A juggler's discipline
Hou takes two jazz dance, one ballet, and one tango class per week in addition to the 15-20 hours a week he spends practicing with a Cyr wheel in a borrowed warehouse space. The dance classes help him relax his lower body, improve his rhythm and balance, and give him access to dance techniques that he can use to enrich his performances.
Hou has also made two study trips to Montreal, Canada (where the Cyr wheel was invented) to further his study of wheel techniques and the development of his own style. He practices hard every day, and has paid his dues in the school of hard knocks-his numerous injuries include sprained fingers and toes, a cut on his forehead that took 13 stitches to patch up, and a shoulder injury that required two months off and still pains him slightly. (This last injury occurred while practicing two techniques that he developed himself- coin spin, which is done while facing the ground, and the more frightening tail spin, which is done while facing upwards.) That's not to mention his scarred and calloused hands, and his regular appointments with a physical therapist.
"Sometimes all the practicing wears me out," says Hou. "But I have yet to find anything more fulfilling than juggling." He argues that juggling is interesting both for its structure and methods, which allow you to advance and transcend yourself one step at a time, and for the fact that juggling skills allow you to perform to your heart's content; you don't have to be stuck in an office.
"Buskers have no boss to please, and are open to attack and ridicule from their audiences. They're strong people, and create marvelous things," says Chang Wang, director of Headspring Theatre and an ardent proponent of Taiwan's street performance scene. Speaking of Hou, Chang remarks: "He's one of the few geniuses on Taiwan's busking scene, and understands better than anyone the importance of constant practice."
Hou, who touched down in Taiwan after visiting more than 10 other countries, will be eligible to obtain a national ID and settle here formally next year. Supported by his wife, a Polish Canadian woman he met here, Hou currently has no plans to leave Taiwan. "My family thinks this is a pretty good way to further my career, too," he says. "I plan to continue performing while studying a little bit about business management on the side. If I have the chance, I'd like to sail around the world someday. And if I ever save enough money, my old age would make a fine time to go back to school," he adds with a grin.
The new styles of juggling focus on the expression of ideas. Their blends of object manipulation, body language, music, and lighting effects appeal to sophisticated and unsophisticated audiences alike. In the photo, Hou performs with a crystal ball at the 2006 World Music Festival on Drum & Dance.
Hou says that Ximending's streets are somewhat glossy, making them well suited to performances involving fire. On the downside, the area is also very noisy and very crowded. On the other hand, the Xinyi District's Ashanti Square offers wide-open spaces and a relatively "sticky" surface that make it a good place for "rolling." Hou just has to be careful to avoid areas that are canted to aid runoff.
The new styles of juggling focus on the expression of ideas. Their blends of object manipulation, body language, music, and lighting effects appeal to sophisticated and unsophisticated audiences alike. In the photo, Hou performs with a crystal ball at the 2006 World Music Festival on Drum & Dance.
While his audiences are awed by the difficult, balletic movements of his Cyr wheel, Hou himself is just spinning happily, the lines of his body and his muscles all radiating his joy. courtesy of Isaac Hou)
The new styles of juggling focus on the expression of ideas. Their blends of object manipulation, body language, music, and lighting effects appeal to sophisticated and unsophisticated audiences alike. In the photo, Hou performs with a crystal ball at the 2006 World Music Festival on Drum & Dance.