Many of you may be wondering what’s next in the life of a NICA graduate. What exciting opportunities are available and where can you find them now?

Over the years NICA has become extremely proud of the many graduates who have secured contracts with Australian and international companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Dragone, Circus Oz, Circa, La Soirée and many more. We wanted to share with you a small selection of the destinations of our most recent 2014 graduates who are jetting off around the world to further their circus journeys.

2014 graduates Jon Bonaventura, Will Meager and Phoebe Carlson will be joining Circa, an award-winning ensemble of multi-skilled circus artists under the direction of Yaron Lifschitz. Based in Brisbane, Circa creates powerful works of contemporary circus art that have been performed in 32 countries across six continents.

This is a fantastic opportunity for our graduates, who came from a range of backgrounds prior to studying at NICA. Jon started his journey in competitive gymnastics; Phoebe first learnt circus at Southern Edge Arts in Albany, Western Australia, and Will was introduced to circus as an outlet for boundless energy through classes at Circus Oz. Over the years of study at NICA they have become highly skilled in their chosen specialties: handstands, rope, hula hoops and adagio.

Further away from home is a new creation, The Dai Show in Xishuangbanna, China, where 2014 graduates Teame Ersie and Lucas Simonds recently secured long-term contracts. The Franco Dragone Entertainment Group is an international production company founded by world renowned artistic director Franco Dragone.

This is Dragone’s vision:
“Emotions are universal, but stories are local. And we carefully fuse the world’s human talents, artistic disciplines and technical innovations to bring these stories alive.”

Lucas and Teame are thrilled to be joining this incredible production. Lucas specialised in aerial straps and Chinese pole throughout his time at NICA, while Teame specialised in contortion, static trapeze, rope and tissu.

Another 2014 graduate Angelique Ross has been offered an emerging artist position at NoFit State Circus, based in Cardiff, UK. A far cry from the gum trees in Margaret River where she used to rig her trapezes. NoFit State Circus is the UK’s leading large-scale contemporary circus company. Under the artistic direction of Firenza Guidi, the company are currently touring BIANCO, an immersive promenade experience that takes place above, behind and all around a standing audience.

While at NICA, Angelique specialised in tightwire and dance trapeze and she looks forward to her adventures with NoFit State Circus with great anticipation. Her captivating creative talent combined with her sunny attitude are sure to guarantee her an exciting circus career ahead.

Many other graduates of NICA are teaching and touring in Australia and around the world, and a number are performing with our in-house booking agency CircaNICA. NICA has also been pleased to welcome NICA graduates Luke Ha, Christian Schooneveldt-Reid and James Brown to teaching and directing positions this year at NICA. NICA would like to acknowledge the achievements of all our graduates and thank them for their contribution to NICA and the larger circus community – and we hope they drop in to share their experiences next time they are in town!

17 Apr 2015