Seven students from Shanghai Circus School will join young Australian circus artists in Melbourne this November for a collaboration that connects the National Institute of Circus Arts’ 25th anniversary with a much longer history of exchange.
The visit marks the final stage of Beyond Our Boundaries, a reciprocal project led by NICA and supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. The students will create an act together for Coming Home, the institute’s anniversary production, directed by Head of Circus Studies Juliana Neves.
Earlier in the project, eight young artists from NICA and across Australia travelled to China for a 10-day training experience with Shanghai Circus School. For participants, the exchange offered an opportunity to encounter different approaches to training and trace techniques passed down through their own teachers.
NICA student James Wilson, who began his training at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, found a marked difference in the emphasis on repetition.
“The training itself is a lot more repetition based. At home, I might do three or four reps before I’ll have a trainer come in and give me advice and notes to try again. Here, they’ll get me to do maybe 50 or 100 reps,” Wilson said.
His experience also had a connection to home. Many Flying Fruit Fly Circus staff had trained under Guang Rong Lu OAM, NICA’s inaugural Head of Circus Studies, whose teaching helped shape the institute’s early development.
For Lu, the value of these exchanges extends beyond individual students.
“Each project brings success in different forms to the Australian circus community and the Chinese acrobatic community. These exchanges will continue on and influence the international circus stage,” he said.
During their two-week Australian visit, the Shanghai students will train and collaborate with their peers, participate in cultural activities and visit Geelong, Castlemaine and Bendigo.
Their joint act will form part of a broader anniversary program inspired by NICA’s archives, bringing students, graduates and teachers onto the same stage. The production spans aerial work, wheels, hoops, bikes and foot juggling, drawing on the skills and people who have shaped the institute.
The anniversary also looks towards the next intake. All ticket proceeds and additional donations will support NICA’s Excellence Scholarship Fund, which will provide tuition fee coverage for a Bachelor of Circus Arts student. NICA says the full scholarship will be awarded to an incoming 2027 student demonstrating exceptional talent and potential.
Coming Home runs at NICA, 39–59 Green Street, Prahran, on 20 and 21 November 2026, with a preview on 19 November.