People

Yaron Lifschitz

Yaron Lifschitz is a graduate of the University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, and National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), where he was the youngest director ever accepted into its prestigious graduate director’s course. Since graduating, Yaron has directed over 60 productions including large-scale events, opera, theatre, physical theatre, and circus.

His work has been seen in more than 45 countries and across six continents by nearly 2 million people and has won numerous awards including six Helpmann awards and the Australia Council Theatre Award. His productions have been presented at major festivals and venues around the world including Brooklyn  Academy of Music, the Barbican, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Chamäleon and all the major Australian festivals. His film work was selected for the Berlin and Melbourne Film Festivals. He was founding Artistic Director of the Australian Museum’s Theatre Unit, Head Tutor in Directing at Australian Theatre for Young People and has been a regular guest tutor indirecting at NIDA.

He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of Circa, and was Creative Director of Festival 2018: the arts and cultural program of the 21st Commonwealth Games.

Rowan Allinson

Rowan comes from a strong background in gymnastics, that helped her transition smoothly into the circus world. When she was thirteen, she moved away from her family in Ontario to complete her high school and collegial studies at the National Circus School in Montreal, Quebec.

At school Rowan trained for six years as a tight wire walker, while also keeping a base in acrobatics, dance and group work. She loves to be on stage as part of an ensemble, to feel the energy from the artists around her, and to move collectively as one.

She graduated in June 2024 and headed to Australia the day after. Since being here, her love for performing has only increased. She is so excited for this new chapter here with the Circa ensemble!

Jon Bonaventura

Discovered on a friend’s trampoline in Melbourne, Jon caught his big break at the age of 12, working as a stunt double for Warner Brothers Where The Wild Things Are.

After over a decade in gymnastics, Jon went on to study at the National Institute of Circus Arts, specialising in rope. Jon graduated in 2014 and began touring independent projects around Australia before performing internationally with some of the country’s best circus companies – Circa, Casus and Circus Oz.

Jon can be found hiding in a cafe, hanging from his rope or standing on people all around the world.

Holly-Rose Boyer

Growing up in Albury, Holly-Rose was introduced to dance at the age of two and fell in love with all things performing after joining her local cheer and dance studio. In 2014, Holly-Rose auditioned for a place in the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, where she trained in handstands, hand to hand, aerial straps and tumbling under the mentorship of Loic Marques and Nick Hutchinson.

During her time at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Holly-Rose toured JUNK both in Australia and internationally. She also took part in Sydney Festival’s Nanjing Project, while travelling to Melbourne most weekends for additional dance training and performances. Graduating in 2021, Holly-Rose packed her life into two suitcases and moved to Brisbane to start the next chapter with Circa.

Outside of circus, Holly-Rose loves swimming at the beach and dogs, especially pugs.

Asha Colless

Growing up in Wollongong, Asha was introduced to circus at the age of six, taking classes at Circus Monoxide. Being in the air and flipping herself around quickly became her favourite thing to do, and this is where her love of performing came alive. At nineteen she decided to take her training further and study at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA), specialising in hula hoops and silks. Asha also loves swimming at the beach, being in nature and a good book.

Maya Davies

For as long as she can remember, Maya has always said, “when I grow up I want to join the circus”, and that’s exactly what she did. She grew up between Adelaide and the United States, but Maya’s circus training began at Cirkidz, in Adelaide at the age of seven. She has always excelled in both the arts and athletics, and was thrilled when she discovered that circus could be the perfect hybrid of both. This eventually led her to the National Institute of Circus Arts where she specialised in Partner Acrobatics and Chinese Pole, graduating with a Bachelors of Circus Arts. She is devoted to continue using circus as an art discipline; to tell stories, create striking performances, and explore physicality through an imaginative lens.

Helga Ehrenbusch

Helga is an acrobat, a base in partner acrobatics and an acro dancer. Helga started her circus career at the age of 6 in the circus school OMAtsrikus located in Tallinn. In parallel with circus training, she also did gymnastics classes in Acrobatic Gymnastics. She started competing internationally representing the Estonian national team at 13. With the first COVID wave, Helga stopped doing competitive gymnastics, sticking with circus and started exploring different performing arts fields joining the Estonian Dance Agency Company and studying drama at Tallinn 32 Secondary School. After graduating she realised that Estonia would be too small for her big dreams so she packed her stuff and left home to study Circus Arts in London at the National Centre for Circus Arts. This whole journey has led her to Circa where new adventures began.

