NICA Circus Showcase 2013

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Wed 27 Nov 2013 - Sat 07 Dec 2013

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the inaugural intake of students embarking on Australia's only Bachelor of Circus Arts. The National Institute of Circus Arts is tucked away in a street off hipster heaven Chapel St Prahran and is yet another hidden Melbourne secret that deserves to be outed.

There was no hiding in the closet for this year's bunch of graduates. From the minute the flight Captain marched onto the performance space, the audience strapped themselves in. Air Rotica was about to take off and it was going to be a wild ride!

First stop – Honolulu. Flight attendants and world travellers criss-crossed in front of the audience in a meticulously timed warm-up display of ducking, weaving, catching and throwing that must have taken hours of training to get just right.

Circus acts you never knew existed were performed to an appreciative applause. Acrobalance anyone? Who would have thought a stocky young man rolling around in a hoop could be so graceful or captivating? Or that an elegant couple in a candle-lit room could put on such a breathtaking performance with no props other than their bodies.

Did someone mention bodies? There was plenty of flesh on show at the opening night and it certainly deserved a second look. Circus performers these days are elite athletes: depending on their 'specialty', they develop muscles in places your reviewer didn't even know muscles existed. Not that she was staring…

Juggling, tightwire, hoops, balancing, clowning and miming – it was all there. Acts with French names such as Tissu, Corde Lisse and Roue Cyr point to the French tradition of the circus – and the mix of nationalities of this year's graduates attests to the international appeal of circus art.

Melbourne is blessed indeed to be the home of this creative artistic hub. You've got until December 7 to see it for yourself.

#circus
#prahran
#south_east
#november
!date 27/11/2013 -- 07/12/2013
%wnmelbourne