Artist of the month: Tony Duncan

Our artist of the month for February 2010 is Tony Duncan, a variety artist, who has been performing around the World presenting his juggling shows. Tony is also teaching and always developing new projects.

Forum Artistico: You are a Juggler, can you tell us how come you choose this artistic discipline as your profession?

Tony: I was actually going to be a scientist. I had learned juggling a few years before college, but lost interest. At the university where I studied astrophysics I became very discouraged and rather confused. I had been doing drugs and not studying enough. My love for astronomy had been lost because I was learning things that were very difficult and rather boring and I was told the things I loved about the stars I would not learn for many years.
Then went to another university to study evolutionary biology, and while excited about the subject I became confused because of the infighting among supposedly truth seeking scientists. I started ANOTHER college program where you could study whatever you want, and I threw myself into juggling.

I dropped out of school and worked part time jobs and kept juggling, moving from Washington D.C. to NY then to the juggling mecca of San Francisco, where I practiced every day with very good jugglers for almost a year. I went to a juggling convention and was offered a job with a small circus company, The No Elephant Circus in NY. I was able to do something I was good at and get paid for it just enough to make a living.

F.A.: You started your artistic career in US and then went to work in Europe, exactly in Denmark, why there?

Tony: I had been working with the above mentioned circus, and then worked for awhile at Mostly Magic, a Nightclub, in Greenwich Village. Another member of the circus and I became partners and he had doing street shows in Denmark, so I went over with him and we put a show together. We both got signed with Circus Bennewiess the next year, and performed 5 months one and two shows a day every day. It was tiring, but I got to practice everyday. and since it was in the circus building in the center of town, I had my own apartment and did not have to travel.

F.A.: Are there any differences (organizational, opportunities and cultural) in working as juggler in America and Europe?

Tony:I really have not worked much in Europe. Denmark was a lot of fun, but that was mostly because Danish woman didn’t think I was a total loser! There was A LOT more smoking than in the US! It was closer to the beginning of my career, so I don’t really know how the business part is different from the US.
Japan certainly is very different from either Denmark or the US so I will talk about that instead, if you don’t mind. I worked many venues there for about 10 years, and the differences were very clear, Also being a variety artist was something unusual in the 80’s and early 90’s. Sometimes performers were brought over just as a western novelty. I learned much of my show in Japanese and discovered that the sense of humor was not as different as most people told me. Japanese were just learning the western ways of appreciating audiences, so many western traditional circus artists would misunderstand the "polite” reactions they sometimes got, when in Europe they were used to loud prolonged applause or whistling. Also Japanese are often very shy, so using volunteers can be a very powerful tool for comedy if used well. The food was awesome, even for a vegetarian! I also wrote a few humorous travel stories highlighting some of the big cultural differences. For one, the Japanese desire to please and therefore never to say no, or to admit not knowing something. Very frustrating when one is lost and constantly gets wrong directions! Also the jugglers in Japan were fascinated with my contact juggling (rolling balls on the body arms, face, and feet) and I taught many there who have gone on to be brilliant jugglers.

F.A.: Looking at your biography I see that, because of your work, you travelled around the world with other artists. How is working and living with other artists? Did you create juggling numbers that involved also other artists?

Tony: I rarely worked with other artists directly, which is really a shame because it is what I love the most. All the collaborations I have worked with had great potential, but none lasted very long. A couple of times I have had the opportunity to work with others that might have been very good, but I have lost interest because it was not organically developed material. I just started working on a group juggling act with some performers from the Circus School in Vermont, and it is very exciting, coming up with unique and fun ideas.

I have always worked well living with other artists. I am pretty laid back, and am respectful of others needs. Usually working with other variety artists on medium or long term gigs has been a lot of fun. In general, variety performers are extremely uninhibited and joke a lot which suits me very well. About 10 years ago I realized that I was feeling intellectually brain dead, and came to the conclusion that there were very few people I was around who were very interested in science or other academic areas that were important to me. Most really good performers were much more focused on developing their shows, especially the comedy or other performance related areas, than I was.
When I first started I worked on a juggling ventriloquism act with Steve Bernard in Denmark. We had very good chemistry and good ideas, but he became very popular and discovered he could make as much money alone as we made together. Then I had an act with my wife that was cute and interesting, but she was not really excited about performing, and I was overly critical, wanting to make the act more professional.
Then I put a show together with Jen Slaw, another juggler, and that was very exciting. We developed very unique material and had ( still do, I think) very good chemistry, but we did not really know how to make the show complete, and we tried to do too much too quickly, so it never got to a really professional level. Recently I performed with Melissa Knowles, a musician, juggler, hula hooper and acrobat, and we have come up with some exciting material, and work very well together. She is part of the group I am working with now

F.A.: Are you currently working in a project or a production?

