Its finally here!

You may have noticed we are a little behind schedule this month with the August E-news but I think once you've glanced through this months edition, you'll see why. Its jam packed with some great stuff and while we apologise for the delay, I hope you'll forgive us.

So grab yourself a coffee, find yourself somewhere comfy and settle in for some great reading... enjoy !

Circus Futures Forum PROGRAM launched!

MELBOURNE: 11th & 12th October 2014.

‘Art should be unruly, wild and dangerous’
(Omar Musa author: Here Come the Dogs)

We welcome you to the 2014 Circus Futures Forum.

This wondrous 2-day feast of ideas, provocations, celebrations, and imagined possibilities will surprise and astonish, as we throw as much food-for-thought on the communal table as we can possibility harvest.

The Forum menu will provide a mashup of conversations, dialogues, monologues and argumentative banter that hopefully will drive us, collectively towards envisioning a future that intuitively understands the value of the artist, the thinker and the visionary.

We embrace all our Forum guests who we have deliberately sourced to expand the discussions on how we can develop a future that is vibrant, resilient, sustainable and healthy for all circus communities locally and globally.

We invite each and everyone of you to join us at the Circus Futures Forum table as we proudly celebrate the circus arts.

Gail and the ACAPTA Team.

REGISTER NOW.
EARLY BIRD registrations close on the 31st of August 2014.

This fantastic Forum is presented in collaboration with Melbourne Festival, Circus Oz and La Trobe University.

SAVETHE DATE: Circus Steamed-Out

ACAPTA and FACE, Fresh Arts Coalition Europe present Circus Steamed-Out.

Following on from the Circus Futures Forum, Circus Steamed-Out is a special event for Circus artists to be held at The Melba Spiegeltent [Circus Oz] on 13th October 2014.

2015 Membership Drive

If you JOIN ACAPTA in the month of August, you'll get more than 4 extra months free membership! Thats right, membership all the way through to the 31st of December 2015!

And to make the offer even sweeter, if you join before Friday 15th August, you'll  also go into the draw to win a double pass to see Cirque du Soleil's TOTEM in Sydney [Oct 2014] or Melbourne [Jan 2015].

There are a bunch of other great reasons for joining now for 2015 too, including being able to take advantage of our great new partnership with Little Birdy Tix [see below], our new banner promo opportunity and some very exciting, long-awaited news that we'll be announcing in the coming weeks!

Please note that membership fees will increase slightly for some membership levels on the 1st of January 2015 so all current members might want to consider joining for 2015 before your current membership expires on the 31st of December 2014 to take advantage of the early bird price.

ACAPTA & Little Birdy Tix team up to give our members a great offer.

Love getting stuff for FREE?!

Little Birdy Tix have an exclusive FREE TICKETS offer for all 2015 ACAPTA members! Usually $55, 2015 ACAPTA member can now get a heavily discounted $45 membership (!) just by quoting the special code found in your ACAPTA 2015 membership confirmation letter. Once you’ve got your special code, head to the Little Birdy Tix site and sign up here! MORE INFO...

National Youth Circus Manifesto now available for purchase.

The Australian Youth Circus Sector, in association with ACAPTA, recently launched  “Youth Circus in Australia: A manifesto for the development of the Australian Youth Circus Sector 2014 – 2020"

You can now pre-order your copy of this beautiful 32 page Digital Printed, saddle stitched, Full Colour Booklet. Size: 210 x 210mm].

Pre-orders close at 5pm, Friday 15th August 2014.

Check out the Arts Hub article by Richard Watts here...

Darcy Grant receives the inaugural City of Gold Coast Creative Development Grant.

The City of Gold Coast has announced Darcy Grant as the recipient of the inaugural Creative Development Grant for the Circus and Physical Theatre Sector.

The Creative Developement Grant was launched by City of Gold Coast and ACAPTA at our Gold Coast Sector SESH earlier this year. A number of extraordinary applications were received and selected by a committee including Gail Kelly, Anni Davey and Melinda Collie-Holmes [CoGC]

Darcy received $10,000 to kick start a bold new performance piece. His work Sequins and Sinews performed in partnership with Aerial Angels is on the program for next year’s Bleach Festival.  READ MORE...

Spaghetti Circus presents: The Gold Coast Circus Incubator

Spaghetti Circus, ACAPTA & the City of Gold Coast present the Gold Coast Circus Incubator – an injection of circus to the heart under the Little Big Top from 22 – 27 September.

