History with links to wikipidia
Contact juggling in its modern popular form originated with a juggling routine developed by Michael Moschen in the 1980s, entitled "Light". In this performance, Michael Moschen finishes the act by manipulating a single water-clear acrylic ball without ever closing his hands over it. The ball appeared to float over his hands and arms as if it were a drop of water or a ball of light. Some of the various single ball manipulations (balancing a ball on one's head, for example) existed long before Moschen's time. What made this performance unique was the use of the clear acrylic as the only prop, and the palmspinning, where Moschen manipulated up to eight balls simultaneously, without ever releasing one into the air, as would a traditional juggling performer.
In the 1986 film Labyrinth, David Bowie's character is seen to contact juggle throughout the film. These manipulations were actually performed by Moschen who stood behind Bowie during filming, reaching around and performing the tricks 'blind'[1]. This film showcased the new discipline and helped it gain popularity.
In 1991 shortly after the video "Michael Moschen: In Motion" was released, James Ernest, a games developer, wrote the book "Contact Juggling"[2]. James may be the originator of the term "Contact Juggling", as Moschen did not have a name for what he did (in the credits of the Labyrinth film, for example, he is credited with "crystal ball manipulation"). However, Moschen coined the term "Dynamic manipulation" and unsuccessfully strove to have it adopted by the community.
The style of juggling has received further popularization through instructional materials and performances developed by jugglers other than Michael Moschen, but which refer to props as well as manipulations that he created and performs. This apparently led to some contention within the juggling community in the 1990s regarding whether Moschen's ideas were being 'ripped off' by copycat performers.
By 2000 the discipline had achieved widespread recognition and there were many resources available for contact jugglers, such as clubs, books, videos/DVDs and balls specifically manufactured for contact juggling.
