Jenny Jaeger was a Russian juggler who was born into a performing family in Odessa, Russia (now Ukraine) in 1909. Her entire life was devoted to honing her skills in the art of juggling. Her father, Willy Jaeger (1882-1939), was a well-known juggler.
Willy Jaeger
Jenny’s mother was a Russian trapeze artist, Nadeschda Kulevskaja Jaeger (1890-1953). Jenny joined her father’s act at the age of five. At some point in her childhood, she was performing three fire torches on a darkened stage and caught one on the wrong end, burning her hand and causing her to cry onstage. The audience, seeing her tears, responded with flowers, sweets, chocolates, and fruits for the young girl. However, backstage, her father bent her over his knee and spanked her, saying that an artist is not allowed to cry onstage.
Jenny Jaeger, age 5
Jenny was a child prodigy, debuting her solo act at age 8. She was juggling 8 balls for two rounds at the age of nine and flashing 9 balls at the age of 12. She performed a flash of 10 balls in her act at the age of 15 and continued to feature the trick for four years, although some sources say that the ten ball flash only lasted one year.
Her father insisted that she stop including it in the act as it required too much practice. Her act also featured amazing balances of up to five objects at the same time, six rings while bouncing a ball on her head, and a unique trick of bouncing a prop on her head that consisted of a stick with large rubber balls on each end. The prop would flip 180 degrees with each bounce.
Let’s take a look at many photos of Jenny performing or posing with her props.
Jenny assisted by her parents
Eventually, Jenny’s son Alexander (Sascha) joined her act as her assistant.
Jenny and Alexander 1951
Jenny and Alexander 1955
Jenny Jaeger continued to perform until 1960 and passed away in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1986.
Below is the only known film of Jenny Jaeger.
It was once believed that none of Jenny’s props were still in existence, as she ordered her props destroyed when she retired. However, it was discovered that a few of her props survived. The Museum of Juggling History recently received five of these and may be getting a few more. Below are the two balls and three rings that are now on display in the museum.
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).