 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
JUGHEADS
Youth Juggling Company, LLC
5905 Concord Avenue
Edina, MN 55424
jugheads@comcast.net
612.229.3348
Developing youth through juggling since 1994.
 |
[Back to Paul's Platform main selection page]
March 2007
“Hurry Up and Wait”
 |
During our intense club rehearsals of late, my goal is to get in a minimum of three run-throughs of our entire club routine. This is a challenge, as kids arrive at such staggered times every day. In addition to club run-throughs, rehearsing “Rock This Town” and “Reach” need some devotion of time, not to mention meetings for notes on their run-throughs and reminders of crucial details on preparing for and performing in Juggle Jam (JJ) 9.
One of the many adages that can be attributed to show business is “Hurry up and wait.” This is especially true of any performer who has pivotal appearances in aproduction (live or media) yet is not on stage or on camera 100% of the time. For the Jugheads, this adage applies to 100% of them at our rehearsals. The simple yet often patience-testing process of waiting quietly in the wings for minutes on end, or sitting through a litany of notes for performers other than oneself, is character building. But such a process is necessary for any ensemble effort such as JJ.
Despite the
incorrect assumptions that JJ exists as a “fundraiser” or a
vehicle for upperclass stars, JJ is truly made or broken based on the
collective efforts to “hurry up and wait” for the months leading
up to
JJ weekend, as well as the two show nights themselves. If this were
merely an excuse for a hometown performance, we could much more easily
do that without fanfare by putting on a series of recitals in which no
more than a few kids perform on stage at the same time. However, this
tradition with very humble roots has grown precisely because the kids
know how special it is to be part of a larger company, a larger effort,
a larger reward than any one individual’s efforts.
I thank you, families, for taking the process so seriously (whether it’s your 1st or 9th JJ), and in our three remaining weeks of hurried waiting, I hope the Jugheads and even the parents savor the process and reap the rewards of a communal job well done.