Live your dream: a juggler's story | Gustavo Ollitta | TEDxCannes

Gustavo Ollitta discovered juggling, by seeing a TED talk of Michael Moschen : since then, his passion did not leave him any more! He tells us about his experience and the numerous benefits of juggling. More than anything, he invites us to find a job which allows all of us to follow our passions in life.

In 2007, Gustavo Ollitta gives direction to his life by starting juggling, working on different types of “manipulations”. By 2010, he’s a professional. He performs at a number of festivals in his native Brasil. He is graduated from the School for Temporary Circus in Turin (Scuola Di Cirko le Vertige), which has really kickstarted his international career. His performances are a chance to share something truly unique.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

I didn't know that my life was going to
take such a different road

because of one pair of these.

For those of you who don't know
what these are,

they are juggling props
created by Michael Moschen,

who even performed here
on TEDxTalk six years ago.

They were further developed by Dai Zaobab.

He created a new shape and
he named it "Buugeng",

then it travelled the whole world

and it arrived at my house in Brazil.

This prop has completely changed my life.

After one year with them,
when I was in front of the computer,

on the Internet, trying to find
something interesting to learn.

I'm a single son,
reared by a traditional family.

This kind of family where everyone
has wished for their only son

a profession, goals...

I tried to show them something different.

I have chosen from that moment
to follow my dream,

to make this become a career.

After finishing high school,

I stopped studying classical subjects

like mathematics, physics,

to get fully into the world
of manipulation and arts.

My days were from morning until night

doing research and more research.

with this and other props.

After four years of being
completely out of the real world,

and being against the desire of my family,

school, society, I became someone.

I am now graduated from
a professional circus school in Italy.

I have a video that has reached
2 million views on Youtube.

created by [unclear].

I have performed in more than 40 countries

around Europe, the USA, Japan,

including the TEDGlobal talk,
in South America.

All of that didn't happen
because of my technique.

But what was more important
was the desire to follow my dream.

Most people have fears about
following their passion as a career

and they get stuck
into something that they don't want,

wasting all the weeks of their life
doing what they don't like,

waiting for the break from their job
to be finally who they should be.

I think that if everyone
thought without fear

about following their passion,

life would be more enjoyable.

Even the hard times you have
to go through in any kind of career

would be easy because
you're doing what you love.

Like me, moving to Europe and
living in this camper for about one year

to save some money.
Look how happy I was!

Even if the oil was frozen and
I couldn't even make a salad,

it was OK.

I've been sharing my passion
through many events

and even some locations where people
don't have the opportunity to dream,

like in my city, Sao Paolo,
in the favellas.

These children are constantly
in contact with problems of drugs,

violence in their home,

and during this workshop,

they could have the opportunity
to try something new,

and most important, to remember
and influence their own future,

to become who they want to be
and not what society wants from them.

Even in schools, as I love to mention
the TEDtalk by Ken Robinson,

who said how schools kill creativity.

You start as a baby, learning to walk,
dance, use your body.

And little by little, because
of the society and your context,

you stop using all these movements

to become someone who just needs
the right side of your brain to work.

I love to work with these in schools
and even some companies

because juggling is not just about
throwing three balls in the air

or manipulating two black and white
psychedelic scythes.

Here, you can see how many gains
and developments you can learn

while you're juggling.

Intellectual, mental, physical
and psychological benefits

that you can gain while you're juggling.

I'm not here to obligate anyone
to be a juggler.

I'm here to remind people
to dream and live your dream

because if you cannot dream,
you cannot wake up.

Thank you.

(Applause)

Now, I'm going to share with you

my dream.

(music)

(Applause)