Capri Palmer can spin on aerial silks and navigate a Chinese Pole routine, and even has a bottle-juggling balancing act.
With her certificate-level training, she had hoped to enrol in Australia’s only degree program for circus, at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in 2024.
But when NICA’s owner Swinburne University of Technology pressed pause on the year’s intake in 2023, her circus training was left up in the air – a frustrating experience for the talented 21-year-old.
“It was difficult to decide whether to go back to Queensland, where the rest of my life is, or stay down here and find somewhere to train,” Palmer told AAP.
With half a dozen other aspiring circus artists, she completed a partially funded year of extra training and is finally auditioning for the sought-after degree as it starts taking new students again in 2025.
“I’m feeling really good, really ready. I’m auditioning with Chinese Pole, which is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I think it’s a good challenge,” she said.
As well as presenting a specialist act during the gruelling two-day auditions held at the NICA Prahran campus, prospective students are tested on dozens of circus skills, any one of which would be next to impossible for an average person.
They include roundoffs, front and back flips, three cartwheels in a row, and a wall handstand that lasts 90 seconds.
While NICA says it’s looking for those who give “more sparkle than spreadsheet”, there’s also some serious administration underway behind the scenes.
Swinburne University is formally transferring ownership of NICA to the Australian College of the Arts (COLLARTS) after the university sold its Prahran campus to the Victorian government in 2022, and the circus degree program is being re-accredited with higher education authorities.
The university said the transition will allow it to focus on areas where it is a global leader, such as digital technology, space, health and sustainability, and promised that existing NICA students had not been affected.
But Flying Fruit Fly Circus chief executive Richard Hull believes the process has been damaging for NICA and disruptive for the broader industry.
“NICA went through a very difficult process with Swinburne University that almost knocked it out of the game altogether,” he told AAP.
Hull is at the Sydney Opera House midway through a run of the Flying Fruit Fly’s latest show Big Sky, and says each year some graduates from the national youth circus audition for NICA.
“NICA is really essential and without it, we don’t have any formal tertiary training for circus artists, so I’m very happy it’s back,” he said.
Swinburne pro vice-chancellor Madelyn Bolch said the university looked forward to a “new era” for NICA.
“I want to thank NICA’s staff for their unwavering passion for their students and the arts, as we worked through this process,” she said in a statement.
The institute is part of an elite group of eight national performing arts training organisations funded by the federal government, and received $6.5 million in the most recent budget.
Hull said the disruptions at NICA – when combined with those at another Melbourne institution, Circus Oz – meant the city was no longer the clear leader in Australia’s contemporary circus scene.
“Victoria, and Melbourne in particular, were the jewel in the crown for contemporary circus in this country, and it’s fair to say that the crown has slipped a little,” he said.
Teacher Hannah Trott is helping run the auditions, and says tenacity is an essential requirement for a career in circus.
With about 90 would-be circus artists hoping to get in, there are only 50 spots available across the degree and certificate courses.
First-year bachelor students have three years of rigorous instruction ahead of them including about five hours of physical training each day, and many will go on to work for companies like Circa and Circus Oz, as well as global outfits such as Cirque du Soleil.
Another NICA hopeful, Daniel Scrofani, dreams that a degree in circus will be his ticket to see the world with an international company.
Completing a 90-second handstand, he tries to distract himself by describing how he started gymnastics aged 10, before trying CrossFit and American football, then circus skills.
Handstand complete, he says while he’s confident in the straps routine he’s spent months developing, the auditions have been nerve-wracking, because he didn’t know what the competition would be like.
“There’s always the risk of everyone there showing you out entirely and being at the bottom of the pack, that’s something that can make you a bit nervous,” the 20-year-old said.
Palmer’s family already jokes she has run away to join the circus, and she says as the oldest of five children she regrets missing birthdays and graduations because of her commitment to NICA.
But as she waits to hear whether her audition has been a success, she has no regrets about sticking with her ambition to get a degree.
“It was a big decision, but I’m glad that I did it,” she said.