Tony: I am ALWAYS working on projects. I really have too many ideas and my discipline is too scattered to accomplish them all. I am currently working on a character from Argentina who is a macho silly obnoxious but lovable juggler. I am trying to make about a 20-30 minute act with him. I just learned diabolo last year and am trying to develop a piece for him. I want to finish the act with a scarf juggling piece, because his name is Antonio Bandanas, but that is going to be very difficult because in order to be the finalé of the show it will have to be something very funny!
I also have a new one ball routine that I have been working off and on for about 3 years. I have a blindfolded juggling act with Melissa that has a bunch of ideas that are unfinished.. Ping pong balls, cigar boxes, rope walking, trapeze, head balancing, bouncing. I know I can’t do it all, but I still am excited by learning new things, so I don’t plan very well. Still I love what I am doing, and part of that is being able to do whatever I want, and I have been doing this long enough that I can make a good show even with so much unfinished material.

F.A.: What are your immediate and future plans?

Tony: I want to make this group piece as professional as possible considering the limited time. I don’t expect that it will lead to any permanent arrangement, but I hope that it increases the circus schools (New England Center For Circus Arts) reputation as a center for juggling as well as other circus skills.
One thing that is often different about juggling compared to other performance arts it often takes years to develop a new routine. I have always envied dancers or singers that can put something beautiful out in a few weeks, because the skills just need to be arranged properly and executed well. Of course it takes great creativity and a lifetime of learning to be able to do so well, but it does sometimes feel unfair that it can take me 5 years to really perfect one trick that might be a few seconds of a show, and to make a new routine I often have to teach myself entirely new skill sets.
I hope to perform for another 10 years or so, and I would like to transition into using juggling as a workshop about deep learning. I have a strong interest in personal and social improvement and have studied with a number of experts in education and related fields. I would like to use physical skills to help people understand how to learn and how to communicate as effectively as possible. I am very excited about using whole body learning, as well as narrative approaches and music, to help people understand the full range of human capability. This is something that I see a lot of lip service paid to, but very little that truly gets to the source of how to help people in the best ways.

F.A.: You mentioned the Circus School (New England Center For Circus Arts), can you tell us more about it and how your are involved with it?

Tony: The New England Center for Circus Arts was started sometime around 2003. The father of the twin owners has a farm in Brattleboro, VT (On rt 91 just north of the Mass border) and they moved here after 4 yeas with the Cirque Du Soleil show “Saltimbanco”. they rented a studio in an abandoned cotton mill that houses dozens of artists and other businesses, and opened the school. They teach classes for adults and children, in acrobatics, conditioning, and various circus skills, mostly related to aerial apparatus, like trapeze and silks. I teach private lessons and occasional classes there. They have expanded and the studio now has 3 rehearsal spaces, another large studio and a circus studio in the theater of the New England Youth Theater, which collaborates with classes in theater also.
The school also has a program for people who want to develop a professional circus act and a residency program for graduates of the school. NECCA is starting to become a launching pad for students to continue onto the Montreal Circus school that develops acts for Cirque du Soeleil and other world class circuses and many graduates of NECCA have gone on to develop successful careers in just the short few years of it’s operation.
I perform with the owners and some other instructors in variety shows that are produced by the owners, Elsie and Serenity Smith, as well as shows that they book through other producers. So I get free rehearsal space, periodic work, and special relationships with promising juggling students.

F.A.: Do you teach regularly to young artists the art of juggling?

