youth Circus academy
Together we create
The Level Up Academy is WA’s only circus academy giving ambitious young people access to high level training in circus skills and physical theatre making and testing these skills inside production outcomes.
The Academy creates 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.
The Level Up Circus Academy supports young people to be ambitious and follow pathways to a career in circus and physical theatre.
Underpinning the Academy is a focus on nurturing physical and emotional safety so risk taking and creativity can bloom. Through our productions we engage with socially relevant topics and work with teams of guest artists to create productions which are challenging and transformative for both audiences and performers.
The academy is made up of Two Streams – a DEVELOPMENT stream for children aged 10-14yrs and the PERFORMANCE stream for young people aged 15-22yrs. Also embedded into the Academy are two priority streams which offer unique support and training pathways for Aboriginal youth and young people living with a disability:
ACADEMY
PRODUCTIONS
ECLIPSE
Development Dec/Jan 2025
Training Tour to Melbourne, July 2025
Performance, March 2026
Told through the vision and imagination of CircusWA’s Academy youth performers, ECLIPSE is a gateway into what our future could, should and might just be. Through explorations of unity and diversity, balance and disharmony, trust and compromise, these young artists explore our humanity and our fragility, and develop a future they dream for themselves.
Conceived in WA by Sally Richardson, this work was first developed in 2022 by graduating students at Australia’s National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in Melbourne. In 2024/2025, with the ongoing support of NICA, we will continue to development this into a full youth production.
Over the next 18 months CircusWA will grow this national work to be performed by local diverse youth and in exchange with professional performers from NICA. We hope to be presenting the final production of Eclipse in early 2026.
B’SPOKE
Brisbane Tour, Sept/October 2025
B’Spoke, created with five unique storytellers, offers a place where imagination rules and brave young people are not judged by their abilities, rather applauded for their superpowers
Five lighthouses stand in an arc behind the performance space. They are the upright sentinels of their world, shining lights to guide and illuminate the way of the world. All is in their control until Walt bumbles and zips onto centre stage – an unusual box-shaped ‘lighthouse’ secretly equipped to bring an alternate guiding light filled with joy and wonder to the world.
This heartwarming circus and physical theatre production showcases the joyous offerings of young people who live within diverse physical and intellectual realities. In B’Spoke we learn that seeing and feeling the world differently and exploring new pathways can unearth a joy and wisdom we don’t expect.
B’Spoke is CircusWA’s second disabled-youth led production where they place youth at the centre of the creative process and include them as performers. To create this show, the team journeyed for two years learning to listen, work and move in new and diverse ways ensuring everyone had a voice. This is not just about the storytellers being front and central, but also about the youth circus artists. Together they are our future communities.
“B’Spoke was a powerfully crafted work that held authenticity and integrity with an ease I haven’t seen in such a long time. Inspirational” (An audience member)
THE RAFT
Join the shipwrecked passengers of a ritzy cruise ship as they navigate survival, boredom and murder on The Raft. Circus, physical theatre and the absurd converge in this perfect storm of a show from CircusWA’s youth Academy.
Co-Directors: Ella Norton and Mackenzie Brown
Composer & Musician: Max Barton
Dramaturg: Humphrey Bower
“B’Spoke is a triumph. The care and connection between the youth performers has created an imaginative performance. The live musicians held the show alongside the ensemble’s extraordinary physicality and hilarious antics – physical poetry.” (James Boyd; Creative Australia, State Manager Development & Partnerships)
PERFORMANCE STREAM
This stream is made up of young people who are physically and creatively ambitious youth. Performers in this troupe are chosen based on their physical skills in circus, gymnastics, dance or parkour, as well as their commitment to performance making.
In this stream students train twice a week as an ensemble. Mid week they focus on core strength and circus skills (partner/group acrobatics, teeterboard, tumbling) and on Sundays focus on physical theatre and creating new productions. The program is designed to prepare students for entry into specialist training institutions nationally and internationally, and is a pathway to production companies in WA such as Fliptease and MAXIMA Circus.
The ensemble also participate in one tour – either a training, development or performance tour – which gives them an opportunity to meet other circus performers their age and familiarise them with other training centres and production companies around Australia.
Weekly Training Expectations
AT THE FREO BIG TOP
- Thursday Academy Foundations (2hrs)
- Friday open troupe training – this is voluntarily attended (2hrs)
- Sunday performance training (3hrs)
SPECIALIST SKILL TRAINING:
- min 1 specialist skills class of students choice (this can be undertaken at any approved training centre)
ADDITIONAL HOURS:
Across the year expect between 50-100 additional hrs for rehearsals and performances. The Annual program will be presented after the Auditions. We ask all students to agree to these expectations.
PERFORMANCES:
The number of shows varies every year. Expect a minimum of two productions and one smaller Academy presentation show each year.
Cost
- $1,600 per year – covers 40weeks of training (7.5hrs/wk) and participation in intensives, rehearsals and performances
- 40% off all skills classes at the Freo Big Top
- *There are additional costs to join tours with the costs as subsidised as we can make them through funding
Leviathan by C!rca performed with CircusWA youth troupe 2019 – image provided by Circa
Uglieland 1923 performed for Boorloo Heritage Festival and Fremantle International Street Arts Festival 2023 – image by Tashi Hall
Eclipse in partnership with NICA (National Institute of Circus Arts) 2023 – image by Edwin Sitt
Ungrounded by Jens Altheimer 2020 – image by Tashi Hall
DEVELOPMENT STREAM (for 10-14yrs)
This is our stream where students who are interested in performing and exploring their circus skills further without a large investment. This stream meets weekly on Sundays to improve their ensemble skills, explore aspects of performance and learn how circus acts are assembled. The Development Stream performs at a variety of community events and festivals some of which include Perth’s Boorloo Heritage Festival, International Street Arts Festival and Fremantle Long Table Dinner.
Weekly Training Expectations
- 1 specialist skills class a week (at any training facility)
- Fridays open troupe training (non-compulsory) – 2hrs
- Sundays performance training (compulsory) – 2hrs
Cost
- $300 per term covers all the trainings on Friday and Sunday
- All Academy Participants receive 40% off all skills classes at the Freo Big Top
- The performances do not carry any additional costs
