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Out of the Shadows, into the Spotlight
My name is Dave Altman. I started my career in Key West, performing at Mallory Square at Sunset. I was there from the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. When I was there, the performers included: Will Soto, of course; Loco-Motion Vaudeville (Cyrus, Bounce, Flip, and Jay); Waldo, before he was with Woodhead; Woodhead, before he was with Waldo; Chip and Dale; Magical Mystical Michael; Evan from Heaven; Don the drummer; Tim Settimi; and various other folks that floated in and out, during those years. I started off doing a solo show (rola bola, banjo, diabolo, fire devil stick, juggling, torches on a 6' unicycle, etc.), had a partner for a while, and did some shows with different members of Loco-Motion. Later on, I toured with Loco-Motion. Jay had left by then and Roger French was with them, as well as, Flip, Cyrus, and Bounce. We toured from Key West to Maine, mainly doing colleges.
I went back to doing solo shows in Key West for a few more seasons, then I moved to Tallahassee, FL to join the FSU Flying High Circus and I took some college classes. In the circus, I was the trained monkey that peddled a bike in a circle, while several girls did acrobatics. Besides a few interesting angles and views I normally wouldn't see, the bike act was quite boring for me. I taught myself how to do rope spinning from a book while I was there, plus I improved my juggling and unicycling. I left the circus and did some more street performing, either in Key West or in Boston. I stopped performing a few times and worked on my college degree in Ceramics. I finally got my BFA, then went back to FSU ten years after I was there the first time. I took some graduate courses in recreation and joined the FSU Flying High Circus, again. This time, I did two acts. One was a four-man juggling team and the other was the high wire. The juggling team was very frustrating. They were all beginners and could barely pass when I started working with them. I choreographed simple routine that I thought would look good and they could handle. We only did the routine once in performance without a drop, even though I could have done it perfectly every time with dozens of my juggling buddies at the Atlanta Jugglers Association, like, Andy "Drew Bob" Ford, Rick Purtee, Charles Shapiro, George Strain, among others. The high wire was the only act I really enjoyed at the circus. I learned how to free walk the wire while spinning two lassos, although I didn't do that in the shows. I did perform riding a unicycle on the wire; a bike with a yoke to another bike, with a girl on a chair; I also walked across with a girl standing on my shoulders; and I carried out a chair, stood on it, then carried it off. I was proud to have come up with two new methods of doing the chair. I carried it out differently than everyone else and I picked the chair back up when I walked off. Everyone else just let the chair fall into the net, which I didn't like.
I left the circus for the second time and went to Georgia College to finish my masters degree in outdoor recreation. Afterward, I did an brief internship in Ipswich, MA, with Project adventure, doing challenge courses, then I moved back to Georgia to do small corporate gigs. Then I quit performing, again, to move to Puebla, Mexico to teach at a university and I also was the assistant director at a tennis academy. I lived there for six years, then moved back to Georgia. Again, I started doing shows and walk-around entertainment, mainly in or around Atlanta. I was the president of the Atlanta Jugglers Association, for a couple of years. Presently I'm the administrator of the Anthony Gatto forum.
I know a few people on here from various places. Several from IJA conventions, Groundhog Day Jugglers festival, Hugo, April Fool's, or several other juggling festivals and/or juggling forums. I've seen Robert Nelson for years and I got to know him a little bit at a MotionFest a few years ago. Steve Langley and I shared a room, and Robert Nelson, Gazzo, Randy Cabral, and myself stayed up several nights until the early hours in the morning, trading stories, and passing various objects. I hadn't met Gazzo until that MotionFest, but I fell in love with him in a non-romantic, non-sexual way. I really enjoyed the chemistry between him and the Butterfly Man. They were like an old married couple in many ways. I really enjoyed their road stories. It was nice to get to know Robert a little bit, outside of an IJA festival and meeting Gazzo. I know Dan Holzman from juggling festivals, the Anthony Gatto forum, when I did the 2008 Welcome Show that he organized, and on Face Book. I know Steven Ragatz and Luke Burrage, mainly from rec.juggling and we met briefly at an IJA; Peter Panic, I know from several Groundhog Day festivals, an Hawaiian Juggling Festival, forums, and many IJA's. Steve Langley and I met at a juggling festival and we keep in pretty close contact. He has gotten me a few gigs in North Carolina, too. I met Haggis McLeod at a Hawaiian festival and we did some whip stuff; Barry Friedman from Facebook. Drew Richardson from FB and he is doing a show in my hometown and I'm going to video it for him; Niels Duinker from the Anthony Gatto forum; Dave Walbridge from various forums and IJA's, but I don't think we've officially met.