In the midst of the Gold Coast Arts Centre and the Evandale precinct, contemporary circus will be celebrated and shared through a series of mentoring and training workshops. Mentors Darcy Grant, Tigerlil and Yos Worth, in collaboration with 5 local circus performers, will guide emerging talents (aged 12 -18), in advanced training, Improvisation & Process and Act Development. These sessions will culminate in the not-to-be-missed Circus Slam on Saturday evening. READ MORE...

S [Circa]

Parramatta: 21st August to 23rd August 2014

Based on the 19th letter of the English Alphabet , S fuses group acrobatics with intimate emotions. Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz was inspired to create an abstract work of power and joy – inspired by the curves, symmetries and plurality which are all attributes of this one letter. READ MORE...

Finding The Silence [CASUS]

Fortitude Valley: 15th to 23rd August 2014

Following the massive international success of their debut production Knee Deep, Brisbane’s own Casus return home for the world premiere of Finding The Silence. People are always searching for that elusive silence, that moment of pure clarity, but does it really exist? By testing their physical vulnerabilities, emotions and fears, Casus truly go on the search to find the absence of sound. READ MORE...

FINUCANE & SMITH’S GLORY BOX TENTH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Collingwood: 14th to 29th August 2014

Finucane & Smith’s Glory Box; the show that’s kicked burlesque and cabaret out of the park; that ‘changes the game’ according to UK critics; that has been called a ‘revolution in a chocolate box’, ‘sublime’, ‘sumptuous’, ‘demented’ and ‘dangerous uber-lesque’ in twelve languages; won eight international theatre awards; and has had over 200,000 people across five continents in multi-lingual raptures, TURNS TEN! READ MORE...

Check out the Members Only offer HERE.

Lorne Festival of Performing Arts

Lorne: 29th to 31st August 2014

Culture By The Sea! Guests can bathe in an ocean of stories, tunes and visual treats including circus, bawdy burlesque, cracker comedy as well as poetry, dance, music, street & physical theatre, workshops and something for children too. READ MORE...

If you received a double pass to the Lorne Featival at our 2013 Fundraising Night and haven't yet got in touch with the organisers to redeem your tickets, please do so asap.

My Life in Boxes [Gravity Dolls]

Melbourne: 17th to 22nd September 2014

My Life in Boxes unpacks the story of a pathological hoarder on the brink of being uprooted from her carefully constructed existence and placed into palliative care. Coveted items are unearthed, animating memories with magical realism as they take on new meanings in her final stages of life. Unfolding in, around and above the audience in an imaginarium, coloured by circus, movement and spoken word.
READ MORE...

2015 Melbourne Juggling Convention

Collingwood: 19th to 22nd September 2014

MJC is thrilled to announce that it is moving around the corner to the new Circus Oz building. Join us for 4 days of circus workshops, masterclasses & performances; catch up with friends from around the country and polish up your manipulation skills! READ MORE...

Melbourne Fringe Launched!

Just Us [Polytropic Productions]

Just Us is an unforgettable theatrical experience. A promenade theatre piece set inside a court room, it satirises the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of the justice system, and the plight of those entangled within it. Directed by Mitch Jones and featuring a multi-disciplinary ensemble of over 20 artists and performers, Just Us is a radical new piece of physical theatre set to challenge convention.

LEFT [Long Answers to Simple Questions]

Winner of the 2013 Gasworks Circus Showdown, LEFT is a new circus work exploring themes of community and loss. With an enormous cast and crammed with circus skill, LEFT is fun, funny, impressive and touching.

Stay tuned for more member's productions as they come to hand!

WORKSHOPS & CLASSES:

Queensland
Vulcana Women’s Circus – Term 3 Vulcademy
Circus Stars – Holistic Circus Therapy training
Flyworx Entertainment – WHAT Aerial & Flying youth workshop
Flyworx Entertainment – WHAT one day workshop
Flipside Circus – #SundayCircus

New South Wales
Circus West – Circus Arts Workshop for trainers and staff
Circus West – Circus Arts camp for students
Circus Arts Byron Bay – Flying Trapeze Intensive

Victoria
Women’s Circus – The Red Nose Clown Workshop
Circus Oz – Term 3 Classes
Westside Circus – Term 3 Classes
Circus Training Australia – Professional development for coaches of circus skills.
Circus Oz – Holistic Circus Therapy training
Cirque Sur Roues (Circus on Wheels) – Weekly Classes

Western Australia
Joondalup Schools Circus – 2014 Sunday Circus

Circus takes Centre Stage for the Melbourne Festival.

