TRAINERS
Anna Fisher
Hailing from north-west Tasmania, Anna began circus with local youth troupe, Slipstream Circus at the age of seven. Growing up, Anna quickly found a passion for hula hoops and moved to Melbourne to further her circus training at The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA). Recognised internationally as a hula hoop artist and has been invited to teach and perform at specialist hula hoop eventsaround the globe.
Benton Adams-Walker
Gravity & Other Myths (GOM)
As a kid Benton could never sit still and always needed to be up and about, so in his early teens he decided to give circus a go. Although he started off as a juggler, when he discovered there was a way to throw his brother and not get in trouble it led him to move to acrobatics. Benton decided to kick off his career in circus and attended the National Institute of Circus Arts only to be picked up a year later by Gravity & Other Myths. Besides circus Benton has a strong love for birdwatching.
Chayne Hultgren
The Space Cowboy
One of the most innovative Sword Swallowers alive today, The Space Cowboy performs an ever-expanding list of daring Sideshow stunts and currently holds 55 Guinness World Records, the most ever held by an Australian!
Claire Bartholomew
Clare has been performing, writing, directing and producing new work in Australia for over 20 years and has taught clown and physical comedy extensively around Australia, US and Canada. She has been a guest teacher at The Victorian College of the Arts, specialist clown teacher for the John Bolton Theatre School, Collarts, Victoria University, Mullumbimby and Tasmania Circus Festivals’, University of New Mexico, Circus Oz and The Women’s Circus to name a few. Clare has worked as a Clown Doctor in hospitals for the past 22 years and runs regular training programs for Clown Doctors nationally. She co-created alongside Nicci Wilks and Derek Plunket Ives the dark clown show – The Long Pigs, directed by Susie Dee.
Daniel Oldaker
Join Daniel Oldaker, MC/Physical Comedian/Producer from Varietyville Productions in a comprehensive workshop where you’ll get the chance to enhance your confidence through a series of specific exercises. You will learn highly beneficial tools not only for shows but as an essential life skill. Daniel has trained with Sascha Baron Cohen’s mentor Philippe Gaulier in both London & Paris and Avner the Eccentric (U.S.A) , Angela De Castro (Brazil), Gardi Hutter (Croatia), John Bolton (Melbourne) and Tom Greder (Switzerland).
Daniel Tobias
Daniel is a freelance Producer, Writer, Performer, Director and Musician. He has performed with numerous theatre companies including Rawcus, Five Angry Men and Theatre @ Risk. He has had lead guest roles in television shows such as MDA, Blue Heelers, Neighbours and Good Guys Bad Guys. Daniel is a founding member of Rawcus Theatre Company, winner of Most Outstanding Production award at The Melbourne Fringe for Not Dead Yet. He performed in Collisions, a Rawcus / Melbourne Symphony Orchestra work for The Melbourne Festival.
Ellen Henry
Dummies Corp
Ellen was an inquisitive and active child whose encouraging family put her into gymnastics and ballet at a young age. As she explored the physical capabilities of her body she discovered circus and trained with Circa Contemporary Circus’s youth troupe, Circa Zoo. She went to study at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) where she specialised in bounce juggling, loop straps and group acrobatics. Ellen is a talented handstand artist and acrobatic flyer.
Aleshanee Kelso
Statera Circus
Aleshanee Kelso (Lesh) is constantly inverting her perspective through over 10 years of circus training at Spaghetti Circus and NICA. Specialising in partner acrobatics and tippy-ring, she graduated NICA in 2019. Aleshanee loves to find inclusive ways to push creative boundaries, with a sense of play and captivating authenticity. Her notable collaborations are with Splendour in the Grass, the Australian Ballet School and Casus Circus.
Annalise Moore
Gravity & Other Myths (GOM)
Began her endeavours as a performer through Artistic Gymnastics at age seven where she competed nationally through to the age of sixteen. Annalise then found hip hop dance and discovered circus at age 18. Circus allowed her to combine both elements of gymnastics and dance as well as providing a creative outlet. Annalise went on to train at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne and later continued her training in Montreal, specialising in Hand to Hand and Hand balancing. Some of Annalise’s notable work includes performing with Recirquel company, Cirque Du Soliel’s 45 Degrees, Circus Oz and now Gravity and Other Myths. Annalise is thrilled to be part of such a strong ensemble where she can share her passion for group acrobatics with the world.
Bronte Webster
Hailing from Mullumbimby’s own “Upper Main Arm”, Bronte was a member of the original Spaghetti Circus from the age of 4 where she trained in trapeze, spanish web plus ensemble and duo-acrobatic skills. She starred in all the Spaghetti Circus shows until she was snapped up in 2001 by Australian bus-based Contemporary Circus trailblazers, Circus Monoxide; there she performed aerials, chinese pole, ensemble acrobatics and also began to blossom as a talented character actor. She soon teamed up with circus colleague Gareth Bjaaland and the rest is history.
