
For future ref, the Pathé vids are all up on YouTube now, on this channel.
Antip with a human prop (ie. flyer) is usually called Risley. (Also known as Icarian games).
Often done with a child flyer, but not always:
https://youtu.be/-C6rwT88RcM
The gender balance of Risley acts is opposite to antip ie. lots more male Risley acts than female (from what I've seen, anyway).
@Daniel Simu I may well be wrong about this, it's just a perception based on what I've viewed. I definitely wouldn't claim to be up-to-date, and I may be skewed by seeing lots of Chinese antip acts, which are almost always female.
Now I'm going to have to go dig through my vids and do a count...
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Ah yes, somehow I forgot about the Chinese acts I've seen and even the one performer who I know, which exclusively adds to the female list..!
@Julius
I'm without proper internet atm, but I see VOID already made quite a list. Satisfying, or do you wish to see more? I don't know which videos he showed, but I can sure find you some ;)
OK, so I did a rough count of the acts I have on tape.
Total antip acts: 30 (not including risley)
All-female acts: 24
All-male acts: 4
Mixed male+female 1
Bear (gender unknown) 1
(15 of the all-female acts are chinese)
Draw whatever conclusions you wish.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
That's much more female than I presumed, interesting indeed! I am going to suggest that pretty legs could be a factor in female acts dominating the field!
Little Paul - - Parent #
Yup.
I have some theories about transferable skills from dance training etc, but they're not very interesting and have no basis in anything meaningful as I don't really know anyone who has seriously trained antipodism.
However, what I find more interesting is the split between Risely and Antipodism. I can see why the base might me bore traditionally male for Risely (for all the reasons male bases are common in other acro disciplines) but why is the flier so commonly male as well, when fliers in other acro disciplines are more skewed to female?
In related wonderings, where did the term risley come from? Was it a family name for a troupe that popularised it? If so - where were they from and what was the gender balance in their troupe?
Without doing a count my perception of risley acts is that I've probably seen similar numbers of male/female children as fliers, but most adult fliers are male. Intriguing.
Dynamic fliers are often male - flying trapeze, Russian swing, banquine etc. My guess would be that for dynamic fliers power (ie. strength x speed) is more critical than 'portability'.
Having said that, almost all the Russian bar acts I've seen have female fliers, and that's definitely dynamic flying.
Dunno.
The name comes from the American who is credited with inventing it - Richard Risley Carlisle.
I'm actually more intrigued by its other name - Jeux Icariens, which presumably comes from the Icarus myth. I don't really see the connection - perhaps it's because risley fliers only manage a brief flight before they plummet back to earth.
One of the meanings I found for Icarian is "Of or relating to an over-ambitious attempt that ends in ruin" - which makes it the most pessimisticly named artform ever!
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
If you are more interested in the origins of the Risely name: Professor Risley (indeed Richard Risley Carlisle) was a very intriguing person, who did much more than just invent this circus discipline!
He was the first to bring a Japanese circus troupe to the western world, in times when Japan was pretty much shut down. This has had an impact on Japanese culture. Also he started the first milk & ice cream business in Japan, was a world class ice-skater, billiard player and wrestler. Also a world traveler, sharp shooter, circus owner, and survivor of multiple catastrophes.
You'd think I'd exaggerate, and I thought so too when I first heard of him... B
I recommend you to get hold of: Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe, surely one of the most interesting circus books I've read!
Why?
I think Daniel has a valid point. In our society the legs of a woman count as one of their sexy parts. This, together with 'sex sells', leads to the proposition that Daniel suggests.
lukeburrage - - Parent #
I think you are looking at it the wrong way.
If you spend a lot of time juggling with the feet and legs, your legs are probably going to develop some pretty good muscles and tone. I know that when I juggle a lot, my body changes shape, so I'm sure the same thing happens for antipodists of any gender.
And then, when it comes to circus, having a good body is generally seen as an asset in terms of both athletic ability and aesthetic appeal. If you've got an asset, why not show it off! This is why male acrobats tend to show off their chest and arm muscles as much as female antipodists show off their legs.
That women have pretty legs isn't why they become good antipodists, but good antipodists have pretty legs, and society typically rewards women who show off their pretty legs, so we often see antipodists with pretty legs.
I'm not saying this is right (in a moral way), it might be a more correct way of formulating your "pretty legs being a factor" comment.