We're not the only ones excited about Circus, its seems the Melbourne Festival's Director,  Josephine Ridge is also pretty excited about it too.

‘This city’s connection with circus runs very, very deep. Sentimentally, I love the fact that the site where Arts Centre Melbourne now sits is where the Wirth Brothers circus tents used to be erected, and also the fact that we are home to Circus Oz and to NICA. And ACAPTA, the national peak body [for circus] is based here, and 20 other circus companies are based in Melbourne,’ she told Richard Watts of Artshub..

‘With this program I thought it’s not only important to reflect all that those companies and artists are doing now, but to reflect on the history and why circus is so important in Melbourne...

Josephine Ridge, told Guardian Australia that the amount of circus performances will “surprise some people”.

“It’s not necessarily expected that an international arts festival will concentrate on circus,” she said. “But it’s an important component of the cultural landscape in Melbourne. It has strong historical roots here with NICA [National Institute of Circus Arts] and Circus Oz, and we can do it here in a way that no-one else can."

Westside Circus Appoints Four New Artistic Associates

The team at Westside Circus just got ‘artier’ with the appointment of four new Artistic Associates. Westside Circus CEO, Simon Clarke, said the appointments signal another phase of renewal for the company and the beginning of a truly exciting time.

“The team we have is incredibly experienced. Westside Circus will benefit enormously from these circus minds and hearts working in the engine room. In challenging times the only way to succeed is to be clear about what you do. We’re a dynamic circus arts organisation working with young people and it’s never been more important to reinforce that.” he said. READ MORE...

This Side Up acrobatics travel to Uluru for Circus Ninjas Workshop

TSU where lucky enough to be invited to work with the Circus Ninjas, a great troupe of young indigenous performers who are based in the Mutitjulu community at Uluru. Christian did a week with these great kids and their trainer Ludo Dumas in Byron Bay, where they trained and performed every day. Their shows were received with great warmth and wonder by locals and tourists alike. On their return to Mutijulu the Ninjas worked up some new material for a show at the Yulara resort. Quite a few of Ludo’s regular boys were away and this created a great opportunity for a group of fantastic young girls to take their place in the show. READ MORE...

Flipside Circus launches circus training with Natano Faanana

Flipside Circus is proud to launch a new, 8 week full time training course for circus artists to develop their artistic practise. Led by Natano Faanana (Briefs, Polytoxic, Casus) the course will include creating a new work, ensuring participants are developing their individual artistic style and receive professional development in marketing and promoting their work. READ MORE...

NICA Auditions for 2015 entry

The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is inviting aspiring circus artists to apply for entry into its Bachelor or Diploma of Circus Arts and the Certificate III or IV in Circus Arts for 2015.

From 1 October 2014, NICA will be holding auditions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth for entry into its courses in 2015. Emerging circus artists and those with a desire for a challenge should consider applying. READ MORE...

THE MELBA SPIEGELTENT LAUNCHES IN COLLINGWOOD WITH FINUCANE & SMITH’S GLORY BOX!

This August the 100-year old Melba Spiegeltent is being welcomed to its new home with Circus Oz. Crafted in Belgium, this spiegeltent has gypsied her way across Europe for nearly a century, shuddering to the tremors of Edit Piaf and the laments of Kurt Weil before crossing to the sunbaked southern hemisphere in 2006. Renamed after Australia’s famous soprano she now finds her permanent home at Circus Oz in Collingwood. READ MORE...

Arts Health Institute are calling for Abstracts for the 2nd National Play Up Convention 2014

The Arts Health Institute’s Play Up Convention is back again exploring Creative Ideas In Ageing on the 24th & 25th of November at Luna Park, Sydney.  This year at the convention they are showcasing your ideas, innovations, and creative projects along side our stellar line-up of presenters and workshop facilitators. READ MORE...

Congratulations

Congratulations to our members who have recently been nominated for a 2014 Helpman Award !

Flying Fruit Fly CIrcus - Circus Under My Bed
C!RCA - Opus