Circus Skills workshops by

"Thanks for coming to our school. We enjoyed the lessons you taught us. We look forward to you returning in February." ~ St. Matthew's School

The workshops teach juggling, stilt walking, balance, knots, plate/ball spinning, and cats' cradles.

  1. Instructor qualifications:
    • 10 years teaching at the International Jugglers' conventions
    • 3 years as director of education for the International Jugglers' Association
    • Using a new method we taught 6-40 min classes of high school students to juggle (Learning for this skill is defined as regularly making 6 throws and catches)
    • 15 years teaching free classes at the local YMCA
  2. Class needs/recommendations:

    "Thanks for letting us balance the feathers. We have been trying all day to balance pencils, caps, rulers, markers, etc." ~ Your friends at Reading Cluster Program

    • Optimum class size is no more than 30 per instructor
    • Minimum recommended ages:
      • Ball juggling - 8 to 10 years old
      • Balance skills
        • Peacock feather - 4 to 6 years old
        • Stilts - 6 to 8 years old
    • Maximum ages to date:
      • Juggling - 72 years old
      • Balance skills
        • Peacock feather - 100 years old
        • Stilts - 67 years old
        • Unicycling - 62 years young
    • All equipment is furnished for the duration of the class
    • The Links page has suppliers of equipment for your future use
    • To make your own equipment, see the links below the "Circus Skills" link
  3. Benefits (to help you sell it to the boss):

    "You both really sparked our interest in balancing. They drove me nuts the rest of the day. It seems all objects have balancing potential!" ~ Reading Cluster Teacher

    The workshops teach more than circus skills. While having fun, students also receive these benefits.

    • Self-esteem
    • Stress relief
    • Body awareness
    • Hand-eye Coordination
    • Upper body aerobic exercise
    • Integrating the right and left brain
    • Picking up drops is great for flexibility
    • Improves reflexes and spatial awareness
    • Develops gross and fine motor coordination
  4. Why our circus skills class?
    • Learning ends when frustration begins
    • There are enough different skills - everyone will succeed at something
    • Switching to another skill frees the student's mind
    • Returning to the original skill progress can be quite rapid
  5. Costs:
    • As little as $100 for a class (with everything furnished)
Plate spinning is a great introduction to ball spinning.

Here is what students are saying about our workshops:

"I learned that you get exercise from it and it is also fun to do."

"I learned that you can do anything if you put your mind to it."

Skills learned will give a students' self-image a boost as each student finds something to master.

"You are the best jugglers in the world!"A fan thank you - showing real artistic potential.

"Thanks so much for coming to our Family Reading Night. Kids are still juggling tennis balls on the playground." ~ Stewardson Grade School

A special thank you note.