I went back to doing solo shows in Key West for a few more seasons, then I moved to Tallahassee, FL to join the FSU Flying High Circus and I took some college classes. In the circus, I was the trained monkey that peddled a bike in a circle, while several girls did acrobatics. Besides a few interesting angles and views I normally wouldn't see, the bike act was quite boring for me. I taught myself how to do rope spinning from a book while I was there, plus I improved my juggling and unicycling. I left the circus and did some more street performing, either in Key West or in Boston. I stopped performing a few times and worked on my college degree in Ceramics. I finally got my BFA, then went back to FSU ten years after I was there the first time. I took some graduate courses in recreation and joined the FSU Flying High Circus, again. This time, I did two acts. One was a four-man juggling team and the other was the high wire. The juggling team was very frustrating. They were all beginners and could barely pass when I started working with them. I choreographed simple routine that I thought would look good and they could handle. We only did the routine once in performance without a drop, even though I could have done it perfectly every time with dozens of my juggling buddies at the Atlanta Jugglers Association, like, Andy "Drew Bob" Ford, Rick Purtee, Charles Shapiro, George Strain, among others. The high wire was the only act I really enjoyed at the circus. I learned how to free walk the wire while spinning two lassos, although I didn't do that in the shows. I did perform riding a unicycle on the wire; a bike with a yoke to another bike, with a girl on a chair; I also walked across with a girl standing on my shoulders; and I carried out a chair, stood on it, then carried it off. I was proud to have come up with two new methods of doing the chair. I carried it out differently than everyone else and I picked the chair back up when I walked off. Everyone else just let the chair fall into the net, which I didn't like.
I left the circus for the second time and went to Georgia College to finish my masters degree in outdoor recreation. Afterward, I did an brief internship in Ipswich, MA, with Project adventure, doing challenge courses, then I moved back to Georgia to do small corporate gigs. Then I quit performing, again, to move to Puebla, Mexico to teach at a university and I also was the assistant director at a tennis academy. I lived there for six years, then moved back to Georgia. Again, I started doing shows and walk-around entertainment, mainly in or around Atlanta. I was the president of the Atlanta Jugglers Association, for a couple of years. Presently I'm the administrator of the Anthony Gatto forum.
I know a few people on here from various places. Several from IJA conventions, Groundhog Day Jugglers festival, Hugo, April Fool's, or several other juggling festivals and/or juggling forums. I've seen Robert Nelson for years and I got to know him a little bit at a MotionFest a few years ago. Steve Langley and I shared a room, and Robert Nelson, Gazzo, Randy Cabral, and myself stayed up several nights until the early hours in the morning, trading stories, and passing various objects. I hadn't met Gazzo until that MotionFest, but I fell in love with him in a non-romantic, non-sexual way. I really enjoyed the chemistry between him and the Butterfly Man. They were like an old married couple in many ways. I really enjoyed their road stories. It was nice to get to know Robert a little bit, outside of an IJA festival and meeting Gazzo. I know Dan Holzman from juggling festivals, the Anthony Gatto forum, when I did the 2008 Welcome Show that he organized, and on Face Book. I know Steven Ragatz and Luke Burrage, mainly from rec.juggling and we met briefly at an IJA; Peter Panic, I know from several Groundhog Day festivals, an Hawaiian Juggling Festival, forums, and many IJA's. Steve Langley and I met at a juggling festival and we keep in pretty close contact. He has gotten me a few gigs in North Carolina, too. I met Haggis McLeod at a Hawaiian festival and we did some whip stuff; Barry Friedman from Facebook. Drew Richardson from FB and he is doing a show in my hometown and I'm going to video it for him; Niels Duinker from the Anthony Gatto forum; Dave Walbridge from various forums and IJA's, but I don't think we've officially met.
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