Want to kick off your career by practicing circus arts at a world-class institute? Beginning this September, Australia’s National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is looking for students to join its 2023 Bachelor of Circus Arts training program.

The NICA  is looking for the next generation of circus performers… and that could be you. Are you a young circus artist, gymnast, dancer, actor, parkour athlete, musical theatre enthusiast, or a natural clown? This is your chance to show off your skills and take them to the next level.  

As Australia’s only circus arts training institute offering a Bachelor of Circus Arts, positions at NICA are highly sought after. For the 2023 intake, there are only 25 positions available.  

National auditions are being held from 19 September to 10 October 2022. Applications for auditions close Tuesday, 30 August 2022. Please see images and video here.

NICA’s Head of Circus, James Brown, was a foundational student and graduated from the program in 2003. He has since toured the world performing and believes, as he states, ‘‘the rigour and discipline that the course instills makes NICA graduates sought-after performers. Our artists are grounded in technique, with 4-5 hours of physical circus training per day, along with a range of performance and movement training, business, physiology, nutrition, and other essentials to work in a circus environment. We equip our students to be industry-ready so that they have a long and sustainable career.’’

NICA second-year student Gemma Truong spent 10 years training as a dancer before applying for NICA. “I was hesitant, as I knew very little about circus… (but) being a dancer was a big advantage in the circus industry,” Gemma says. “My advice for someone considering NICA is to not be afraid of giving everything a go, no matter your level of experience.”

Auditions will take place across Australia on the following dates:

• Melbourne, 19-21 Sept,
• Darwin, 22 Sept,
• Cairns, 23 Sept,
• Adelaide, 26 Sept,
• Perth, 27 Sept,
• Brisbane, 30 Sept,
• Mullumbimby, 3 Oct,
• Sydney, 4 Oct,
• Canberra, 9 Oct,
• Launceston, 10 Oct.  

NICA has established relationships with Cirque du Soleil, the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe, Shanghai Circus School, all schools in the FEDEC in Europe, and Taiwan’s National Academy of Performing Arts.

NICA makes the extraordinary world of circus arts a professional reality with world-class training, innovation, evidence-based research, and development. It’s through these tools that they create truly extraordinary, vocationally-elite, industry-ready artists. 

Proudly flying under the flag of Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology, NICA is an internationally renowned centre of excellence providing tertiary-level, innovative education, training, performance, research, leadership, and talent to the local, national, and global circus arts industry.

NICA also offers the Certificate IV in Circus Arts, for which application is also open now.

Source: NICA press release. Main image features Gemma Truong. Photograph taken by Cameron Grant.