Honorary Awards

IJA Honorees

Each year at the IJA Festival, the International Jugglers’ Association honors individuals who have been exemplary in their talent and/or service to the juggling community. The IJA announces (typically late in the year) via the IJA eNewsletter when members can make nominations for awards and what the nomination deadline is (usually early in the year).

Take a look at all our honorees.

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IJA Founders Award
Excellence in Education
Sky King Award
Sammie Vance Youth Civic Achievement
Flamingo Club Award
People's Choice Award
Honorary Life Members
Honorary Life Members

IJA Award of Excellence

In recognition of excellence in the art of juggling through professional performance.

1989Anthony Gatto1990Kris Kremo
1991Sergei Ignatov1992Michael Moschen
1993Gregory Popovich1995Dick Franco
1996Albert Lucas1997Art Jennings
2004The Flying Karamazov Brothers2006The Passing Zone
(Owen Morse and Jon Wee)
2007Raspyni Brothers
(Barry Friedman and Dan Holzman)
2008Fred Garbo
2009Michael Chirrick2010Tuan Lee
2011Françoise Rochais2013Jeton the Gentleman Juggler
(Jens Thorwächter)
2014Paul Ponce2015Charlie Frye
2016Picasso Jr.2017Gena Shvartsman Cristiani
2018Mario Berousek2019Nikolai Geraisimov
2020Gandini Juggling
(Sean Gandini and Kati Ylä-Hokkala)
2021

Alan Sulc

2022Jay Gilligan2023Wes Peden
 
 

Historical Achievement Award

In recognition of a lifetime of influential work and extraordinary achievement in juggling performance.

1991Trixie Larue1992Lotte Brunn
1994Gus Lauppe1995Rudy Cardenas
1996Bob Bramson1997Ernst Kuhn Montego
2000Rudy Horn2001Fudi
2002Evgeni Biljauer2006Kumar of India (Kumar Pallana)
2008Tommy Curtin2009Dieter Tasso
2010Nino Frediani2011Michael Davis
2012Freddy Kenton2013Alberto Sforzi
2014Airjazz (Peter Davison, Jon Held, Kezia Tenenbaum)2015Bobby Jule
2016El Gran Picasso2017Tony Fercos
2018Michael Moschen2019Angelo Piccinelli
2020Gypsy Gruss2021Chrys Holt
2022The Villiams2023Maruichi Senoh
 
 

Bobby May Award

In recognition of years of coaching and mentoring jugglers to help create and improve their acts.

1995Dan Holzman2003Nick Gatto & Albert Moreira
2004Robert A. Nelson The Butterfly Man2007Steven Ragatz
2008Michael Rosman2009Jay Gilligan
2010Paul Bachman2011Matt Hall
2015David Cain2016Richard Kennison
2023Judy Finelli
 
 

IJA Extraordinary Service Award

In recognition of a consistent commitment to provide outstanding support and promotion for the field of juggling.

1989Karl-Heinz Ziethen1993Bill Giduz
1997Richard Chamberlin1999Ginny Rose
2000Rob Peck & Dina Scharnhorst2004Roger Montandon
2005Martin Frost2006Sandy Brown
2007Alan Howard2008Todd Strong
2009Jerry Martin2010Kim Laird
2012Jay Ko2013Don Lewis
2014Marilyn and Mike Sullivan2014Paul and Gabi Keast
2015Erin Stephens2016Scott Seltzer
2017David Landowne2018Jay Green
2019Dan Holzman2020Jack Kalvan
2021Taylor Glenn2023Shivella Schwab
 
 

Honorary Life Members

In recognition of demonstrated long term service and commitment to the IJA.

Before 1979George Barvin*Before 1979William Brown*
Before 1979Eva Crosby*Before 1979Art Jennings*
Before 1979Bernard Joyce*1973Roger Montandon*
1979Bill Dietrich*1979Bobby May*
1979Stu Raynolds1983Roger Dollarhide
1990Mary Wilkins1991Phineas Indritz*
1995Eddie Johnson*1996Betty Willer*
2012Martin Frost2021Alan Howard
2023Arthur Lewbel

* Passed away.
If you know the date of induction of any the ‘Before 1979’ Honorary Life Members, please contact info@juggle.org.

