On Courage

Being an ex-school educator, Teachers' Day has a very special meaning for me. While I am still in the line of moulding the characters of our young, even more so now that our circus arts programmes are geared towards character development, I am no longer on the receiving end of the pretty little gifts. Now I am proud to be part of the giving end - by helping our circus arts programme's students put up a performance for their teachers on Teachers' Day this year!

I think I learn to appreciate the students' efforts more now.

From not daring to perform, to trying to put together a routine, and swallowing the lumps of fear in their throats while making sure that they remember their moves, our students grew... My proudest moment was when a few of them told our instructor, "We think we are not doing enough tricks for our segment. We choreographed a longer routine yesterday."  Were these the same kids who had told us a couple weeks before that they dared not perform and would not turn up on the actual day??

We hope the teachers who had seen the performance saw past the smiles the kids plastered on their faces, through their screaming pounding hearts, to the sheer determination (they even asked to borrow the props home to practise) and bravery inside.

Succeed or not, it really doesn't matter. What's important is that you try. Our students hear this from us all the time. This is the one most important thing we hope they take away at the end of the programme. We like to think that those students who performed come out a little bit more courageous, a little bit stronger.

Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures of the actual performance
because we were sweating with them backstage.
Well, they were perfect anyway!

On Durians and Students

July had been a busy month for us and boy, are we glad it's August! Our Nation's 47th birthday and the upcoming Hari Raya Puasa have put us all in a festive mood!

14 July was pretty special for us as it was the first time we ever went to a RC Block Party themed "Durian Nite". That really goes to show how much this nation love this thorny, pungent, creamy and utterly delectable fruit (me like!).

Heavenly! ^^

But i digress... We were there not for durian, but to promote circus arts to the public. The residents were treated to a juggling performance by our resident juggler and had the chance to try out various juggling props. The guest-of-hounour, Mr Wong Kan Seng, even had a go and tried out flowerstick juggling!

The smiles say it all...

On a sadder note, July marked the end of a series of workshops for one of our schools. We go to different schools, we meet different teachers and students. Some days are fun, some days are more trying. This is one school where we must say we enjoyed all the sessions and the students. The fast learners are self-motivated to pick up advanced skills while the slower ones are amazing as they simply do not give up!

We definitely hope to see this bunch of kids again!

Thank you for the memories! See you again at the next juggling workshop!

EP Day and World Juggling day 2012 (Singapore)

We were at Bishan CC (again!) last Saturday, 16 June 2012 for 2 special reasons. First, Bishan CC had their Emergency Preparedness day cum Racial Harmony Day cum Family Day (yup, all rolled into one) carnival and we were part of this very meaningful event.

We were there to introduce juggling to the public and to invite people to our circus arts interest group at Bishan CC. The joyous smiles on the children's and adults' faces when they finally manged to spin a plate, or to spin the diabolo, are what makes our day. And we were so happy when some of them came back to find us and to learn juggling at our weekly interest group practice session yesterday!

  

Later in the afternoon, World Juggling Day and NERF Shootout was on! We had a whale of a time as jugglers and non-jugglers came down to meet up, practise and exchange tips and knowledge! It was especially interesting to see participants crossing over from one side of the hall to the other, to try out NERF or to try juggling.

The event was filled with games, passion and fun galore! Check out the following video and photos to see what we mean!

3 Clubs Gladiator

More videos and photos are available on our Facebook page!

Well, while everyone had fun that day, we believe that such gatherings need not be a once-a-year affair! It should occur more frequently! Do join us at Child's Play Juggling Interest Group every Tuesday, 7.30pm to 9.30pm at Bishan CC!

World Juggling Day 2012 (Singapore)

World Juggling Day 2012 (Singapore)
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NERF Shootout

To help spread the fun of juggling and to bring jugglers together all over the world, the International Jugglers' Association (IJA) presents World Juggling Day (WJD) on June 16, 2012. 


This is an annual event that was started to honor the founding of the International Jugglers' Association in June 1947, with the IJA annually declaring a Saturday in June as "World Juggling Day." 


This year, Child's Play Entertainment is joining in the celebration. In collaboration with Bishan YEC, we are organising a WJD x NERF Shootout at Bishan CC (yup, same venue as Child's Play PAssion Juggling Festival 2012) and we are inviting all jugglers in town to come down and have fun juggling together!

Non-jugglers are welcomed to come down too because what better way is there for you to learn juggling and participate in NERF at the same time for free??

More details are available on our Facebook event page. Hope to see you there!

Child's Play PAssion Juggling Festival 2012

Wow...Oh wow...

We just had the most memorable weekend of our lives... Were you there?

26 and 27 May 2012 marked the first ever international juggling festival to be held in Singapore - Child's Play PAssion Juggling Festival 2012. We were honoured and privileged to have been able to invite some of the best performers in the world to attend the festival. Okotanpe (Master of Contact Juggling from Japan and registered performer with Cirque du Soleil), Tetsunori Saito (Diaboloist from Japan) and Jason Chang 张耀文 (Diaboloist from Taiwan), all winners at IJA (International Jugglers' Association) were present at the festival. Joining them on our star-studded list of performers were Dan Parkin ( Ball and Club Juggler - Japan), Satoshi Kanayama (Flower Stick - Japan), Yusuke Inaba (Cigar Box - Japan), MyD Team (Diabolo Team - Malaysia), Jonasun (Master of Manipulation - Japan), Romi Yacop (Poi and Contact Staff Guru - Singapore), and Marcus Koh and Lim Aik Hwee (Yo-yo Champions - Singapore).

(From Left) Satoshi Kanayama, Yusuke Inaba and Dan Parkin

The two-day event was tiring but totally worth it. Jam-packed with workshops, our participants had a fabulous time polishing their skills and picking up new tricks from our guest instructors. We like to think that everyone had learnt something over the two days!

These are some shots taken during the workshops. More professional-looking ones will be uploaded to our Facebook page at a later date!

Animation Dance Workshop by Jonasun

Ball Juggling Workshop by Dan Parkin

Cigar Box Workshop by Yusuke Inaba

Contact Juggling Workshop by Okotanpe

Flowerstick Workshop by Satoshi Kanayama

Hoop Manipulation Workshop by Jonasun

Unicycling Workshop by Team Unicycle

To end off the festival, our performers put up a very exciting show at the Gala Show on Sunday evening! All of us were moved and inspired by the performers' awesome performances. They were simply wonderful... You got to be there to understand how it was like, watching such great people on stage!

Our fantastic audience!

Finale!

After the show is over

The festival is over, but we are not going to stop juggling! We hope that all our participants have been inspired by this festival and keep on improving. That is what this festival is all about. Learning and sharing and spreading the passion of juggling.

Again, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our performers (we love you all!!!), vendors, participants, sponsors, volunteers and all who have been involved in this project of ours...THANK YOU! It would not have been possible to turn our dream into reality if not for you all!!

We will see all of you again next year! :)