It’s that awesome time of the year again. After packing everything we needed, Elhanan picked me up at 6AM and we headed towards Gan Hashlosha (Sakhne), where the Israeli juggling convention is held every year. When we got there, we met all the volunteers and organizers who showed up early to help with setup. We set up our tents and got inside the gym.

I spent most of the first day practicing my routine, as well as meeting new people and catching up with old friends. Later that day we had the Avi Rosenberg competition for creativity with 3 objects. This year it was for 3 clubs, and there were lots of amazing things in that competition from both local jugglers and guests from abroad. For me the highlights were Florent from France, and Bram from Belgium.

The next day was full of shows from the afternoon. First we had the Special show, which was the full show of Compagnie Ea Eo, a group of 4 insanely talented jugglers from Belgium. I simply have no words for how awesome this show was. It was a perfect blend of juggling, dancing, comedy and theater, perfectly synchronized routines between those 4 amazing jugglers.
Next we had a show by Shake That, another group of 5 from Belgium doing insanely good flairing. Again, a good combination of insane skills with comedy and theater. I missed some of this unfortunately, but what I saw was incredible. I later got to drink some of the stuff they made =)
Then we had the Open Stage, I was the final act, and my routine went well, despite a few drops and mess ups, I felt pretty good about it, and the response from the crowd was great and that’s ultimately what matters. I didn’t get to see all the acts, but one that did stand out for me was an act by 3 kids that will definitely be the future of the Israeli juggling community.

My poi routine

The next day was the Israeli Gala, with some of the best jugglers in Israel. This year it was directed, with all the different acts flowing into each other. The highlights for me were Amit‘s staff routine, combining 1, 2, 3 and 4 staffs with his amazing dance skills, Noam‘s great club juggling act, Yano and Talia with a good and playful contact ball+dance routine, and Tobi with a great ball juggling routine.

On the last day I did my Body Movement workshop, which went really well, I changed this workshop a lot since nice year and I could see that the students were improving faster than before.
The last night of the festival had the International Gala, which year after year makes me look for my jaw on the floor. This is the show where all our guests from abroad show their amazing skills. I got to see Stefan Sing doing both his solo act and his act with his wife Cristiana, I saw both of these at EJC, and they’re even more amazing the second time – so well written and perfectly performed. Matt Hall from the US did 2 great acts – a Diabolo act and a tennis balls act. Joris from Shake That did his amazing solo routine (Dropless!), Florent Lestage from France did an amazing routine with clubs and a cane, Eric from Ea Eo did a great dance/juggling routine, Ines Brun closed the show, doing insane acrobatics on a bicycle.

This was an amazing festival, thanks to everyone who came and made it awesome, thanks to everyone who organized and volunteered, and I hope to see everyone who wasn’t there next year!

Lots of photos are available here