The Juggling Wizardry Of St. Jules
There’s an ease that permeates from Réjean St. Jules. A kind of seasoned effortlessness that very few achieve in their respective fields. His juggling talent has made him a stable in Las Vegas, Nevada where he has appeared in a slew of productions in most of the lavish casinos. Internationally, he is equally revered, with appearances in Paris, Düsseldorf, and Monte-Carlo among others. Yet, for this second-generation circus artist, his foray into the circus business was hardly as smooth and precise as his renowned act. “Circus was forced on us,” he says.
St. Jules’s father established himself as a hand-balancer, working with the likes of Tommy Hanneford. “He wanted us to be in the business,” says St. Jules. “It wasn’t a fit for my sister and when she was old enough she left the business,” he says. “I took to it. I liked the attention,” he says with a smile. Like his father, hand-balancing became his trade, but not necessarily his passion. “I thought it required too many props,” he says. As fate would have it, the then 9-year-old St. Jules became enamored with a juggler who was billed along with his family. “He’d come in with a tuxedo, his suitcase of props and was done,” he says. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s what I want to do.” Réjean and his family performed three seasons with that juggler who would instruct Réjean on the fundamentals of the trade that would pave the way for his entire career.
“We worked in night clubs, so my dad always told me to learn everything tight,” he says. “If you can do it low, you can work anywhere. That juggler taught me sitting down, with elbows on my knee, focusing on the motion of my wrist,” he remembers. “These were real old school fundamentals,” he says. As he developed, St. Jules would find himself booked at a major casino in Santa Domingo. “I was booked for my hand-balancing and juggling. But, I was advised to focus on just one act, because I would actually get more work,” he recalls, so at 18-years-old, that would conclude his career as a hand-balancer. “Hand-balancing was for my dad and I wanted to honor him by giving it my best, but he respects the fact that I’ve found my own way,” he says. His way has led the Montreal native into one of the most recognized acts the world over, etching out a most respected legacy all its own.
In his fast paced and unique routine, St. Jules employs both a keyboard and a pyramid. The pyramid has been around in various incarnations for years, but nothing like the rhythmic dynamism of St. Jules’ presentation. It’s an event all its own founded upon those impeccable skills he honed so long ago. The lighting coupled with original music composed in a precise rhythmic pattern in time with his rapid fire juggling, conjures the kind of excitement from his audience generally reserved for daredevils. Ever the showman, St. Jules brilliantly parcels the excitement, by incepting a musical interlude in which he uses his juggling props to play some familiar tunes on the keyboard. Still quite entertaining and even intriguing, it gives the audience just enough time to gather themselves before he thrills them yet again, in a frenetic cavalcade of juggling wizardry. Can you imagine a juggling act so arousing that it concludes a circus program? Such was the case for Réjean during yet another successful engagement with The Lone Star Circus this past December.
In recent years, St. Jules has partnered with his son, Sebastian, creating the third generation of circus artists in his family. “I definitely didn’t force this life on him,” he smiles. “He showed interest very early, so I developed a few hand-eye coordination exercises for him,” he remembers. By the age of five, Sebastian made it clear to his father that he wanted to learn. “He developed so quickly that by the age of 12, he knew my entire act,” Réjean remembers proudly. Father and son created a presentation with two pyramid props. “My son is left-handed, so it allowed us to create a mirror effect,” he says. Sebastian performed regularly with his father and eventually advanced enough to acquire his own solo contract at only 14 years old–proving that the wizardry is a family affair for the St. Jules clan.
Addendum from the author 5/14/18: The pyramid (or triangle) has been around in various incarnations for years. Many know of it from the work of juggler Michael Moschen, much like the keyboard, which was most notably employed by Dan Menendez.
Feature photo courtesy of © Zan Keith
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