Steven Ragatz
09-28-01, 04:55 PM
I've been juggling, unicycling, and stilt walking off and on for the past twenty years. I first became interested in juggling as a vehicle for street theater, and started practicing while in high school. The performing was intended to pay my way while in college. Eventually, things got a little out of hand, and my desire to embrace juggling started to hinder, rather than help, my academic pursuits. After a decade of changing majors, and a couple of cycles of enrolling and dropping out, I finished with a BA in "Variety Theater", a customized theater degree, and a MS in Computer Science from Indiana University.
My first formal introduction to juggling was at The Academy for Circus Arts, in Hoboken, NJ. I was there for only a few weeks, and remember little past the belligerent Russian coach yelling at me across the studio. A more significant influence, and certainly more constructive, came several years later when I spent my summers taking workshops at the Celebration Barn in Maine, practicing mime, circus skills, stage combat, voice, etc. The “barn” was a truly wonderful experience, like camp for adults. It is an experience that I would recommend to anyone.
When I wasn't in school, I was doing shows at theme parks, local festivals, variety shows, street corners and corporate events. I played a handful of no-name comedy clubs, until I realized that I didn’t like smoking or drinking, and that “dick jokes” never made me laugh. I hit the NACA circuit for a year, and did a bunch of colleges in the Midwest, but never really grooved on that scene. The first non-street, non-comedy, act that I performed was when I hooked up with an ice show circuit for two summers.
After school, I took a year or so to attempt some exploratory juggling and mime, trying to find a niche style of performing, doing everything from shows in a local black-box theater, to opening for rock ‘n roll concerts. A friend of mine, Fritz Grobe, came to work on it with me, and we put together a couple of eclectic shows that were, how shall I put it, “interesting?” What they lacked in polish, they made up for in inspiration! But unfortunately, after almost two years, Fritz ran off to pursue dance related juggling, and I ran off to join Cirque du Soleil.
For six years, I was part of the Manipulation act, a number created by Micheal Moschen, for the CDS productions Mystere and Quidam. My two partners, Pat McGuire, Jean Besnard, and I, were in Las Vegas for three years, and then on the North America Tour for three years. While we were in Montreal, my wife, Lisa, and I had a child, Andrew. Later during the tour, we adopted a daughter, Missy. Andrew is now five and Missy fourteen.
I left the circus when the family cried that they wanted to settle down, and I cried because my shoulders hurt. Dusting off the unused computer degree, I went to work hacking out multimedia code and 3-D game development. Three years later, I'm still tickling the keys here is southern Indiana.
In December of 2000, I had the opportunity to perform a juggling act for a month with the Indianapolis Symphony's Christmas program. The act was very well received, and revived my interest in performing. The same number has subsequently been booked (tentatively) with the Detroit Symphony for 2001. It's always good to be asked back!
Since I can only take shows if they work into my two weeks of vacation time, I don't get as much stage time as I would like these days, though I have had a handful of corporate gigs fall into my lap. Consequently, I spend way too much time browsing the Internet, living my gypsy dream vicariously through others.
I have been working on a new juggling act over the last few years, though I have only recently been focusing on it in earnest. I hope to have Opus 1 ready by the new-year. Finding the time and energy to train a new act above and beyond the daily routine is certainly a chore!
I enjoy reading everyone’s tales from the trenches on the performers.net site. (A big thanks go out to Jim for maintaining the site for everyone’s benefit!) Posts from acts that work in countries where I have never had a chance to visit particularly intrigue me. Though, if any of the performers.net readers make their way through southern Indiana, USA, and are in need of crash space, feel free to look me up. I always welcome guests with stories!
Steven Ragatz
My first formal introduction to juggling was at The Academy for Circus Arts, in Hoboken, NJ. I was there for only a few weeks, and remember little past the belligerent Russian coach yelling at me across the studio. A more significant influence, and certainly more constructive, came several years later when I spent my summers taking workshops at the Celebration Barn in Maine, practicing mime, circus skills, stage combat, voice, etc. The “barn” was a truly wonderful experience, like camp for adults. It is an experience that I would recommend to anyone.
When I wasn't in school, I was doing shows at theme parks, local festivals, variety shows, street corners and corporate events. I played a handful of no-name comedy clubs, until I realized that I didn’t like smoking or drinking, and that “dick jokes” never made me laugh. I hit the NACA circuit for a year, and did a bunch of colleges in the Midwest, but never really grooved on that scene. The first non-street, non-comedy, act that I performed was when I hooked up with an ice show circuit for two summers.
After school, I took a year or so to attempt some exploratory juggling and mime, trying to find a niche style of performing, doing everything from shows in a local black-box theater, to opening for rock ‘n roll concerts. A friend of mine, Fritz Grobe, came to work on it with me, and we put together a couple of eclectic shows that were, how shall I put it, “interesting?” What they lacked in polish, they made up for in inspiration! But unfortunately, after almost two years, Fritz ran off to pursue dance related juggling, and I ran off to join Cirque du Soleil.
For six years, I was part of the Manipulation act, a number created by Micheal Moschen, for the CDS productions Mystere and Quidam. My two partners, Pat McGuire, Jean Besnard, and I, were in Las Vegas for three years, and then on the North America Tour for three years. While we were in Montreal, my wife, Lisa, and I had a child, Andrew. Later during the tour, we adopted a daughter, Missy. Andrew is now five and Missy fourteen.
I left the circus when the family cried that they wanted to settle down, and I cried because my shoulders hurt. Dusting off the unused computer degree, I went to work hacking out multimedia code and 3-D game development. Three years later, I'm still tickling the keys here is southern Indiana.
In December of 2000, I had the opportunity to perform a juggling act for a month with the Indianapolis Symphony's Christmas program. The act was very well received, and revived my interest in performing. The same number has subsequently been booked (tentatively) with the Detroit Symphony for 2001. It's always good to be asked back!
Since I can only take shows if they work into my two weeks of vacation time, I don't get as much stage time as I would like these days, though I have had a handful of corporate gigs fall into my lap. Consequently, I spend way too much time browsing the Internet, living my gypsy dream vicariously through others.
I have been working on a new juggling act over the last few years, though I have only recently been focusing on it in earnest. I hope to have Opus 1 ready by the new-year. Finding the time and energy to train a new act above and beyond the daily routine is certainly a chore!
I enjoy reading everyone’s tales from the trenches on the performers.net site. (A big thanks go out to Jim for maintaining the site for everyone’s benefit!) Posts from acts that work in countries where I have never had a chance to visit particularly intrigue me. Though, if any of the performers.net readers make their way through southern Indiana, USA, and are in need of crash space, feel free to look me up. I always welcome guests with stories!
Steven Ragatz