GARETH BJAALAND

After teaching himself to juggle and walk on his hands at age 12, Gareth immediately embarked on a career in circus and street theatre. After several years of street performing in his early teens, he then studied music and dramatic art for a period of two years before joining Australian contemporary trailblazers Circus Monoxide in 1999 where he met partner Bronte Webster. In 2002 they travelled to Western Australia to work with the infamous and notorious Fatt Matt and his “Lunar Circus” for ten years or so, during which they began their own company “The Pitts Family Circus” who toured Australia and the world to great acclaim.

JAKE SILVESTRO

Jake Silvestro is a Fine Art graduate (major in Drawing, from the ANU), he has spent the last decade working for the biggest names in Australian Circus (Circus OZ, Dislocate, CIRCA, Casus, Company 2 and more). His acrobatic endeavours have taken him from Bogota to Berlin and now he is back in Australia with his first solo work. Diving back into his independent practice, Jake is reimagining his engagement with physical theatre and circus, through a multidisciplinary approach and prioritising themes of sincerity, honesty and narrative exploration.

Jeff Turpin

Jeff Turpin is an experienced performer, circus trainer, Ashtanga yoga teacher and musician.  For 30 years, he has toured throughout Australia and internationally. Jeff worked for companies including Scam, Broadway and Co, and Circus Monoxide. He trained with Philippe Gaulier, Ian Reece, Angela de Castro, Ira Seidenstein, and PlayMoves. He also taught at Flipside, Spaghetti, Vulcana, Slipstream and Circus Minimus, as well as performing and training adults and children at festivals. Jeff has recently been making ‘python’ bicycles, which take 25 hours to learn to ride, as does Unicycle. He is now based in far north Queensland. 

Jordan Hart

Gravity & Other Myths (GOM)

Jordan decided to take up circus at age 21 after seeing “A Simple Space” at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival. He began his training at the South Australian Circus Centre, delving into the world of acrobatics and receiving tips and pointers from independent artists and members of the local performance troupe. He then began traveling around Australia to collaborate with and learn from other circus artists, both Australian and international. Jordan has worked with Madhouse Circus, Outside The Lines Circus, Casus and fellow Adelaide based company Time In Space Circus. His passion lies in group ensemble work so performing with GOM, the company that inspired him to start his circus journey, really is a dream come true.

Lachlan Harper

Gravity & Other Myths (GOM)

Lachlan was age 4 when his parents put him into gymnastics to try and tire him out. After 11 years of training he sought a new way to explore his body’s acrobatic capabilities, his first taste of circus was when a friend introduced him to pitching. He became obsessed, having a career of being thrown around, flipping, and having fun was the dream. He pursued his career as a circus artist by attending the National Institute of Circus Arts where he specialised in handstands, acrobatics, and banquine.

Lewie West

Interloper

Lewie is a doer of many things. He is most known for doing spinny, shiny, flippy things on the floor where he is credited as one of the pioneers of hard-floor circus acrobatics. Lewie is primarily an ensemble acrobat and has worked for over a decade with companies Circa and Gravity and Other Myths. Lewie has recently changed his focus in circus to passing on what he’s learned to the next generation. He currently teaches at Slipstream Circus in Tasmania and teaches online for a small, select number of students.

Meike Lizotte

Interloper

Mieke is pretty sure she's spent more time in a handstand than brushing her teeth. She tried to calculate how many times she’s spun a hoop in her life, but gave up and decided it was 'a lot'. Mieke trained at NICA and the Beijing International Acrobatic School, then went on to perform independently before joining Gravity and Other Myths, then ROOKE. Mieke loves teaching and is the programme co-ordinator at Slipstream Circus. She teaches hand balancing, hula hooping and partner and group acrobatics. She enjoys teaching people the big nerdy tricks and how to do awesome things together.

Moira Campbell

Moira Campbell began her circus career in London after working in independent film-making. Moira was director of London’s Aircraft Circus and oversaw the full-time training program. She finds a huge amount of joy seeing students grow in confidence by witnessing the creativity and freedom that develops with the discipline of circus and the inclusive nature of the art.

Since relocating to Australia, Moira has taught private aerial, yoga, meditation and retreats at her school Ascension Byron Bay as well as aerials at both Spaghetti Circus and Byron Circus Arts. Moira performs as an aerialist and circus artist in cabarets, shows, corporate events and festivals.

Pip Scott

Pip has developed programs for some of the largest youth circus programs in the world. She previously owned and operated Skylark Circus Summer Camp, a youth circus sleepaway program. She has worked for NICA, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Warehouse Circus, Circus Oz, Catapult Festival, Mullumbimby Circus Festival and WA Circus Festival as a trainer, rigger, program manager and performer. Her research investigated the benefits of risk taking for development in adolescents. She is currently working within education developing circus curriculum for schools. Her particular interests include tumbling, flying trapeze and falling over.  

Riley McDonald

Riley is an Australian circus artist with an obsession for all things trapeze. He has trained at both the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne and l’École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal, and has performed for various circus companies and festivals throughout Australia. Combining an affinity for off-kilter creation with a solid acrobatic background, he attempts to challenge the simplicity and inertia of the trapeze. Riley is also an experienced circus trainer and has been teaching various circus disciplines over the past 12 years at Circus 35 South in Ulladulla, NICA in Melbourne, Circa in Brisbane and many Australian circus and fringe festivals.

