The Atlanta Jugglers Association is the oldest affiliate club of the International Jugglers Association. The Atlanta Jugglers Association was founded by Rodger French and Toni Shifalo, a pair of clowns who performed throughout the Southeast as "Lenny and La Banana". Both of them are still active in the club. Regular meetings began in 1978 at what was then the Moreland School and is now the Little Five Points Community Center. A typical meeting will draw between five and ten jugglers at all levels of ability to bone away at individual tricks, show off new stuff, or pass props in complicated games of catch. Some civilians occasionally come to watch, especially in the summer months when we are outdoors.

We meet most Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Little Five Points Community Center at 1083 Austin Avenue in Atlanta. This is on the corner of Austin Avenue and Euclid Avenue, just South of Little Five Points. Our sign is visible on the top corner of the building on the Euclid Avenue side.

We typically start around 6:30 pm and finish close to 9 pm. In summer we are outside on the lawn. In winter or when it's raining we are inside the old cafeteria (the big room facing Euclid Avenue) or in our rented space on the third floor (the room nearest the stairwell on the theater side of the building). Look and listen for people throwing or bouncing objects; we're often audible from far away. Meetings are free of charge and open to anyone; there's usually someone around willing to teach you the basics.

Recently we have been doing informal club passing workshops on Thursday nights from about 8 pm until 9 pm. We assume that participants in these workshops can anchor a 2-person feed without undue hardship. We also have advertised a 'teaching day' on the first Thursday of every month, so far with limited success.

You can find out more about this hobby/sport/profession at the Juggling Information Service. Read all about the history and great performers at the museum of juggling.

Questions or comments? Send us e-mail. Our 24-hour information number at (770)427-3903 contains a recorded message which may be more up-to-date than this page.

AJA Officers

• President: Charles Shapiro
• Vice President: Andy Ford
• Secretary: Joyce Howard
• Treasurer: Toni Shifalo

In the first full weekend of February, we have the Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival, a 3-day extravaganza featuring the finest jugglers in the Southeast, and often in the country. Admission is free to the public, with juggling shows at 2 pm and 11 pm on Saturday. Jugglers pay $10 for the weekend, mostly to help us pay for the gym. It is usually held in the Grady High School Girls Gym, at the corner of 10th street and Monroe Drive in midtown Atlanta. This is right at the southeast corner of Piedmont Park.

Join us in 2002 to celebrate the 24rth Annual Groundhog Day Jugglers Festival.

-- CharlesShapiro - 01 Oct 2001