Excellence in Education Award

In recognition of outstanding efforts to teach juggling to non-jugglers and expand the knowledge of those who already juggle.

1991Dave Finnigan1992Mike Vondruska
1993Jahnathon Whitfield1994Kit Summers
1995Myron Wilcox1996Laurie Young & Kay Caskey
1997Hovey Burgess1998Perry Rubenfeld
1999Rob Peck2000Paul Arneberg
2001Kevin O’Keefe2002Bud Markowitz, Michael Rosman & Todd Strong
2004Jackie “Mr. E” Erickson2005Kevin Delagrange
2006David Groth2007Art Thomas
2008Joel Henderson2009Pierre Loiselle
2010Liu Su-I 劉述懿2011Gary Parker
2012Richard Kennison2013Bekah and Warren Hammond
2016Craig Quat2017Galen Harp and Ellen Winters
2018Jacob Alex Dyer2019David Cain
2020Bob Neuman2021Thom Wall
2022Lauri Koskinen2023Niels Duinker
 
 

Sky King Award

In recognition of outstanding dedication to furthering diversity and equity in the juggling community by a BIPOC member of that community.

2021Sky King2022Zaila Avant-garde
2023Sam Malcolm
 
 

IJA Sammie Vance Youth Civic Achievement Award

In recognition of the national or international impact of civic contributions by a person 18 years old or younger.

2019Sammie Vance2020Kayla Malmgren and Elizabeth Stockbridge
2021David Pavlove Cunsolo2022Victoria Ren
 
 

Flamingo Club Award

In recognition of outstanding support, inspirational skill, or exceptional promotion of juggling by a female-identifying or non-binary person.

1996Elizabeth Sanberg1997Dorothy Finnigan
1998Nicole Deese1999Melinda Gonzalez
2000Lana Bolin2001Valida Prentice
2002Jenna Ackerman and Michelle Mills2003Olga Galchenko
2004Clara McCreery2005Courtney Voss and Amanda Richter
2006Kimberly Martinez and Aubree Kolas2007Grace Bidgood
2008Taylor Glenn2009Holly Johnston
2010Ashley Ellis2011Holly Kline
2012Delaney Bayles2013Andrea Schmeissner
2014Erica Liddle2015Sophia Rosman
2016Amanita Glover2018Miranda Miller
2019Ezri Wyman2021Lucy Eden
2022Kaylin Meyers2023Jennifer Miller
 
 

People’s Choice Award

In recognition of having inspired and entertained attendees the most at the annual IJA juggling festival.

1987Bounce & Ooo La La1988Philippine Pride Jugglers
1989Sergei / Jeffrey Daymont1990Arsene
1991Laura Green1992Elliot Cutler
1993Masahiro Mizuno1994Ngaio Bealum
1995John Gilkey1996Gil Pontius
1997Jorg Muller1998Les Tourisks
1999The Gandini Juggling Project2000Jason Garfield
2001The Boehmer Family2002Perpetual Motion: Chuck Hawley & Anthony Shave
2003Team Rootberry: Jonathan Root & Bill Berry2004Luke Burrage
2005Matt Hall2006Tony Pezzo
2007Get the Shoe (Florian Mueller-Reissmann and Jochen Pfeiffer)2008Billy Watson
2009Doug Sayers
2011Showy Motion – Stefan Brancel & Ben Hestness2012Jack Denger
2013Kellin Quinn2014Kellin Quinn
2015Delaney Bayles2016Geoff Marsh
2017Zak McAllister2018Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse
2019Zak McAllister2022Esteban A. Cardenas
2023Christian Kloc
 
 

Award of Special Recognition

In recognition for providing exceptional promotion to the public of the art of juggling.

2013Patrick Sebastien

IJA Founders Award

In recognition of a memorable performance at the annual IJA festival that reflects the spirit of vaudeville that the organization’s founders upheld.

1991Andrew Head1992Daniel Gulko
1993Michael Menes1994Kosen Kagami
1995John Gilkey1996Bob Nickerson
1999Paul Arneberg2007Get the Shoe (Florian Mueller-Reissmann and Jochen Pfeiffer)

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