Juliana Chen

We
mentioned in yesterday’s Inside Magic the unfortunate news that organizers were
forced to cancel Canada?s Mid-Summer Magic Festival. Juliana Chen was slated to
be one of the headliners.

Fortunately, Ms. Chen is
again in the news today – and it is very good news. The incredible Chinese Opera
student and performer will appear Friday through Sunday at the Pacific Coliseum
(Vancouver) during the Lunar New Year festival.

In a wonderful and
sometimes too candid profile, The Vancouver Province traces this dynamic artist
from her schooling in China to her return to her adopted hometown of Vancouver.

As a young woman, Ms. Chen
trained at Chinese Arts School in Hunan in ballet, Chinese Opera, and other
disciplines but not magic. She worked first as a foot juggler. “I was a ballet
dancer but the government decided that since I had very long legs, I should
foot-juggle,” she said. “You did what they told you to do.”

While audiences enjoyed
watching the act, they rarely saw her face –  she was on her back most of
the time as she propelled items around with sleight of foot.

She received her big break
when she suffered two broken legs in a practice session. Her physician told her
she’d been in wheel chair before she turned 30 years old.

Ms. Chen had admired the
magicians in her circus and had been practicing on the side. She focused on
manipulation – magic props were tough to find – and within a few years, she was
pulling down $2.00 a month.

(Of course, that’s 1988
dollars so it would really be closer to $4.25 a month by today’s standards).

After immigrating to
Canada, Ms. Chen continued her practice and performances. In 1997, her decision
to study magic and years of practice paid off when The World Congress of
Magicians in Dresden, Germany named her the first woman champion of
sleight-of-hand.

What does she think of
David Copperfield?

She told the paper that
“she isn?t the biggest fan” of the magician.

How about other females in
magic?

“I don’t see any other
females who are on par with me yet. Mostly, they do simple manipulation or are
there to look sexy and get cut in half by someone.”

Ouch.

Ms. Chen continues, “[b]ut
since I won the award in ’97, there are more and more good women coming up the
ranks. Many copy my hairstyle and dress, which is flattering.”

Double Ouch.

It is good to be
confident, though. If there is any magician deserving of such confidence, Ms.
Chen is probably is that magician.