NICA to present ‘Precipice’

National Institute of Circus Arts presents PRECIPICEAustralia’s next generation of circus talents will be on show this September when the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) presents Precipice. Leaping into a world of chaos, Precipice defies danger in an effort to celebrate life.

 

The elite NICA circus artists have spent the last two years honing their circus and performance skills, guided by world-class trainers including Aaron Walker, vertical aerial specialist and trainer for the past 20 years; Vasily Ivanov, who toured the world with the Moscow Circus for over a decade; and Earl Shatford, a master juggler who is currently chasing the Guinness World Record for the most rings juggled while bouncing a ball on a head pedestal.

 

Onstage the performers will present spectacular solo and duo acts including roue Cyr, group acrobatics, handstands, adagio, unicycle, juggling, aerial rope, diablo, head trapeze and multicorde.

 

The NICA performers range in age from 30 (clowning specialist Ciara Thorburn) to 18 (foot juggler/flying trapeze artist Karla Scott) and include: hoop rolling and aerial chair artist Georgia DeGuara, who also teaches in outreach programs; Poppy Fairbairn who trained as a ballet dancer for 20 years before discovering her inner acrobat, and was selected to perform in Hugh Jackman’s show The Boy from Oz and; martial artist Zion Martyn. Fairbairn and Martyn perform as a duo, specialising in Pointe Adagio: a graceful fusion of gentle and fluid ballet pas de deux spiced up with a combination of dynamic and thrilling partner acrobatics. They are the only duo in Australia to perform pointe adagio.

 

Precipice is directed by former Cirque Du Soleil artist Zebastian Hunter. It is conceived by Hunter and Stephen Sewell, devised by acclaimed dancer Meredith Kitchen and designed by Stephanie Howe. Hunter is a trainer, performance teacher and coordinator at NICA. He has worked as an artistic trainer at Flying Fruit Fly Circus and the National Circus School of Montreal. Meanwhile, Kitchen is a trained professional dancer who has worked with Australian Dance Theatre, Dancenorth, Chrissie Parrot Dance Collective and The One Extra Company. She is now artistic assistant with the legendary Paris-based Compagnie Philippe Genty.

 

Book tickets to Precipice at www.nica.com.au.

 

Image by Aaron Walker Photography.