Jeanne

Other Tutorials:

William Penman (demonstration)

     Jeanne is a three ball trick established by William Penman as part of his Hurricane Series. It is essentially a hybrid of Orka's Mess and Rubenstein's Revenge, with the flourish of the latter pattern being tacked on to the ending flourish of Orka's Mess. The harmonious combination of the two arm movements gives Jeanne a very smooth and complex flow. Before trying this pattern, it is important that you already be able to juggle Orka's Mess and Rubenstein's Revenge.

    To begin learning Jeanne, start with two balls in your dominant hand and one ball in your non-dominant. Raise your dominant hand up and then cross your non-dominant hand underneath it such that the balls are lined up along a single vertical axis. Simultaneously make a throw from each hand toward the opposite (non-dominant) side of your body, and then follow that up with a throw from your dominant also directed toward the opposite side of your body. This throw will clear space for your dominant hand to catch the top ball from the simultaneous pair (the same ball that it threw) while your non-dominant hand catches the bottom ball. At this point your dominant hand should be crossed over your non-dominant hand, as your non-dominant hand then makes a vertical throw along the dominant side of your body. This will clear space for your non-dominant hand to catch the second ball thrown from your dominant hand. While this is happening, your dominant hand will spin around between the ball thrown and ball being caught with your non-dominant hand, crossing underneath your non-dominant hand. So far, this has all been identical to Orka's Mess.

    However, as your dominant hand rotates into position, you will begin to swing your non-dominant hand around along roughly the same path, making an under-the-arm throw from your dominant hand toward the center of your body as your dominant hand finishes its rotation (your non-dominant hand should be about halfway through its own swing by this time). This throw will clear space for your dominant hand to catch the vertical ball thrown from your non-dominant hand along the dominant side of your body. Your non-dominant hand will then finish its rotation, ending up still crossed over your dominant hand and positioned near the non-dominant side of your body, catching the last ball thrown from your dominant hand.
    As shown, practice this on both sides. In this step you are essentially grafting part of Rubenstein's Revenge on to the end of Orka's Mess, so while the written instructions above may seem long, the actual throws themselves should feel very natural (until the last throw or two) if you already know Orka's Mess.

    To juggle the full Jeanne pattern, simply make another set of simultaneous throws using both hands before catching the last ball with your non-dominant hand. This will begin a new cycle of the trick, with the hand positions reversed. Jeanne is a very graceful pattern that is both enjoyable to juggle and watch. Assuming you already have the prerequisite patterns mastered, this trick should not be very hard to learn.