Matt Hall at Cirque Du Soliel...Thrill of Victory/Agony of Defeat...and a Question.
Matt Hall
How's this for a high/low story? I went down last weekend to hang out
with Steve Regatz and Cirque Du Soleil--On Saturday I actually got to
teach the chinese diabolo act a thing or two about the way we do
diabolo here in the good ol' US of A. We met up in the club house of
the complex where Cirque is housing Steve and his family (sweet
place--Cirque does not miss a trick). I spent about two hours teaching
them different tricks with Paul, their translator, putting in as much
effort as I was putting in. They were most impressed with
vertax/excalibur moves, so I spent a great deal of time teaching them
that trick. However, I also taught them slowcides, stirring the pot,
and the basic magic knot. Too funny, eh? When it comes to diabolo,
they definitely learn quickly, but they are ignorant of the movements
that have swept the prop in the last few years (intergral suicides,
three low wrap starts, genocides, etc...).
It was a GREAT weekend. Steve hooked me and Lisa up with absolutely the
best seats in the house for the 4pm show, and then we got to come
backstage and hang out/have dinner with the cast for the 8pm show. Kobe
Bryant was backstage at one point. I got to do some juggling, but
mainly we just sat on the couch, watched the whole thing unfold around
us, and met/hung out with the cast. Jerome and his partner Essa (sp?)
from the Statue hand-balancing act were particularly gracious and
welcoming. Jerome was interested in siteswaps so I showed him a few
before the stage manager (Ben) returned and put a stop to the hijinks.
Steve and I had to actually go outside to do cigar boxes because we
didn't want to disturb the backstage vibe. What the heck? As Steve
said, "When did circus/juggling get so serious?" Still, It was their
world and I was just living in it for a bit, so I tried not to cause
waves. All in all, it was a magical weekend for me and the wife.
Thanks again to Steve for the hook-up, and for all the great
talks/pointers he gave me throughout the weekend. The man is a master
class on performing on foot. You can see pictures here:
http://www.stevenragatz.com/cirque/matt_hall
There is a sad end note however....Southwest Airlines lost my juggling
bag on our flight back to San Jose. 5 delphins, 9 nord bags, 4 Henry's
(with 4erlei axles!!!!!), 1 kendama, 4 Dube cigar boxes, 10 silicones
and the juggling notebook my dad gave me and that I've used for 6
years. ALL GONE..........Southwest Airlines will be the first ones up
against the wall when the revolution comes...mark my words....
Did I mention that I leave for the Israeli Convention and the British
convention in 8 days? Sooo...my juggling friends....what would you do?
Wait and hope for the airlines to find the bag? Or begin ordering the
replacement props immediately (even though I can't afford it on my
paltry teacher's salary...)?
I am drinking heavily as I write this...
matt
hushypushy
and please, no Henry's Giant tuning kits for diabolo, we found out today
they arent that great.
-Matt
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xfirebladex
Ha, too damn right. I'd be so angry at the airline for loosing the bag,
why can't it just be allowed as carry-on? There must have been about
$1000 worth of stuff in there, not to mention the sentimental value. Get
onto them and hammer them hard for your gear or fork up the hefty sum in
compensation.
Hope it works itself out, what really happens when you luggage goes
through the check-in desk?
Hope to see you at the British,
Chiok
Dave Barnes
> Hi everyone!
>
> How's this for a high/low story? I went down last weekend to hang out
> with Steve Regatz and Cirque Du Soleil
[snip]
I enjoyed reading about that - it was funny to imagine the two worlds
colliding!
> There is a sad end note however....Southwest Airlines lost my juggling
> bag on our flight back to San Jose. 5 delphins, 9 nord bags, 4 Henry's
> (with 4erlei axles!!!!!), 1 kendama, 4 Dube cigar boxes, 10 silicones
> and the juggling notebook my dad gave me and that I've used for 6
> years. ALL GONE..........Southwest Airlines will be the first ones up
> against the wall when the revolution comes...mark my words....
>
> Did I mention that I leave for the Israeli Convention and the British
> convention in 8 days? Sooo...my juggling friends....what would you do?
> Wait and hope for the airlines to find the bag? Or begin ordering the
> replacement props immediately (even though I can't afford it on my
> paltry teacher's salary...)?
Oof, nasty one. I do worry about your luck sometimes! I think I'd wait a
while - if the stuff doesn't turn up, a convention is probably the best
place to replace props.
I can easily lend you three Akrobat axled Henrys for the length of the BJC
if need be. They're very similar to 4erleis.
Hope the stuff turns up,
Dave
Little Paul
> There is a sad end note however....Southwest Airlines lost my juggling
> bag on our flight back to San Jose. 5 delphins, 9 nord bags, 4 Henry's
> (with 4erlei axles!!!!!), 1 kendama, 4 Dube cigar boxes, 10 silicones
> and the juggling notebook my dad gave me and that I've used for 6
> years. ALL GONE..........Southwest Airlines will be the first ones up
> against the wall when the revolution comes...mark my words....
Bummer!
