Over the years various jugglers have taken this mathematical aspect of juggling and extended it to include geometry with, most famously perhaps, Michael Moschen’s Juggling Triangle.

Michael Moschen’s Triangle

Moschen’s Triangle, first seen in the 1970s, is one of the most elegant juggling shapes and has been emulated ever since.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Cirque du Soleil’s Totem, in which Greg Kennedy (as a Darwinesque scientist) juggles in a cone. I’ve known of Greg’s cone routine for some time, I know his wife (who runs the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts) and I met Greg briefly for the first time last year when he was in London but I’d never seen him perform his cone routine live before.

Greg Kennedy’s Cone

Seeing someone stand and juggle inside a giant cone made me think of Michael Moschen’s Triangle and also made me think about Sean Gandini’s Cube which I’ve had the pleasure of juggling inside of several times.

It got me wondering whether other shapes had been tried. I didn’t know that Greg had been trying various geometric shapes for years.

Greg Kennedy’s Square

Greg Kennedy’s Orthogonal

… which I think is one of the most intersting shapes I’ve seen.

Of course none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the advent of the bouncing ball. And again, science and juggling come together.

Do you know of other juggling routines using geometric shapes? Let me know below.

You can follow me on Twitter if you fancy.

Do you know any other juggling orchestras or tap dancers? Let me know in the comments below.

Find out more information on their website.

Creating 2012

Following on from last week’s post, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want 2012 to be about. I don’t generally do new year’s resolutions but I do like to create what I’m intending to accomplish in the year. However, over the last couple of years I’ve starting to rethink my position on new year’s resolutions, and have made a new year’s resolution each year for the past two years.

I’m starting to think that people fail at their new year’s resolutions not just because they have a poor relationship with honouring their word but because they don’t have a powerful enough context for their promise and because they promise something that is too far beyond what they can count on themselves to fulfil.

I’m pretty good at honouring my word but even so honouring your word isn’t easy – especially over a whole year. That’s why I’ve made resolutions that have been simple, accomplishable, and make a big difference to the quality of my life in some way. This year it’s taken me over a week to come up with my resolution for 2012.

Shower first thing when I’m working from home.

I’ve always been pretty bad at showering first thing if I’m working from home. I start working on my computer or around the house and I’m slower and more lethargic. I don’t think as clearly and I don’t work as well. I wait until the last minute before I go out to get in the shower but no matter how many times I tell myself I should start the day with a shower, and I’ll have a better day because of it it’s never made a difference.

Simple? Yes.

Accomplishable? Yes.

Makes a big difference? Yes.

I’m also going to be keeping my previous resolutions. The first was to learn more and the last year’s was to stop eating when I’m full. Both were accomplished and have made a big difference over the last two years so I’m sticking with them.

I’m also going to be working on the following things throughout 2012:

• Growing Airborne Circus
• Creating an additional source of income
• Buying property
• Continuing to fix my shoulders and doing more flying trapeze

Growing Airborne Circus

Airborne Circus is up and running. We’ve got two classes a week running at Finchley Youth Theatre, including a new session starting next week for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, workshops coming up, and more stuff in the pipeline (see here for more details).

The goal with Airborne Circus has always been to create a circus school. This year I’d like to have Airborne Circus running more classes with more students, possibly in more locations and finish the year with a clear plan of how to fund the acquisition of a building and the work needed to create a fully functioning youth circus.

Creating an Additional Source of Passive Income

Over the past year I’ve spent a lot of time studying personal finance, business and property investing and the one thing that’s clear to me now is that to live a life of freedom you have to separate your income from your time – creating passive income – allowing you to give your time to the things that are of interest to you.

Passive income is an income received on a regular basis, with little effort required to maintain it.

2012 is the start of this process for me; using the knowledge and networks I’ve built over the last year to start creating a life of financial freedom and an additional stream of income that is independent of my time.

Financial Freedom = Passive Income > Expenses

Simple.

Buying Property

What started as an exploration into how I could afford to buy my own house has ended up with a plan to buy property as an investment. As well as learning and studying about business, finance and property investing, I’ve also been meeting and working with professional property investors throughout 2011.

Over the course of 2012, I’m going to be working on using my knowledge and my resources to start investing in property. I don’t expect the returns to be immediate – property investing is investing for the long term – but it is the first part of creating a source of passive income.

In case you’re interested in property, some good books to start with are Rich Dad Poor Dad, Real Estate Riches and Property Magic.

Continuing to Fix My Shoulders and Doing More Flying Trapeze

2011 was the first year in 15 or so years that my shoulders have had less pain than the previous year, rather than more. I started being treated by Dr Mark Warren from Active Chiropractic. I wouldn’t normally recommend a chiropractor but Mark isn’t a conventional chiropractor. He treats me using a combination of chiropractic treatment, Active Release Technique and Graston Technique (which can feel much like torture). However, his treatment has been incredibly effective and has allowed me to start flying again over the last few months and this year I intend to continue.

Some of the tricks I’d like to accomplish are:

• Par dessu casse cou
• Passe simple casse cou
• Pique retourne
• Mise en ventre soleil

I know they probably don’t mean anything to you so have a video instead…

In terms of my shoulder health, by the end of 2012 I’d like to be able to talk on the phone with no pain and have increased my shoulder flexibility to 180 degrees extension.

Completing Creating

So that’s the plan. Not a lot of different things but rather a small number of big things that, if accomplished, will have a big impact of my life as I know it. If the last few months of 2011 are anything to go by 2012 is going to be an incredibly busy and exciting year for me.

Stick with me through 2012 and I’ll keep you up to date on how it’s all going. You can follow me on twitter or Airborne Circus on twitter or Facebook, and of course I’ll keep posting to my blog so make sure you subscribe so as not to miss a post.

I wish you all the very best for 2012 and I look forward to hearing about your adventures throughout the year!