Dolly Jacobs

Founder & Vice President of The Circus Arts Conservatory

Circus aerialist and conservator Dolly Jacobs has a storied past. Daughter of model Jean Rockwell and Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey’s iconic master clown Lou Jacobs, she trained with Sarasota High’s Sailor Circus and then joined the “Greatest Show on Earth.” 

“I had the best of both worlds,” she says—swimming and ballet and gymnastics lessons in Sarasota, followed by travel by her dad’s side in a mile-long train that crisscrossed the country. As a circus showgirl, she visited places most teens only read about, sharing dressing rooms with talented women from all over the world. Fun fact: She speaks fluent Bulgarian and Spanish, as well as a little German. When Dolly turned 19, her godmother, Margie Geiger, passed along the Roman rings act that she had once performed; it landed Dolly star billing, coveted awards, and global recognition.

Returning to her Sarasota roots, Dolly and husband Pedro Reis, a fellow aerialist, founded in 1997 what has become The Circus Arts Conservatory, a nonprofit dedicated to training, performance, and preservation. It’s an act as daring as anything Dolly pulled off under the big top—and it’s won her similarly highflying accolades, including designation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a National Heritage Fellow in 2015. 

Along with her leadership role, Dolly teaches students at the Sailor Circus Academy. Although some students don’t make careers of the circus, they’re inspired by a variety of international artists, learning not just physical tricks “but also discipline, camaraderie, trust, self-pride and how you treat others. Life lessons,” Dolly says. One alum in Texas wrote to Dolly and Pedro that what he learned has really helped him in his work—as a lawyer.

Dolly Jacobs is now creating a storied present, “passing the torch to the next generation of up-and-coming circus artists,” she says.

Dolly Jacobs
Founder & Vice President
The Circus Arts Conservatory 
2075 Bahia Vista Street, 
Sarasota, FL 34239
941.355.9335
info@circusarts.org
circusarts.org