Vova and Olga Galchenko facts for kids

Vladimir (born September 15, 1987), known as Vova, and Olga Galchenko (born July 31, 1990) are a brother and sister juggling team. They are originally from Russia. They were very active in the juggling world from about 2001 to 2009. They were especially good at juggling clubs. They focused on difficult solo tricks and passing clubs with many people.

Early Life and Juggling Journey

Vladimir Vasilievich Galchenko (Vova) and his sister Olga Vasilievna Galchenko grew up in Penza, Russia. Both of them started juggling when they were very young. Vova joined a circus school when he was seven years old. Olga joined the same circus school a few years later. Vova Galchenko is known for performing very advanced juggling tricks.

Their parents encouraged Vova and Olga to perform together. In 2001, their father started filming their juggling tricks. He then put these videos online. Soon, they began to get invitations to perform in other countries. Vova and Olga quickly became well-known in the European juggling community. People were amazed by their high skill level, especially because they were so young. Even when they were only 12 and 15 years old, they were main performers. They appeared at many big juggling events and festivals in Europe. These included the British Juggling Convention in 2002 and the European Juggling Convention in 2003. They also performed at juggling conventions in Israel and Japan.

In 2003, the family moved from Russia to the United States. They settled in Los Angeles. There, they started working with a famous juggler named Jason Garfield. He helped them make their juggling skills even better. In July 2003, they went to the International Jugglers' Association Summer Festival in Reno, Nevada. Many people thought they would win all the top awards. However, they were new to competing on a big stage. They did not win gold in any main category. But as a team, they did win a silver medal. They also won many awards in other smaller events.

In December 2004, they competed in the first World Juggling Federation competition. This event took place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vova won several competitions, including Advanced Clubs and Five Club Moves. He also won events for juggling three and five clubs while spinning around. Olga won the Junior Clubs competition. She also came in second place in the Women's Advanced Clubs. Together, they won the Teams Six Club and Teams Seven Plus events.

Around 2005, Vova and Olga started performing less together. This was partly because Olga wanted to focus more on her schoolwork. Vova then began to perform on his own.

In 2006, Vova and Olga reunited for the World Juggling Federation competition. They won the Team Club Passing competition. This was their first time performing together in a competition in about a year and a half. Vova also competed by himself. He won many individual events. These included Endurance - Clubs and 5 Ball 360s. He also won freestyle competitions with three, five, and seven clubs or balls.

Juggling Style and Achievements

The Galchenko siblings are famous in the juggling world for being very dedicated. They worked extremely hard to make their technical skills perfect. A famous entertainer, Penn Jillette, said that Vova and Olga are the best in the world at club passing. He even said they are the best there has ever been. A writer for Time magazine, Lev Grossman, described their performance as "beautiful." He called it a kind of moving art. He said it showed how human effort can bring order to a busy world. According to Jason Fagone in The New York Times, Vova could make his tricks flow so smoothly. It often looked like he wasn't doing separate tricks at all.

Unlike many other jugglers, Vova and Olga were not focused on entertaining the audience. They did not tell jokes or try to be funny on stage. This was partly because Vova often felt very nervous performing in front of people. Vova was sometimes called "The Russian Robot." This was because he did not try to connect with his audience. He believed that juggling was not about art. He said, "It’s just throwing and catching..." Because they cared more about the technical side of juggling than entertainment, they joined the World Juggling Federation. This group wants to turn juggling into a sport.

Olga and Vova once held several juggling world records for team club passing. Some of their records included:

• Ten Clubs - 378 passes caught
• Eleven Clubs - 152 passes caught
• Twelve Clubs - 54 passes caught

Life Beyond Juggling

Vova and Olga Galchenko have recently started focusing on other goals. They both studied Computer Engineering and Computer Science. Olga went to UCLA, and Vova went to the USC. Both of them have done well in their studies. Vova has created several iPhone applications. One of these apps is made for jugglers. Since 2012, Vova has been working at a company called Box.

See also

• List of jugglers