In this workshop, we go over the fun and ridiculous concept of juggling while on a chair…and…yes…doing the art popular in burlesque/floorwork/poledance known as “acrobatic chair” (acrochair). Note that this is an all-levels acrochair workshop that (because it’s IJA) assumes mastery of a cascade, though a basic understanding of a cascade suffices, since the toss juggling aspect of the workshop is not at all technical.
In this workshop, we will first put practice the fundamental concepts of acrochair. To do this, we’ll first talk about (as we stretch) the general concepts of “balance” that we’re very familiar with as jugglers, which ends up being the foundational building blocks of acrobatic chair.
After doing this, I’ll show some basic beginner acrochair tricks that incorporate this principle of balance, as well as some transitions. Next, I will challenge everyone by laying down the foundation of how to do a headstand by showing the easiest way of getting into it by balancing on a wall.
After showing these fundamental acrochair concepts and tricks, we will apply these concepts with balls, and highlight where the balls add some complexity of getting into various positions but where one can get into these positions and still be able to toss juggle. To do this and optimize the amount of chair positions where one can juggle, I will show how one juggles in three general hand arrangement position besides the usual one.
To conclude this workshop, I will talk about how even though it’s often associated today with burlesque/floorwork/poledance, also has a history with circus, and there’s particularly historical connections with juggling since chairs have very interesting balance geometry. Then I will give one final note as to how versatile the general concepts of this workshop translate into becoming a multitasking jack of all trades and master of none when it comes to circus, branching out to other multitask juggling possibilities such as juggling while on lyra or on pole, while keeping the ability to obtain and use the prop very accessible.