Building a diabolo performance can be a daunting task. There are a lot of things to consider before you can even think about rehearsing.
The audience, tricks and music are the main points you need think about, but there’s a bit more to take into consideration.
1. The Audience
Knowing who you will perform for will help you build an act that is enjoyable for them.
There are two types of audience, the easy-ish one (non jugglers) and the one that knows better.
Depending on the type of audience, the things that make you look like a noob and the way to keep your audience engaged will differ wildly.
For the non juggler crowd, I always choose easy and very visual tricks as their tolerance for drops is low and they don’t know the difficulty of tricks. In my experience, you have one or two drops before the audience loses interest, so you need tricks that look good and that you have mastered. Make sure to include tricks like the elevator, a high toss, the infinite suicide or the whip catch.
For the music, I tend to choose something uplifting that will make the audience clap in rhythm. But if you have a good stage presence, you can choose any music that goes well with your character.
For jugglers, creativity and technique are more important than being solid. The tolerance for drops is higher especially if the tricks are new and impressive. Even non diabolo players will have a fairly good idea of the difficulty of tricks, so avoid easy ones if they are not new ideas. As for the music track, you can choose anything.
2. Your Character
Your performance doesn’t have to be a theater play, but having a bit of a story and/or character makes it more interesting. It will also help you engage with the audience and you can have interesting character moments if you drop.
Make sure your costume doesn’t hinder your juggling and your good to go !
3. The Music
If you choose to have accompanying music to your performance (yes, no music is an option), choose something you can listen to on repeat without going crazy. You will most likely rehearse your routine with the music over and over again before show time. Make sure you won’t get sick of it.
Choose a track with a tempo that matches yours, if you’re a fast juggler choose high tempo music and keep in mind your stage character and story.
To avoid any paperwork headaches, rights fees and legal issues, I always choose music with no copyrights. I like the selection you can find on this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCht8qITGkBvXKsR1Byln-wA
If you’d like more information about music in performance, check out this article.
4. The Tricks
As a rule of thumb, I start with an impressive trick or combination to get the audience’s attention, have fun in the middle (if you don’t enjoy the performance, no one else will) and finish with my most impressive trick to get the applause.
You can check the “How to build a routine” article for more help.
The acceleration in between combos is a natural pause for diabolo players, take advantage of it, make eye contact to tell the audience they have time to applaud.
When you’re on stage, your trick consistency goes way down, so expect to drop. I never had a flawless show, but to minimize the time I spend running after my diabolos, I only choose tricks that are at least 90% solid in practice, otherwise they don’t make the cut for the performance.
To create cool combos to include in your act, think about the string positions, tricks that give speed so you can do longer combos, easy impressive tricks (for the non jugglers), cool starts and stops.
Examples Of Diabolo Acts
Spirit of the toy by Michael Menes :
When I was a non juggler, this is the diabolo act that started me on my diabolo journey !
I saw it and bought 2 diabolos the next day. Don’t underestimate simple and visual tricks for a non juggling audience !
Red dress by Lena Köhn :
This is another act aimed at a non juggling crowd, even though some of the tricks are definitely great for a diabolo playing audience.
Mocassins et brillantine by Eric Longequel :
I love this act ! Just watch and enjoy !
The remote by Chloé Fossard :
This is an example of a diabolo act for diabolo players : great technique and awesome creativity !
Building a diabolo act takes time and effort but is very rewarding. See you on stage !
