The future of Australia’s only tertiary circus school – which churns out world-class performers – is in doubt, as its parent university assesses its viability.
Swinburne University In Melbourne last week emailed feeder schools and students who were set to audition across Australia to tell them that 2024 enrolments for the Bachelor of Circus Arts at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) had been “paused”.
Circus contortionist Jarred Dewey said studying at NICA allowed him to connect with a diverse group of like-minded students from backgrounds.Credit: Joe Armao
Many students have been left to reassess their futures.
Canberra’s Warehouse Circus artistic director Tom Davies said its seven students who were expecting to audition for the degree were shocked.
“Hopefully they can work it out, whatever negotiations are happening,” he said.
Davies, a NICA graduate, said without a tertiary system for circus in Australia, the “arts ecosystem is going to really struggle”.
A Swinburne spokesperson said the university was defined and inspired by technology and innovation and that “the courses we offer need to match that”.
“Swinburne has taken the decision to pause enrolments in NICA’s Bachelor of Circus Arts for 2024, while we assess its future viability and strategic alignment with Swinburne’s priorities,” she said.
Circus students from across Australia travel to study at NICA, which accepts 24 students into their bachelor program each year.
There is no change for students currently studying at NICA, including 22 students who began their bachelor in 2023. Enrolments continue for NICA’s vocational education offerings.
In 2022, the Victorian government purchased the Prahran site that houses NICA and Melbourne Polytechnic.
A Victorian government spokesperson said it bought the site from Swinburne University “to ensure a strong arts and educational presence remained at Prahran and to provide tenants with certainty around leasing to allow for continued student enrolments”.
“We encourage Swinburne to work collaboratively to ensure that NICA will be well-placed to deliver high-quality training for many years to come.”
Flying Fruit Fly Circus chief executive officer Richard Hull said the “rug had been pulled out from under” the students who were graduating and planning to audition for NICA.
“We are working right now to look for alternative schools overseas because there’s nowhere else in Australia,” he said.
“It’s the only institution in Australia that provides a bachelor of circus arts. There’s nowhere else to go. I think it’s deeply concerning for the circus sector in Australia,” he said.
Circus contortionist and swinging trapeze artist Jarred Dewey, 34, graduated from NICA in 2010 and has gone on to work across the globe, most recently in Japan, and winning a fellowship with Circus Oz.
He’s getting ready to tour his own show called Party Ghost in the UK and Europe this year.
Dewey said he moved from Adelaide to study with NICA.
“They not only offered a degree program, but disciplines that weren’t accessible to youth circuses and other small facilities around Australia,” he said.
“It was a really special feeling as an 18-year-old ... You go to high school and think I don’t like this, then going to tertiary education and it being the best thing in the world, everything you ever loved in one spot.”
Dewey said NICA allowed him to connect with years of history of circus through trainers and the program and a diverse group of like-minded students who came from backgrounds including martial arts, gymnastics and dance.
“Australian circus is hugely desirable, it’s well respected. There is a huge circus community here, having a space and the facility NICA can provide for upcoming acrobats like students, but for alumni to return back to training is invaluable,” he said.
“It’s a unique institution that we should really hold dear. It’s provided so many people with amazing careers. It’s really special.”
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