The Yokel Jugglers are preparing for Endorse it in Dorset, which is only 2 weeks away!

First of all we had a meeting to discuss how we are going to plan our days at Endorse it in Dorset, Finalasing who will be attending and when.

There will be 12 members attending Endorse it in Dorset and we will be running hourly workshops in Juggling, Poi, Hula Hoop, Plate Spinning and many more.

There will also be a Play area where you can just play with the circus equipment, if you dont want to join a workshop, or if you already know what to do but forgot your toys!!!!

We will be Face Painting and balloon modelling too.

When the meeting was over we had our very own workshop within the club, teaching each other skills we hadn't learnt or were not confident in. I learnt how to throw and catch a Diablo!!! I loved it!! Plate Spinning and Flower Stick workshops were going on too and a few of us took the equipment home so we could practise what we had learnt that evening.

The Yokel Jugglers are REALLY excited about attending Endorse it in Dorset! Hopefully we will see you there!!!!!

www.endorseit.co.uk

On Sunday 4th July the Beaminster Festival Held the Beaminster Festival Family Finale in the Beaminster Memorial Playing Fields and the Yokel Jugglers were invited to join in the fun.

It was an overcast warm windy day and Ed, Alex, Marcus, Craig and I went to the Beaminster Memorial Playing Fileds to host our 1st workshop of the year.

We had our own designated area which we filled with Hula Hoops, Poi, Juggling Balls, Diablo, Flower Sticks, Spinning Plates, Contact Balls and Staff, Giving the families of Beaminster a variety of circus skills to learn.

At 2pm the field started to fill and the workshops began. Craig had the most successfull workshop, he was surrounded by children wanting to learn the magic of Contact Balls. If Craig wasn't sitting with his Contact Balls  looking like a Mystic Wizard then he was teaching the children how to use the Staffs.

Ed and Alex taught the children and their parents how to juggle. There was definetley some potential competition in our little area and although the rain held off it showered Juggling Balls!

I taught the children to spin their Poi, it wasnt long before I was in a sea of giant Butterflies or a whirlwind of Weaves.

Some of the children were helping each other learn how to use a Diablo, Spinning Plates were learning to fly, Dads were Hula Hooping and the Flower Sticks started to grow roots!!

Last but not least we had Marcus entertaining the crowd as he towered above them on his Stilts as well as amazing them with his speed and skill on the Unicycle.

The workshop ended at 4pm and it was time for us to perform for the guests of the Family Finale. I was the "warm" up act before Alex and Ed, dancing with my Cobra Poi to Deliriums "Silence" It was the 1st time i had performed to music and although i was nervous, the crowds clapping gave me confidence and soon i was in a world of my own with the Poi and the music.

Alex and Ed were up next with a Club Passing routine which was comical and talented, it was Alex's 1st performance and he was brilliant!!!!!! Of course when Club passing you need a volunteer to risk standing inbetween the Jugglers while they passed the Clubs. A brave young man took it upon himself to volunteer for this deadly task. Again the crowd were superb and gave encouraging cheers to Ed, Alex and the brave volunteer.

Once the Club Passing had finished there was a chant coming from the crowd "Unicycle! Unicycle! Unicycle!" They cried! We had an unexpected finale. Alex and Ed took their positions and started Club passing and with perfect timing Marcus Unicycled in and out of the passes! You wouldnt believe that this had not been practisied!

After the fantastic finale our day was over. Considering it was our 1st Event of the year, it went without a glitch and we cant wait for the next one!!!!!!

http://www.beamfest.org.uk/index.html