However, while I can think of some antipodists who (it seems) play up their pretty legs in their performances, I can think of just as many who don't. Two examples:
Selyna wears tight rubber and, when standing up for applause after a routine in her act, literally presents her behind to the audience for their appreciation:
http://www.lukeburrage.com/travelpodcast/20160501-Brianza-Juggling-Convention-2016/20160501-Brianza-Juggling-Convention-2016-thumbnails-153.jpg
But Nata's costume and personality are whimsical and her sexuality doesn't come into her performance at all:
http://www.lukeburrage.com/travelpodcast/20150802-EJC-2015-Bruneck/20150802-EJC-2015-Bruneck-thumbnails-347.jpg
From my memory, most antipodists don't show off their legs/bodies any more or less than any other circus performers.
@DanielSimu I have a couple of acts using a 'human trinka'. Ever seen this?
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
I don't think so, though I've played in shows where people supported both antipodists & a tiny bit of risley! And there is of course the chinese platforms supported by 2 guys feet, on which the ikarian base lies, so you have essentially 3 bases, but I suppose this is not what you mean?
I'm curious now :)
Little Paul - - Parent #
That last trick is mad
I forgot to mention - they won gold.
Also, they are from the 'Cirque de l'Avenir' section of the competition, which makes them all max 17 yrs old.
What are those ``clothy´´ spinning plates called? .. And, yeah, thanks for sharing! Awesome.
In Chinese acrobatics one of the popular branches of antip involves spinning small carpets - I think these are probably an adaptation of that - my guess would be, being round, these are slightly easier to start the spin than a traditional square carpet - which seems a fair compromise given that she's in a head to head balance at the time.
Carpet spinning is often teamed up with contortion balancing.
I'll dig out a carpet spinning act or two for your delectation.
I see. Thanks, both, You and Daniel for the in deep answers. (Spinning) "carpets" and "doekjes" do sound reasonable.
I could fancy juggling three of them like rings, rather than plates. Guess one could combine a juggle into spin and-or do spin-flourishes with them, even though being flabby. Maybe by swapping it once from wrist on every throw, or by catching them at their top one could make up for them landing with wrong spin direction.
However .. seems a nice prop to have.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Yeah, you can. I'm sure some people have played around with it, and more people will since dapostar is bringing them into juggling community.
Soesja Pijlman experimented with non-spinning tricks for sure, but I don't know how much. She doesn't perform much, and the material online is not representative, but if you're really curious she might be a lead to more info :)
[ I'm afraid, my to-watch list is flowing over, so no need to do that for me, (but maybe others are interested?), thx. ]
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
As far as I am aware there is not a single name for them. A Chinese teacher of mine calls them "Doekjes", which is Dutch for "pieces of cloth"..
They commonly appear in round, square and 8 pointed star shapes. The edges are weighted, you can easily make this yourself by inserting the lead chains used for drapery in the seam.
In my (limited) experience the shape does not influence the difficulty much, just its appearance. Size is a much bigger influence, larger is harder to start and takes more force to keep on going, but is also more stable.
When working with sticks or for practise, it can be helpful to make a thick ring with a smaller diameter in the center, in which you can place your stick much like how you use a spinning plate.
Since they are relatively easy to spin, easier than plates I'd say, but very visual, it has become a tool to enhance acrobatic tricks.
Cool example: https://www.facebook.com/behailoujosef/videos/vb.100003856182804/551961001609101/?type=3
Also, they are being sold commercially in Spain by the name of Dapostar, and I see them quite often on juggling conventions now! https://www.dapostar.com/
I've been playing with some Dapostars for just over a year now. They're not actually weighted at all - they're a three layer construction of stretchy lycra & a neoprene core with quite complex stitching around the edges. Due to family & work commitments I don't get much practise time these days, but I have managed to get two spinning at once recently and tried some stick-based balancing stuff.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
You enrich my life!
I do remember now that I have seen acrobatically supported antipodism, such as for example Viktor & Violetta kiss do, but this act takes it to a whole new level! Thanks a lot for sharing! :D
Yes, the 'human trinka' comment was a bit of a tease. Antip in acro balance has been done in many acts, but this is the first time I've seen it as the basis of an entire act. Also the first time I've seen it done with parasols.
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Same here!
Daniel Simu - - Parent #
Also, the video commentator itself speaks of the "first time antipodism without trinka"