Malte Gerhardt

The combination between concentration and explosiveness of partner-acrobatics has inspired Malte since he started to train circus arts at the age of nine in the south-west of Germany. In the following years Malte continued to develop his skills and started to teach various circus disciplines. At the age of 14 he successfully applied to the State Ballet School and School of Acrobatics Berlin and finished his vocational education 4 years later at CircArtive School. With his friend and base Benedikt Löffler he finished his final year of Codarts specialising in a rarely seen combination of partner-acrobatics and a one metre Globe.

Scott Grove

Scott Grove has been performing professionally as an acrobat since he was 15. He spent 14 years as a performer and co-director of The Leaping Loonies and joined the Circa ensemble in 2010, performing in a variety of Circa’s productions over many years. Some highlights are collaborating with The Debussy Quartet in Opus, three long seasons at the Chamäleon Theater in Berlin and having the opportunity to create different shows and tour them around the world. Off stage he spends most of his time hanging with his family in the Northern Rivers, playing music and eating large quantities of food.

Chelsea Hall

Chelsea comes from a background in gymnastics, platform diving and competitive rock climbing. Eventually this led her to Warehouse Circus, which is where she found her love for all things circus and performing.

As a child she had a keen curiosity for nature and physics, always planning on being a scientist however, once finding circus that dream soon shifted. She completed the Bachelor of Circus Arts at NICA in 2022 specialising in dance trapeze, hula hoops and group acrobatics. She still brings her love of the natural and scientific world with her through her performance and love of exploration. Chelsea also enjoys making her own earrings in her spare time.

Jordan Hart

Jordan fell into circus at age 21 after seeing “A Simple Space” by Gravity & Other Myths at the 2014 Adelaide Fringe Festival. Coming from a sporty upbringing, the show left him feeling inspired and motivated to push himself and learn something new which led him the South Australian Circus Centre. He immersed himself in the world of acrobatics training with independent artists and members of the local performance troupe before leaving Adelaide to meet and train with other artists, both Australian and international.

With a strong desire to play and explore, things eventually got out of control and he decided he wanted to make a career of it. Jordan worked with Wildhouse Circus, Outside The Lines Circus, Casus and then Time In Space Circus before working with Gravity & Other Myths. In his spare time, he enjoys letting people jump on him and carrying heavy things for strangers.

Asom Hayman-Jones

Asom is a 22-year-old porter from Northern Vermont. He is a five-sport varsity athlete turned circus performer who strives never to be on stage without carrying something/somebody. In his youth, Asom focused on sports, weightlifting, and music. He travelled abroad to study at École Nationale de Cirque and has now performed over 250 shows aiming to create new things and push existing limits.
Asom likes big dinner bowls, short walks in the woods, and throwing heavy stuff.

Ally Humphris

Circa Cairns Ensemble Member

Ally is a proud Wakka Wakka woman with a strong commitment and connection to her Aboriginal culture. Ally has studied dance and fitness with professional experience as a circus performer. Ally joined the BlakFlip program at Circus Oz in 2013, which led her to be in the 2014 production of Corked Up. In 2017, as part of BlakFlip, she had the honour of being in the cast of Chasing Smoke, which continued with Casus.

Ally showcases her skills through power tumbling, acrobatics and movement and continues to perform with Circa Cairns.

Sam Letch

Instead of paying attention at school, Sam Letch focused all of his energy on throwing himself around in the cold and rainy north west of England, where he grew up.

At the ripe old age of 15, Sam decided that doing back tucks off sand dunes wasn’t enough. The answer to his problem: Parkour. He trained for 3 years until his acrobatics took him to the National Centre for Circus Arts (London) where he picked up such skills as teeterboard, hand to hand, banquine, floor and group acrobatics. After graduating Sam’s first job performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival lead him on to work with such companies as Cirque Eloize.

Sam’s primary love is performing, shortly after that is his moustache, followed by singing musicals at the top of his lungs for anyone who will listen.

Gerramy Marsden

Gerramy started his circus training at the age of 14, with Flipside Youth Circus, based out of  Brisbane. After graduating high school- Gerramy was accepted into the National Institute of Circus Arts, where he further advanced his repertoire, specialising in acrobatic basing and rolla bolla.

Since joining the ensemble, Gerramy’s passion and drive to creating group acrobatic tricks has thrived.

Gerramy has been performing with Circa since 2013 and has contributed to the creation and performances of a multitude of Circa shows.

His proudest achievement within the company was premiering and performing Circa’s very first solo based 4 high in a home town season.

Rosa Mordaunt

Rosa began circus at the age of two training with Spaghetti Circus, this is where her passion for circus began. She loved how it integrated athleticism, creativity and community, and always felt the most joy when she was in the training space. She furthered her training at the National Institute of Circus Arts, where she specialised in dance trapeze and hand to hand. As a flyer, Rosa’s performance style is influenced by her background in dance, she is passionate about exploring interesting, odd and unexpected ways of moving.

