The fountain is a
juggling pattern that is the method most often used for
juggling
Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object ...
an even number of
objects. In a
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
, each hand juggles separately, and the objects are not thrown between the hands, thus the number of balls is always even since any number of balls in one hand is doubled by the same number in the other hand. To illustrate this, it can be seen that in the most common fountain pattern where four balls are juggled, each hand juggles two balls independently. As Crego states "In the fountain pattern, each hand throws balls straight up into the air and each ball is caught in the same hand that throws it."
A fountain can be
synchronous
Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are said to be synchronou ...
or asynchronous. In a synchronous fountain, both hands throw at the same time, while in an asynchronous fountain, the hands alternate throws. "The fountain pattern...can be stably performed in two ways...one can perform the fountain with different frequencies for the two hands, but that coordination is difficult because of the tendency of the limbs to synchronize." The fountain is juggled in a circular fashion, distinguishing it from
columns
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...
. The circular method means that the balls juggled travel in a circle-like motion with the jugglers hands throwing the ball from a point close to their body centre line and catching the ball further away from their body centre line. This circular motion is called 'outside circles' and is the fountain pattern shown in the animation. This circle method can be reversed to create an 'inside circle' pattern whereby throws are from a position away from the body midline and catches are closer to the body midline. In the columns method the balls all travel vertically up and down in their own 'column', and are caught from where they are thrown.
Other fountain patterns
4 is the asynchronous asymmetrical fountain. (4,4) is the synchronous fountain. (4,4)(4,0) is a synchronous fountain with one ball missing (two in one, one in the other).
Wimpy, (4x,4x), is a crossing version of the synchronous fountain.
References
External links
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{{Juggling
Juggling patterns and tricks
Period 4 juggling patterns