Tony: I do teach a lot , but not regularly. I have a couple of students that I give lessons to, and I am currently teaching some middle school, mostly minority, children in a special program called CUSH (Children United Stand higher). Teaching juggling as a way to foster the skills needed in college level learning. I love teaching and have taught many hundreds to learn to juggle.

F.A.: Every year in New York City there is the International Juggler Festival, are we going to see you there this year?

Tony: I am not sure. It is Melissa’s birthday then, so she has repeatedly implied she would kick my ass if I DIDN’T go with her.

F.A. : Based on your personal experience, what would you advise other young artists that are thinking of undertaking a career as an artist?

Tony: My personal experience is rather unusual. And what motivated me in the past is not what motivates me now. Initially I was juggling as a way of proving some self worth to myself, and having some sort of shield against others that I worried might denigrate me. The reasons for that are rather complicated, but I grew up in Mexico and did not fit in when we moved to the US at ages 6. That led me to be very insecure and I never really learned many of the cultural cues that children learn to be accepted into society.
So I used juggling as a way to prove I was OK. And I could make money at it in a way that was outside cultural norms. While I did love juggling, I was also very self destructive and used it as a crutch and also as a scape goat. It wasn’t until I learned how to be more open emotionally and to exorcise some demons that I came to treat juggling and my career as a just one part of my identity, as opposed to something I NEEDED to have as my identity.
I am still learning how to perform, as my interest was always in the skill, and making money was never a big motivator for me. I did not really enjoy performing for a long time, and was very anxious about it. Partly that was because I was self taught and didn’t know how to gauge what was entertaining Also, I constantly tried to do things at the limit of my ability, so my shows sometimes were not fully professional. Now I am much more confident of my stage presence and not worried about making sure the audience knows I am REALLY good, so I am less concerned about making mistakes and I don’t perform things I am not confident about.
For others starting out, I think it is something one has to evaluate every few years. I would encourage people to focus on what excites them personally. It is not very hard to make a successful career in performing variety arts, if one works hard. But the key is really enjoying what you are doing, and making sure that it is something that is adding to your life and not something that keeps you from being a full person.
I hate to say this but in my career I have met many wonderful people who I think were very shallow, and just limited their lives to their career, and to superficial cultural behavior. A performing career does not lend itself to intellectual or emotional or spiritual development unless those things are sought out. And I am sure each discipline has this problem in varying levels. I would think that dance which often connects to yoga or other potentially spiritual forms would lead to more fully engaged human beings. Or acting, which forces people to confront deep emotional, personal and social issues, would lead to much more aware individuals. This may be more true than the society at large, but I still find very few in these disciplines that I think have grown in all the dimensions necessary to being complete human beings. There are some wonderful exceptions to this, and I find this to be true in academia as well. I have met many brilliant professors whose work I admire, but who personally did not embody the insights of their genius. But, again there are some wonderful exceptions to this as well.
Juggling has been one stepping stone that has taught me tremendous things. About patience, about goals, about envy, about failure, and about mastery. Performing arts can be tremendous sources of satisfaction in life, but I think it should be looked at as a medium to achieving something much bigger than just being an artist. Or maybe the idea of artist can be much more than just a skilled practitioner of an art.

F.A.: Is there anything else that you would like to share with us?

Tony: I am glad you started this website. I would like to use it more and make connections with people here who share similar values about performance. Being an artist can be isolating, and community is necessary to give artists a clearer view of how special we, as human beings, are as well as providing support and motivation.
I think another issue that I have had to deal with is people’s unrealistic appraisals of my work. For many years I had people tell me that what I was doing was great, fantastic, couldn’t be better, when I knew that it was not great. I also was aware of negative judgments from other artists and people in the business that was very discouraging. In my view both responses are damaging. Artists need honest critical appraisal of their work, and at the same time need honest encouragement and concrete support. This is something I strive to do when helping others. I am very complimentary about the things I like, and I try to be supportive and helpful about things that I think are lacking, but I always want to be honest. I want those that I am interacting with to trust me as fully as possible, so that they know they can be as open with me as they are able to.
I think I also use humor a lot in my teaching to counterbalance some of this. I often pretend to get angry or am ridiculously condescending. I think this can help to relieve tension and get people to feel safer, as long as they know the humor is directed as a spoof and does not harbor hidden negative feelings.