The International Jugglers' Association or IJA is the world's oldest and largest nonprofit

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

organization, and is open to members worldwide. It was founded in the United States in 1947, with the goal of providing, "an organization for jugglers that would provide meetings at regular intervals in an atmosphere of mutual friendship." Although its focus lies on

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 ...

, its programs also support other circus disciplines.

Programs and events

The International Jugglers' Association runs the following programs and events: * International Regional Competitions * The Video Tutorial Contest * World Juggling Day * eJuggle - the IJA's official publication * The Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (MMCC)

Conventions and competitions

The International Jugglers' Association holds the largest week-long juggling festival in North America. (The largest juggling festival in the world is the

European Juggling Convention The European Juggling Convention (EJC), is the largest juggling convention in the world, regularly attracting several thousand participants. It is held every year in a different European country. It is organised by changing local organisation com ...

, started in 1978 and whose founders were members of the International Jugglers' Association). The convention is held in a different city each year during mid-to-late July since 1948. There were also additional winter conventions in the 90s. Aside from the competitions, at the convention there are shows open to the public in which professional jugglers perform, and workshops are taught by jugglers of all skill levels. The organization maintains lists of IJA record-holders, and IJA competitors.

IJA Stage Championship

The IJA's Stage Championships are the formal world juggling

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

that offers medals and prize money for juggling performances. These competitions are held during the week at the IJA's annual festival, held in the summer. There are three categories of IJA Stage Championships: Individuals (individual competitors), Teams (two or more people per team) and Juniors (individuals 17 years old or younger). The first annual world juggling championships were held at the Sheraton West Hotel in Los Angeles in 1969.

IJA Online Juggling Championship

In response to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

, IJA created an annual event based on IJA Stage Championships normally held at the annual IJA Festival, but with some modifications to accommodate the circumstances. Instead of a live event, videos submissions judged by the entire attending IJA membership in five categories of Juggling Difficulty, Juggling Creativity, Juggling Execution, Entertainment Value, and Presentation.

IJA Numbers Championships

The Numbers Championships awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals to those who demonstrate that they can juggle the most balls,

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

or rings for the highest number of catches. Competition occurs in three categories: Individuals, Duos and Trios. See the current IJA records. Starting at the 2006 convention, prize is given to each "numbers" winner, with an extra prize for anyone who breaks an existing International Jugglers' Association record. Other competitions held at the IJA's annual festival include the Individual Prop Competitions, th
Extreme Juggling Competitions
the World

Joggling Joggling is a competitive sport that combines juggling with jogging. People who joggle are called jogglers.Beck, S. (2012, October 18).Joggling the Marathon: 3 Beanbags and 26.2 Miles. ''The New York Times''. Retrieved froSeptember 11, 2001. T ...

Championships, as well as traditional (and more informal) juggling games and events.

Publications

The IJA has published ''Jugglers' World'' and ''JUGGLE'' magazine. In 2012, the IJA transitioned to an all-digital form of communications, halting publication of JUGGLE magazine. Today, members read juggling news throug
eJuggle
hosted on the IJA's website. In addition to the online magazine, the IJA also produces a monthl
eNewsletter
with IJA news, articles of interest, and news from the global juggling community.

Notable members

* Thomas Dietz * Vova Galchenko *

Marcus Monroe Marcus Monroe (born May 2, 1985) is an actor/juggler/TV personality currently living in New York City. Marcus was born in 1985 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He moved to New York in 2004 to pursue a career in entertainment. Marcus has appeared on ...

Christoph Mitasch Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenhofe ...

Manuel Mitasch Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Ma ...

The Passing Zone The Passing Zone is an American comedy- juggling duo comprising Jon Wee and Owen Morse. Wee, originally from Minnesota, and Morse, a California native, met at a juggling convention in northern California in 1986 and decided two years later to ...

Thom Wall Thom Wall (born February 9, 1987) is a juggler and variety entertainer from Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. NPR has called him "one of the world's most notable jugglers." Wall is known for his avant-garde performance style, cultivated through trai ...

Sergeij Ignatov Sergei Ignatov (in Russian Сергей Игнатов) (born 1950 in Chemnitz, Germany) is a Russian juggler, known as "The Poet of Juggling", notable for his numbers juggling. At his prime during the 1970–90 period, Sergei Ignatov worke ...

Anthony Gatto Anthony Gatto (born Anthony Commarota on April 14, 1973) is an American juggler who holds several juggling world records. He began performing in Las Vegas at the age of ten. Early years Born in ManhattanGatto, From Vaudeville Acro-Cat to the K ...

Presidents have included Ronald Graham, co-inventor of

Mills Mess In toss juggling, Mills' Mess is a popular juggling pattern, typically performed with three balls although the props used and the number of objects can be different. The pattern was invented by and named after Steve Mills. It is a well-known tr ...

References

External links

* * {{Juggling Juggling Organizations established in 1947