FLIP KAMMERER

Started her circus career at age eight touring and performing in a circus tent with the Flying Fruit Fly Circus. If she wasn’t performing, you could find her competing in skating competitions and breakdance battles. A natural performer who loves sharing her skills and knowledge with future generations of Australian performers. Apart from clowning in different languages, some of her biggest achievements include seeing the impact she has on her students and watching them flourish in the industry. And of course, sharing the stage with some of Australia's finest artists.

HANNAH CRYLE

Hannah spends most of her time traveling around the country and the world entertaining audiences of all shapes and sizes. A graduate of Flipside Youth Circus and The National Institute of Circus Arts, she had many successes in her career. A strong woman, acrobat, aerialist, base, clown, street performer, teacher and mother. Circus is her life. 

JACK COLEMAN

Dummies Corp

Jack studied gymnastics from a young age before discovering circus. He studied at the National Institute of Circus Arts where he developed a broad skill base. A talented adagio flyer and acrobat, he is also a skilled manipulator specialising in solo juggling and pass juggling, unicycle and hat manipulation. His acrobatic skills extend to include slapstick performance, table sliding and teeterboard.  Jack is a co-founder of Dummies Corp along with Jamie Bretman and Simon Wright and is currently a Company Director performing in Splash Test Dummies.

JAMIE BRETMAN

Dummies Corp

Jamie is a circus performer and producer with the multi award-winning company Dummies Corp. A graduate of Circo Arts in New Zealand and the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in Australia. He has an incredibly diverse set of skills spanning acrobatics, fire performing, clowning, manipulation and music (Jamie can play more than five different instruments). Jamie’s characteristic performance style, a clever mix of vaudeville clown and contemporary circus, has enchanted audiences through his solo shows and larger ensemble work. 

Jessie Carson

Jessie is a NICA graduate specialising in dance trapeze and hula hoops. She has taught children to adults with a range of experience and abilities. Jessie loves sharing her skills and knowledge through a mixture of technical training and improvisation. She is particularly passionate about learning through exploration and play.

Joe Fisher

Joe Fisher is a Tasmanian juggler who has performed for most of his life. His career highlights include a guest performance at the Israeli Juggling Convention, producing and directing the award-winning PHAT CAB CLUB, and performing in Spiegelworld’s Absinthe and Opiumin Las Vegas. His unique mix of creative juggling, musicality and virtuosic performance style has seen him perform to acclaim in 7 countries.

Josie Wardrope

Melbourne based circus performer Josie Wardrope, has spent several years refining her skills in Flying and Swinging Trapeze and Acrobatics since 2010.
She has toured both nationally and internationally for a variety of companies including Circolombia, One Fell Swoop Circus and Circus Oz and most recently The Little Red Trapeze Company.

Josie is excited about creating site specific work, exploring new places and being outdoors and in the air. She is quick to grin, crafty upside-down and loves bringing the joy of circus to the world.

Lisa Lottie

I'm originally Dutch, people say I sound English cause I lived in the UK forever but these days I call Australia my home. Melbourne, to be precise. In reality though, I live everywhere as I tour the world with my hula hoops in Big tops, Spiegeltents, Arena's, Cruise ships, Theatres, Speakeasy's, and I once performed in a surgery theatre! If you don't find me in any of those places you will most definitely find me on the street with my street show.

Lyndon Johnson

Lyndon graduated from the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in 2018, specialising in hand-to-hand acrobatics and Cyr wheel. He has toured nationally with Gravity & Other Myths, while also performing with CircaNICA.

When Lyndon isn't performing, you'll find him abroad rock climbing, slacklining, cycling or mountaineering.  Don't challenge him - he holds multiple big wall records and the Australian Slackline record for 180m.

Malia Walsh

Circus Trick Tease

Malia Walsh is a founding member of Circus Trick Tease and a driving force producing and directing the company’s works over the years including Children are Stinky, Brass Monkeys and Can’t Face.

With a love of circus and a background in ballet, clown and puppetry, she is known for an unusual take on circus tricks focusing primarily on comedy. Her specialties include fire manipulation, hula hoop and adagio.

Past collaborations include Men of Steel (Hard Rubbish), Uber Lingua (Sydney Festival) and Pyrotechnique (Asian tours) and directing Neon for Circus Oz (Adelaide season).

Melinda Swann

Mel has been training, coaching, performing and creating shows for around 20 years at Spaghetti Circus. Mel coaches all ages, from babies to adults and everyone in between. Mel is passionate about engaging her students through fun circus activities and play. Mel is a pre-school teacher and has a coaching accreditation with Gymnastics Australia.

Nichola Hall

Nichola Hall is a circus trainer and yoga teacher. She believes in the circus arts as a tool for human development and social change. She completed the Diploma in Circus Arts and Dance in Argentina and is a qualified Yoga and Barra é Terre teacher. She has taught throughout South and Central America where she developed social circus projects for marginalized groups. Nichola now teaches circus, aerials and hula hoop classes as Soul Dance Circus and works as a trainer at the Castlemaine Circus Inc. Nichola is a passionate and intuitive teacher, encouraging people to be more embodied and feel empowered.