Six of Cape Town’s youngest, most dexterous female jugglers are defying gravity and expectations in the art of juggling at the College of Magic in Claremont, ahead of World Juggling Day on Sunday, June 16.
Lihle Bomsini (13) from Gugulethu, Elethu Bukula (12) from Philippi, Ongezwa Fodo (11), from Philippi, Ruby Park (12) from Constantia, Liyema Peter (12) from Philippi, and Lindokuhle Teyi (14) from Philippi are students of the College of Magic, Cape Town’s only magical arts organisation. In addition to attending weekly magic and life-skills lessons every Saturday at the College’s Victorian manor, the girls are honing their balancing skills with the help of juggling instructor Michael Barta.
World Juggling Day is celebrated annually close to or on June 16 to honour skilled performers who are able to juggle and balance as many objects (balls, clubs, fruit, plates, swords, etc) as possible at a time.
Barta, who has been teaching juggling at the College of Magic for more than 30 years, is thrilled with the rise of female juggling performers: “Juggling is a unique art form that helps you understand your body with uninhibited movement. It definitely isn’t for boys only! The ability and level of skills for female jugglers is often better than their male counterparts. It’s incredible to see our young female juggling students work together towards cooperative excellence and I look forward to seeing their performance skills grow over the next few years,” says Barta.
The girls are especially enthusiastic about the positive spin-offs learning the art of juggling has had on their lives and education.
“I was really shy before joining the College of Magic and I’ve gained so much confidence through juggling. The boys are always eager to teach us more difficult juggling tricks. I won 2nd place in the Allied Arts Junior Juggling Contest last year for my juggling skills and I am so proud of myself!” says Liyema.
Ruby says, “I wanted to learn juggling because I’ve seen so many of my magical classmates doing it and I thought it was amazing. Now I can do it, too, and I cannot wait to learn more intricate juggling acts.”.
Come and see our star female juggling juggernauts in action at the 2019 Traditional Children’s Magic Festival. Families are invited to see Elethu, Lihle, Lindokuhle, Liyema, Ongezwa and Ruby defy the laws of gravity with their incredible juggling skills at the College of Magic’s winter school holiday event, from Wednesday June 19 to Saturday June 22 2019.
Picture: Supplied