By Bridie Smith
When Holly Cardinal starts at her new school on Wednesday, it will likely be with a skip in her step and a backsault or tumble thrown in – just because she can.
The 11-year-old has been doing gymnastics since she was at kindergarten and taught herself contortion by watching YouTube videos.
Holly Cardinal taught herself contortion from an early age.Credit: Justin McManus
“I can’t stop her,” says Holly’s mum, Jill Kratsis. “She just has to move. All the time.”
Holly will be among the 1 million Victorian students to start or return to school this week, including 77,000 preps.
But Holly’s school comes with a twist. And the odd tumble. She has secured a place at the select-entry Flying Fruit Fly Circus School, in Wodonga, on Victoria’s northern border, where she will be one of 47 students to start the school year at the country’s only full-time circus and academic school.
Before Holly starts year 7, her mum, Jill, and 14-year-old sister, Tiana, will move from their Woodend home of 17 years to Albury. Holly’s dad, Matt, will split his time between the two. All so as Holly can follow her dream of travelling the world as a circus performer.
Chot Walford performs in the Flying Fruit Fly Circus School’s production of Big Sky last year.Credit: Zac Edmonds
“It’s absolutely an adventure, and we’ll give it a whirl and see how it lands,” Jill says.
They are far from the only family to relocate to the border town, more than 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, so their child can become “a Fruity”.
Chot Walford joined the Flying Fruit Fly Circus School in 2021 as a year 7 student. His family commuted weekly between the school and Brunswick for three years, before moving to Albury so Chot, now 17, could finish his Certificate III in Circus Arts.
“He’s always been a mover, a natural gymnast, and so what do you do when you’ve got a kid like that? You join the circus,” says his mother, Samantha Everton.
Last September, Chot was one of the lead performers in the circus’s production of Big Sky, which had a two-week stint at the Sydney Opera House.
“It’s been the making of him,” Samantha says. “He’s gone from being a child who had difficulty going to school and didn’t want to leave my side to now, where he can’t wait to get there.”
The state school, located in a purpose-built annexe of Wodonga Middle Years College, caters for students in years 3 to 9 and was founded in 1987 as the educational arm of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus. It has a talent development partnership with internationally renowned circus group Cirque du Soleil.
Currently, there are seven Flying Fruit Fly Circus graduates working for the 40-year-old Canadian company.
Holly Cardinal performs a backsault.Credit: Justin McManus
Melanie McClure, who has been involved with the school for 25 years as a parent, teacher and now school co-ordinator, says not everyone ends up joining a circus. Some “Fruities”, like her son, have become architects while others have qualified as physiotherapists or work in other allied health fields.
McClure says she has the best job in education.
“Sometimes, I sound a bit gushy,” she says, “but it’s just such an incredible community. It’s a partnership between the circus, the school and the families.”
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