Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniella and Anna Jack.
Hi Daniella and Anna, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We are circus performers, not so much writers, so I will do my best to tell our story! It all started when my Russian grandma, Lyudmila, met her husband from a Ukrainian circus. They had Anna, my mom, in Anapa, Russia, a beautiful city by the Black Sea. When she was 5 years old, Anna started performing in her parent’s circus, touring what was then USSR. By the age of 14, Anna wanted to take the next step in her career and attended Moscow Circus School. This school was at the time recognized as one of the most prestigious circus schools in the world. It was difficult, but Anna graduated with two acts, Unicycle and Hula Hooping, whereas most students graduate with one. In her showcase performance, Anna was offered two different contracts to choose from; she decided to take the South American Circus on Ice tour, which she then had to learn how to perform her hula hoop act while on ice skates. She then toured South America, and my father, Robert, was in the circus band as a musician. Long story short, the circus went bankrupt because that’s show business, and Anna had to make a choice. Go back to Russia or go to America with Robert. Maybe she was feeling adventurous? At the time, she only knew Russian and some Spanish and flew to New York with my dad. Met his family, learned English, they fell in love, got married, and had two kids, the whole American dream. Except my parents were circus performers and musicians… And life can be hard for struggling artists with kids. But my mom always excelled in hard circumstances. She was always a survivor. She created a name for herself in New York. She started from performing at a Russian restaurant in Brooklyn to knocking on every doorstep with her headshot and resume. She found herself on the Sony commercial tour rocking a Walkman ad with hula hoops and rollerblades. Eventually, she was everywhere, weekly on The David Letterman Show, opening on the Wendy Williams Show, and performing at the MTV’s music awards and at the opening Olympic Ceremonies. She did all of this while raising me and my sister. We had a very normal and privileged life. But she took me to her work from the beginning. Because of this, I picked things up. I was performing on some big stages at 3.5 years old with my mom’s hula hoops. By age 8, I took interest in contortion, and my mom started training me immediately. I was 9 years old with two acts! I was performing alongside my mom at cool events like P-Diddy’s white party. So. many. celebrities. All the while, I lived a very normal child’s life! Maybe it’s genetic, but I also had a love for singing and musical theatre. By the time I was a teenager, my mom taught me how to juggle, unicycle, and perform Rolla Bolla (which is a balancing act where you stand on a board that is on top of a cylinder), and we were touring as a family during holiday seasons and weekends as Circus R Us. All good things come to an end though. We moved to Florida when I was 15. We still performed as Circus R Us, but by the time I went to college, it just didn’t work out that way. I went to UCF, dropped out, performed at Pirates Dinner Adventure for 5 years, and met my now husband there, Hurricane Irma closed the place down, I ended up at The Holland Experience as a singer, dancer actor then Covid hit, and Everything shut down. 5 years had passed since I had done anything circus related with my mom, and I had my first child. Maybe it had something to do with me entering motherhood, but it had hit me. I missed my circus roots. I missed performing with my mom. That was a huge part of who I am and what I can offer as a performer. It meant so much more to me than just performing. It was family. My mom’s sacrifice and dedication to me and my sister. I only had just realized it then. So, during the pandemic, when businesses all had their doors shut, we went to work. We began creating a new act, The Juggling Jacks. Which then turned into a 35-minute show, a mother-daughter circus duo featuring juggling, unicycling, comedy, Rolla bola, walking globe, hand-balancing, hula hooping, the list just keeps on going. We started doing shows together at Kissimmee’s Old Town, a few events here and there. And then we found ourselves performing weekly at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort. It has really been a dream come true.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yikes. That’s a tough question. Nothing is ever easy. We definitely struggled on the way. Mom and I even had a no-talking falling-out kind of thing for like a year. That was really hard. Part of growing up though is learning how to communicate through it properly. We’re both Aries women and can be stubborn, Haha. But we have learned to respect and love each other. I think the biggest battle for us was the change in family dynamics. I was going from a dependent child to an independent adult and had to see my mom as a business partner, not just my mom. We learned a lot through this, and we are very strong because of it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are the Juggling Jacks! Anna and Daniella Jack, a mother-daughter circus duo. We specialize in many circus skills and in performances. It is a combination of athleticism, circus artistry, acting, dance, and so much more. We offer single acts (such as hula hoops, contortion)
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