Oscar Morris

Hailing from Brisbane, Oscar’s journey into the world of circus began at 8 years old when he joined youth classes at Flipside Circus. What started as a childhood pastime quickly transformed into a passion, and by the time he had graduated from Flipside’s performance troupe, he was working as an independent artist and musician up until he joined the Circa Ensemble in 2023.

When not on stage, you can find Oscar playing bass, listening to records, or watching parkour videos.

Daniel O’Brien

Daniel has been physically active throughout his whole life, primarily focusing on his gymnastics training in his hometown of Maryborough and a few small gyms along the Queensland coastline.

After attending National Institute of Circus Arts for three years, where he specialised in hand-balancing and aerial straps, Daniel joined Circa as an ensemble member in 2014. Having fostered an immense passion for circus, he has since performed in many iconic Circa works including What Will Have Been, Closer and Humans.

He spends his spare time feeding his unhealthy addiction to video games or reading whatever he can get his hands on.

Luke Pearce

Coming from the UK Luke had an early start in acrobatics and a decade long career in competitive gymnastics with a career highlight competing at the Junior Europeans in 2012. Inspired to keep working with the body he then studied and worked as a Physiotherapist in the UK for 7 years, during which he discovered circus and hand to hand. As a late comer to hand to hand, over the next few years Luke spent every moment he could training to develop as a self-taught artist with dreams of being a professional acrobat. In 2022 he left his academic career to pursue a full-time career in circus which has led to journeys all over the globe. Most recently Luke joined Circa in 2024 and is excited to see where this adventure takes him. Off stage Luke enjoys the outdoors, rock climbing and playing the piano.

Kimberley Rossi

Kimberley grew up in Queensland, and as a Brisbane local it didn’t take long before she stumbled upon Circa.

Beginning her circus training at age 13, in just 3 short years she was given the opportunity to be the first member of Fast Track, a program designed for young and aspiring performers within Circa. With the support of her family, Kimberley decided to leave school and pursue a career in the circus industry. Shortly after she found herself on a plane flying out to perform her first show, ‘Nocturne’ in Seoul, South Korea.

Over the years Kimberley has been a part of over 30 productions, visited some of the worlds most beautiful locations and logged over 4000 hours in her favourite video game.

Sophie Seccombe

Sophie Seccombe has cherished free movement from birth. Her slightly impetuous nature led her parents to enrol her in ballet lessons at age 2. While formal training gave her a foundation, she preferred dancing in the bush and acrobatics on the roof.

Sophie stumbled upon contemporary circus at the West End markets in 2021. Immediately enthralled, circus exposed her to a world where ballet and gymnastics could be meshed with artistic expression without constraints. After a year of coaching by Gravity & Other Myths, she began touring in Rouge before engagement with Circa.

Outside of work, Sophie may be found listening to Mazzy Star, practicing Mandarin, and passionately advocating for the humbly exquisite chocolate crackle.

Shani Stephens

Shani discovered her passion for gymnastics at a very young age and dedicated many years to training and competing at a high level. At the age of 13, she made the bold decision to relocate to Albury by myself so that she could attend The Flying Fruit Fly Circus.

In 2017, Shani proudly graduated with specialties in hand balancing and acrobatics. Following her graduation, she had the incredible opportunity to work and tour with Circus Oz and Gravity & Other Myths.

Throughout her career, she has had the privilege of performing at prestigious venues such as The TOHU, the opening of Edinburgh Festival, GREC Theatre in Barcelona, and CHAMALEON.

As an acrobat, she takes pride in her versatility within an ensemble and she is dedicated to continuously honing her craft and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of acrobatics.

Zachery Stephens

Zachery began his circus career following in the footsteps of his siblings and aspires to one day perform alongside them. With a background in competitive gymnastics and Olympic weightlifting, Zachery is no stranger to lifting weight above himself and has a terrible habit of asking anyone regardless of size to stand on him.

Undertaking his circus studies at the National Institute of Circus Arts, he has trained for 4 years as a handbalancer and hand to hand base. However, his true love and the place where Zachery thrives most is in an ensemble, where he can explore group acrobatics in collaboration with creative movement. Zachery’s ambition as an artist is to become as versatile as possible, to never become comfortable and most importantly, to show the world why circus is the most powerful and beautiful expression of what it means to be human.

