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The
Board is Drifting: |
If you find that when you try to balance, you start drifting to one side and can’t recover (eg you end up falling off or coming to a stop with one end of the board on the ground), then bear in mind that you must take a load of your weight temporarily off the side of the board you are drifting towards. If you imagine a set of scales with equal measures on each side, and then you add some more weight to one side, then naturally the scales would tip towards that end. If the weights were then added to the other side also, then you would counter-balance and return to a standard balance movement! |
The Board is Twisting: |
If you find that the board is twisting forwards and backwards instead of side-to-side then this is because your hips are rotating! Your hips should just be swinging from side to side, and not in every direction! |
Once you have mastered the standard balance play about with your posture (so that you can get used to recovering your balance from all sorts of positions!) This will also help you to quickly master many more tricks...
First Set of Tricks To Learn
Surfing |
This is where you balance on the rola bola so it looks like you are surfing (eg feet both pointed in the same direction, along the board, and in a slight crouch position). Best advice is to work through the standard balance tricks once again, but with your feet in the surfing position! |
Pause |
This is where you are rolling from side to side, and then suddenly stop with the cylinder at one end of the rola-bola. Obviously this is all to do with weight distribution! Slowly roll yourself towards one end of the board. Once the cylinder is near the end of the board, put all your weight on the foot that is over that side. Use the other foot simply to keep the board balanced, so that you do not roll back and forward. This is a useful pause trick for you to accept some applause from your audience! |
Crouch
/ Squat |
Slowly lower yourself down into a crouching position, and then raise yourself back up to a standing position, all without the ends of the rola bola touching the ground. While lowering yourself, it can be easy to completely lose your balance because your centre of gravity is also shifting, so take your time and be careful! |
Standing
on one foot |
Your foot must be on top of the cylinder. Best advice would be to try balancing on the cylinder without the board on top first of all. |
What Props Could I use while I am on the Rola Bola?
 |
If you are already a juggler, then consider using whatever props you can already use. Balls and clubs are relatively easy. Poi and Diabolo aren’t quite as straightforward! For my rola-bola routine, I use 2 Juggling Knives and a chicken! |
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For any props you intend to use, be sure that you have practiced with them plenty of times without using the rola-bola. You won’t be able to move forwards and backwards to catch errant props, so your juggling must be smooth! You should also spend a good amount of practice on the rola-bola without the extra props.
Obviously certain tricks are not possible on the rola-bola (under the leg for example – unless you keep both legs on the ground and do an “albert throw”!) Likewise, certain tricks which require very quick sharp movements (such as chops) may be best avoided as they could knock you off balance! Swinging poi is the equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach as you try to swing props in one direction and roll yourself the other way, so it may be best avoided also!
Advanced Tricks
Another
Person! |
It is possible for 2 people to stand on the board facing each other while holding hands or hugging (to help keep each other on the board, of course!) I have seen some performers also jump onto a rola-bola just as someone jumps off it. You would need to work on the timing and make sure that you exited forward and not to the side in case the trick didn’t work as you would end up with a board flying towards you! 2 People could also face the same way (one person climbs up behind the other person). |
Basketball |
Rola-Bola on top of a basketball or bowling ball |
Jump/Turn |
Practice jumping while balanced on the rola-bola, then when this feels comfortable, try to do a 180 degree (half) turn, then finally build up to doing a 360 degree (full) turn. Keep your jump as low as possible as you do not want the board to start sliding to one side so you need to land as quickly as you can and with minimal impact! |
Jump
Mount |
ask someone to hold the rola-bola steady with the board horizontal and for them to let go just as you are about to land. |
Hands
and Feet |
Hands on one side of the rola-bola and feet on the other side! Or just use one hand and one foot on either side. Do not place your fingers underneath the board just in case you come to a stop and squash them! |
Leapfrog! |
I have seen Luke Burrage leapfrog someone and land on a rola-bola! Only to be attempted if you are very brave and talented! |
Club Rolling and Pickups on Rola-Bola
My favourite trick involves club rolling. I place 3 clubs in front of the rola-bola and by pushing them lightly (which involves squatting down and reaching forward, so I am a bit off balance), I can make them revolve around the cylinder and back to their starting point. You have to make sure that your board stays far enough off the ground in order that the clubs can roll the whole way round! For further information on club rolling, please visit my CLUB ROLLING TRICKS PAGE.
Picking up props from the ground: An entertaining trick which builds on the squat/crouch trick from earlier is to pick up your props from the ground, one at a time! With a lot of practice you can make this task look very impossible, but it’s actually a fairly easy trick!
How can I make a Rola Bola?
I do not currently sell Rola-bola’s so the best thing I can do is point you to an excellent resource @ CircusNews.com for making your own. CircusNews.
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Further Information
Woofboys Guide to Rola-Bola has some excellent trick descriptions and more importantly some video clips and photographs so that you can see how some of the tricks I describe are meant to look! Woofboy's Rola Bola Page
If you know of any further tricks or tips then please let me know! I would love to see this prop used by more performers as it is fairly simple prop to learn if you abide by a few safety rules!
Some Other Props to Balance yourself on!
Balancing / Walking Ladder |
To walk a
ladder, you can either buy a lead and exercise
it at least twice a day, or you can learn
to balance on it and do the walking bit yourself!
The walking ladder is an extra wide ladder
which you can balance on, and then learn to
walk along the ground moving the feet of the
ladder one step at a time! You can also balance
on the top rung (one leg at each side of the
ladder) and start juggling while walking along
with the ladder. Available to purchase on Ladder/Globes page (UK only)! |
Balancing / Walking Globe
|
This circus prop is for walking on top of while keeping your balance! Once you are good enough, then you can think about juggling at the same time! The globe can then be used as a way of enhancing your stage show, or rising above the crowds and adding a bit of a danger element to your street shows! |
Unicycle |
A unicycle is a one-wheeled human powered vehicle. Unicycles are similar to, but less complex than, bicycles. Not as difficult as you think to learn the basic riding move, but you have to be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort and not just give up after a few false starts! |
Rola-Bola |
Also known as rolla bolla, bongo board or teeter board. The rola-bola consists of a cylinder and a board - you place the board
on the cylinder, hop up on the board and rock and roll to try to stay
upright. Looks even harder if you juggle at the same time. It's like a
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