Juggling Style and Records
The Galchenko siblings are known within the juggling world as being "obsessive" about perfecting their technical skills. Penn Jillette asserts that "if you're talking about club passing, the two of them together are the best in the world. Not just the best in the world. The best there has ever been." Writing in Time, Lev Grossman describes their performance as "beautiful--a kind of kinetic sculpture, a bravura display of human determination bringing order to the chaotic physical world." According to Jason Fagone in The New York Times, Vova "is able to blur the transitions between tricks so completely that it often seems as if he’s not doing tricks at all".
Unlike many other jugglers, however, the siblings do not excel at performing; they do not banter on stage or veer towards comedy. This is, in part, due to Vova's almost crippling stage fright. Vova, who has earned the nickname "The Russian Robot" for his refusal to try to engage his audiences, maintains that juggling has nothing to do with artistry: "There’s nothing you can express through juggling. It’s just throwing and catching ...". Because their interests lie in the technical aspects of the discipline rather than entertainment, they joined the World Juggling Federation, whose mission is to transform juggling into a sport.
Olga and Vova previously 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
Read more about this topic: Vova And Olga Galchenko
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