Joshua Strachan

Joshua has always been physical ever since a child, enjoying gymnastics and then youth circus all through his teenage years. Eventually he found himself doing a bachelor of circus at the National Institute of Circus Arts during which he was offered a contract with Gravity & Other Myths. He joined GOM in early 2018 and until mid 2024 had the opportunity to perform in over 25 countries, 650+ times, involved in shows including: The Mirror, A Simple Space, Backbone, I Want To Touch You, Out of Chaos, Playbook, The Pulse and Macro. With some notable seasons: Montreal Completement Cirque, Tohu, Chameleon, Edinburgh Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival, New Victory Theatre and Ruhrfestspiele just to name a few.

He is very excited to come and experience the company that is Circa and to leave his mark. A small base, a dense flier and an all round middle.

Tristan St John

Tristan laughs a lot, produces music and people say he doesn’t have an off switch. Since the backyard trampoline, Tristan has always wanted to fly! Teeterboard and trampolining were a part of his upbringing since the age of 10; not a spare second was spent off it! During the last eleven years, he has competed at national trampoline competitions, performed Teeterboard, Acrobatics and Chinese Pole to multiple audiences and has completed a Bachelor of Circus Arts.

Adam Strom

Adam started circus classes at the age of six, in the hopes of becoming a superhero. He trained in acrobatics, aerials and juggling for 11 years with Flipside Circus, while also developing his skills in dance, music and theatre. In 2014, Adam was accepted into the Québec Circus School in Canada, where he began an intense and intimate relationship with his German wheel. Since his three years of circus school, he has created and performed in myriad productions around the world, including Midnight Circus, Crépuscule by Flip Fabrique, and La Galerie by Machine de Cirque. He likes performing so much that his superhero career is going to have to wait.

Lachlan Sukroo

In an effort to curb some of Lachlan’s seemingly boundless energy, his mother enrolled him in Canberra’s Warehouse Circus at the age of 8. After graduating from Warehouse’s Emerging Artist Program, Lachlan cofounded an independent circus troupe named Poncho Circus. Lachlan performed with Poncho for a year before deciding that a career in circus was definitely more appealing than sitting behind a desk.

He attended the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) studying Chinese pole, teeterboard and group acrobatics. After graduating, he performed with Circus Oz for two years performing internationally and around Australia before joining the Circa Ensemble in January 2019.

Darby Sullivan

Darby discovered circus at a holiday program when he was seven years old, then and there, he decided this is what he would pursue. Determined to achieve his goals, he took his passion for circus and acrobatics further, graduating from Warehouse Circus in Canberra, performing around Australia and completing his studies at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne, where he specialised in straps, acrobatics and teeterboard. He’s now excited to keep exploring the limitations of what the human body can achieve whilst sharing his art around the world.

Luke Thomas

As a child, Luke Thomas was always driven to pursue an acrobatic career, constantly found swinging upside down on the hills hoist in his backyard. At age 11, he joined Circus 35° South, and trained aerials, tumbling and manipulation for seven years before studying at the National Institute of Circus Arts, graduating in 2017.

During his study, Luke specialised in tissu, foot juggling and group acrobatics. Luke co-created and performed Out of This World Children’s Show, with seasons at Woodford Folk Festival and Melbourne Fringe Festival. Luke also performed in One Fell Swoop’s By a Thread at Mullumbimby Circus Festival, Perth Fringe Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival and the Circa Festival at Auch, France.

Luke joined the Circa Ensemble in 2018, performing in the world premiere of Circa’s Peepshow.

Georgia Webb

Born and raised in outback Western Australia, Georgia was a competitive gymnast and dancer for 13 years. This background gave her the discipline and work ethic which now informs her circus practice.

After both parents insisted that their only child join the military, Georgia decided to forgo those plans to follow her own dream of running away with the circus. Graduating from the National Institute of Circus Arts in 2019, Georgia joined Circa as a full-time ensemble member in January 2020.

In her spare time Georgia enjoys motorbike riding, surfing and free diving. She also hopes to travel the world skydiving someday.

Christina Zauner

Christina grew up on the country side in Austria. She started dancing when she was four years old, and participated at her first competition at the age of six. Christina graduated with a Bachelor in Classical and Contemporary Dance at MUK Vienna. During her education she started to train aerials and vertical dance.

After graduating, she worked at the Vienna State Opera as an Aerial Double, followed by a role in the musical Cats in Switzerland.  Christina worked with the Irish Company Fidget Feet and as a performer and Choreographer at Krystallpalast Varieté Leipzig.

Christina found her way into the circus world as a self-taught aerialist, specialising in straps. At the age of 24, she started to enjoy to climb on people or have them climb on her. A very determined person, Christina loves to challenge herself and explore what her body is capable of.  She also plays accordion and loves to design and sew costumes.