Level Up Circus Academy

Cultivating and growing access, inclusion and change through cultural and artistic training in Fremantle for youth of all abilities and backgrounds.

Here you’ll find an overview of Level Up Circus and the real and lasting impacts of the program. We hope this information helps build the connection between our ideas and action, and that the vision for Level Up Circus moves your hearts and minds.

ACT with circus

BELONG to community

COMMIT to fun

 

Level Up Circus will be WA’s first circus academy offering opportunities for circus students of all abilities and backgrounds access to high level training in skills and physical theatre making.

The Academy will create a springboard into real pathways and opportunities in the performing arts industry, including community and contemporary circus, stunt work, theatre arts, dance, and technical production – with rippling impacts locally, nationally, and internationally.

From our unique soil and under the canopy of the Freo Big Top, it supports young emerging circus and physical theatre artists from our three current Youth programs:

And of great importance, this Program will be a part of the fuel needed to change community perceptions and attitudes towards young people, people with disabilities, Aboriginal youth, and diversity of human experiences. 

The Level Up Difference

Circus is not just an art form, it is a community where everyone is welcome, diversity and difference are actively embraced, and everyone is encouraged to be themselves and dream big.

The Academy is designed for young people who love being part of the circus community and would like to continue to improve their artistic, creative and performance skills, and for those who have ambitions to pursue circus arts and performance arts as a career.  

This program is unique not only because it’s the only circus academy in WA, but with diversity and inclusion at its core, it develops access pathways for participants of all abilities and backgrounds.

 

 

 

Levelling Up our Social Impact

With a focus on ‘circus for all’, the Academy encourages opportunities for a new generation of home-grown circus artists while amplifying wellness, learning and fun for all ages and levels of ability.

Circus is a powerful agent for social change by promoting resilience, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and the ability to work well in a team. 

 All our social circus programmes are widely accessible and inclusive, allowing participants to realise their potential in accordance with their own abilities.

The Program aims to create work that is of equal social and artistic excellence. We believe it is important to involve our young artists in projects which are entirely inclusive and where the process is safe and nurturing but also where the final product is of high artistic quality.  

Outcomes

Creating opportunities for participation 

  • The Program provides opportunities for meaningful participation including having fun, experiencing success, belonging, and learning.
  • The Program supports young people’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.

Creating a sense of wellbeing and worth through artistic creativity 

  • Arts participation of people with disabilities is associated with better health and wellbeing.
  • The breadth of the program enables more positive functioning, mental health and social interactions with flow on effects of better quality of life than if they just attended circus sessions. The program is designed to bring out young people’s creativity and confidence.

 Developing ambition and opportunities for a future in the arts 

  • The Program increases opportunities for the presentation of work by artists with a disability, for Aboriginal Youth and for all aspiring young artists, encouraging the involvement of young people no matter their ability in arts and culture.

 

There is a clear link between CircusWA’s strategy and the long-term outcomes that this new Program will create for social, artistic and cultural impact.

See the outcomes and impact of all our Programs that feed the Academy Program here.

Together we can create A CONNECTED, INCLUSIVE & BETTER WORLD

Together we are community

Read more about our vision and ambition to grow a stronger community through the arts, here.

Our impact is only as great as the support we receive.