Ciara Thorburn
Circus Artist, Variety Performer, Children’s Entertainer, Clown, MC, Cabaret Luminary and human being. Ciara is a mid-career artist with a passion for the unknown. Specialising in Clown and chair balance, she has accumulated experience and knowledge from practitioners all over the world (NICA 2018, Philippe Gaulier 2019). She has developed a unique approach to performance, skill development and the workshop environment.
Conor Wild
Interloper
Conor trained at the Circus Space in London, UK. He specialises in Chinese pole, soft and group acrobatics. He’s spent the last decade on tour with companies including Cirque Éloize, Circa, Circus Oz, the 7 Fingers and ROOKE. He’s taught around the world, from beginner to degree level. He is a nerd and an over thinker and loves breaking movement down into bite-size chunks. He has a keen interest in the intersection between dance and circus and how to soften acrobatic forms to make for greater longevity in acrobats and movers.
Easa Min-Swe
Easa cut his teeth with circus at a young age in the Lunar Circus Summer School, making the pilgrimage to Margaret River to spend a month training with artists from all over the world. By the time the summer school became the Western Australian Circus, Easa knew he wanted to be a circus performer, it just took him doing a whole lot of other things to realise it. Now, after graduating NICA in 2019, and touring as much as he can, he’s eager to share his knowledge.
Debra Batton
Director, choreographer and performer of Physical Theatre, Circus and Dance. She was an elite gymnast before discovering dance at Rusden. She worked with Tracks Dance NT, Magpie Theatre in S.A. and Circus Oz Vic. She performed with Legs on the Wall Sydney before becoming Artistic Director from 1998 – 2009 collaborating with a dedicated ensemble and numerous interdisciplinary artists. Debra returned to performing in her fifties. She devises and performs with Batton & Broadway (clown), A Good Catch Circus and Such n Such (dance), she is currently doing her MA in Art in Public Space at RMIT.
Alex Frith
After training as a dancer at VCA Melbourne, Alex made a move from dance to circus, becoming a director and circus boss in London for 10 years and founding AirCraft Circus. Alex made his mark as a creative force directing, rigging and producing shows all over Europe. Returning to Australia, Alex now is co-founder of Ascension Byron Bay, a circus school in the heart of Byron Bay offering circus and performance retreats with Moira Campbell. Alex has rigged for film and loves stunt rigging and flying.
Axl Osborne
Gravity & Other Myths (GOM)
Has dedicated his life to the study and teaching of acrobatics. With over 12 years of elite gymnastics and acrobatics, and more then 10 years of coaching experience, his understanding of movement and mechanics has lead him to many accolades such as the silver medal at the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in 2016. Since retiring from competition, Axl has performed on TV shows such as, Americas got Talent and Le Plus Grand Cabaret du Monde, and has performed on stages all over the world for more than five years. Currently he works with the Adelaide based circus company Gravity and Other Myths.
Cassia Jamieson
Circus Trick Tease
Cassia Jamieson is a young emerging circus artist with a background in contemporary dance who now specialises in Foot manipulation, group acrobatics and partner adagio. Cassia is an alumna of FLING Physical Theatre and trained with women's sports acro trio at Sapphire Coast Academy under head coach Alison Czolij.
Cassia graduated from NICA in 2019 and was a cast member of the immersive circus experience 'Stand Here' by Tons of Sense, directed by Latonya Wigginton.
Chris Carlos
Hailing from a theatre background, Chris was the first fire performer to be accepted into the highly competitive Bachelor program at the National Institute of Circus Arts in 2009.
Since then Chris’ acrobatic career has taken him to six continents as a performer and coach. Being a generalist Chris has a high skill level in a few circus disciplines, with his main focus on partner acrobatics and fire spinning.
Outside of performing with world renowned contemporary circus company Gravity & Other Myths, Chris runs circus festivals and acrobatic training events throughout Australia and SE Asia. These include APAC, Spin festival and Bali handstand retreat. Over 13 years of running these event Chris has gained a reputation as skilled acrobat, passionate coach and pillar in the circus community.
Corie Hurry
A master at breaking things down into their smallest parts, Corie excels at bringing beginners up to an intermediate level and is experienced working with students aged two years all the way up to adults.
In the last 14 years, Corie has helped students on the path to mastering handstands and tumbling, manipulation skills like juggling, flower sticks, diabolo and spinning plates, as well as larger apparatus such as trapeze, aerial silks, mini-tramp, stilts and unicycle.