Fountain (juggling)
Encyclopedia
Juggling
Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
pattern that is often used for juggling an even number of objects. In a fountain, each hand juggles separately, and the objects are not thrown between the hands. For example, in a four-ball fountain, each hand juggles two balls independently.
A fountain can be synchronous or asynchronous. In a synchronous fountain, both hands throw at the same time, while in an asynchronous fountain, the hands alternate throws. The fountain can also be juggled in columns
Columns (juggling)
Columns,also known as One-up Two-up, is a juggling trick where the balls are thrown upwards without any sideways motion. The simplest version involves having three balls, with two going up simultaneously on either side, followed by one going up in the middle...
, where the balls all travel vertically up and down, and are caught from where they are thrown, or round in a circle, so that they are caught close to the body and thrown from either side of it (or vice-versa).
The fountain is used for juggling even numbers of objects because other patterns which alternate between hands (such as the cascade) do not work well for even numbers. In fact, a true cascade
Cascade (juggling)
In juggling, a cascade is the simplest pattern achievable with an odd number of props. The simplest cascade is the three-ball cascade. This is therefore the first pattern that most jugglers learn.-Three-ball cascade:...
is impossible with an even number of objects, although there are several patterns such as the shower
Shower (juggling)
A shower is a juggling pattern for 2 or more objects, most commonly balls or bean bags, where objects are thrown in a circular motion. Balls are thrown high from one hand to the other while the other hand passes the ball back horizontally. The animation depicts a 3 ball version. Siteswap notation...
that can be performed with even numbers.