Is there any chance that you can claim on your travel insurance? (You
do insure all that kit when you travel don't you?)
Sure it won't get the juggling notebook back, but you should be able to
recover some of the cost of the other kit.
> Did I mention that I leave for the Israeli Convention and the British
> convention in 8 days? Sooo...my juggling friends....what would you do?
> Wait and hope for the airlines to find the bag?
I'd be doing a certain amount of that, along with a lot of phoning them
up, shouting at them, demanding compensation and trying to file an
insurance claim :-)
> Or begin ordering the
> replacement props immediately (even though I can't afford it on my
> paltry teacher's salary...)?
I'd probably do a bit of this as well, but as Dave said - the smart
purchasing approach would be to wait until you get to one of the
conventions and buy it all cheap :-)
Oh, and if they happen to find your bag after you've replaced everything
- you can always ebay your old kit and continue using the shiny new kit!
> I am drinking heavily as I write this...
I'm sure that you can use the story to score a beer or two at BJC ;-)
-Paul
Charlie
> Hi everyone!
> There is a sad end note however....Southwest Airlines lost my juggling
> bag on our flight back to San Jose. 5 delphins, 9 nord bags, 4 Henry's
> (with 4erlei axles!!!!!), 1 kendama, 4 Dube cigar boxes, 10 silicones
> and the juggling notebook my dad gave me and that I've used for 6
> years. ALL GONE..........Southwest Airlines will be the first ones up
> against the wall when the revolution comes...mark my words....
>
> Did I mention that I leave for the Israeli Convention and the British
> convention in 8 days? Sooo...my juggling friends....what would you do?
> Wait and hope for the airlines to find the bag? Or begin ordering the
> replacement props immediately (even though I can't afford it on my
> paltry teacher's salary...)?
>
> I am drinking heavily as I write this...
Poor Matt, I sympathise - I had a load of circus stuff stolen some years
ago so I know how you feel. I'll buy you a pint at BJC...
Charlie
>
> matt
>
hushypushy
bags. yep, all of em. luckily, i'm extremely cautious of the airport, so i
had ONLY clothes in my bag. they got two of our bags back on the same day
we arrived, but one bag came back after our entire trip was over (a week
or so later). it had turned up in Salt Lake City with no tags. so, to
their credit, they do keep looking and looking...you just have to wait for
that magical phone call...
and folks, always check every single piece of baggage that you possibly
can. especially the extremely valuable stuff.
hushypushy
:p
Matt Hall
They just called me 1 minute ago to say that the bag had been found in
LA. What happened is that they were searching for a red suitcase,
instead of a red duffle bag. I called today to confirm the description
they had in the computer and discovered the error. When they changed
their search criterion, it popped up. Figure that....and a good lesson
for anyone who has to go through this in the future. Make sure they
get the description of the item right.
I want to say thanks to all the folks that offered support and help
with props:
Neils offered me clubs.
Dave offered me diabolos (let's talk more about how I can get my hands
on those Akrobat axles...I'm tired of stressing about 4erleis)
Sean offered me 3 complete diabolo kits
Steve Ragatz called me last night and talked to me when I was sad and
drunk
Jon Wee gave me a pep talk, as did Ivan.
Charlie offered me a pint.
John Nord began making bags for me immediately (I'll still take 'em!!!
Spares are good!)
Lots of folks (including my students) gave me a pat on the back and
said, "hang in there"
Thanks y'all. It meant a great deal to me. Getting the bag back (I
really just wanted the bag that Lisa gave me and the notebook) is
awesome, but having friends and fellow jugglers like y'all is the real
juice for me. (DEEP BOW).
Matt
8 days until IJC/BJC...It is now ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!!!
xfirebladex
> Well folks....here's the deal.
>
> They just called me 1 minute ago to say that the bag had been found in
> LA. What happened is that they were searching for a red suitcase,
> instead of a red duffle bag. I called today to confirm the description
> they had in the computer and discovered the error. When they changed
> their search criterion, it popped up. Figure that....and a good lesson
> for anyone who has to go through this in the future. Make sure they
> get the description of the item right.
Wow, that's super special of them. But the important thing is that it all
came back, especially the important things.
>
> Matt
>
> 8 days until IJC/BJC...It is now ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!!!
Sounds like another small odessey of travelling for you. If you feel the
need to get drunk with someone at the BJC, perhaps we'll meet, I'm gone on
like 2 pints of cider[1]
Chiok
www.gravityvomit.co.uk
[1] - That's the fermented alcoholic stuff, not apple juice.
Schwolop
*snip* about getting his stuff back...
I was going to offer you the kendama you left here in Sydney, but looks
like you aren't going to need it
afterall!
Those photos are sweet, looks like everyone had a blast. Cirque is going
to be in Sydney soon too, which
should be awesome. I can't remember what show it is this time, but I'll
see if I can scam free tickets
again! hehe!
Tom
P.S. The 5 ball mills is improving - thanks for the tips!
jugglemad
im glad you got your bag and book back. i know how special those two
things are to you. i hope you have a brilliant time at your conventions.
make it worthy
mark
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