South West Circus Exchange rolls into town to give performers a chance to shine

The circus is set to be in town this week, with circus schools from Fremantle, Busselton and Margaret River uniting for a showstopping partnership. Michele Laine and Isaac Salter’s circus-performing company Head Over Heels Acrobatics, which puts on public performances as well as teach aerial and gymnastic skills, is bringing its new South West Circus Exchange to Margaret River on May 10 and 11. The company will meet students and teachers from three other circus schools — CircusWA from Fremantle, the South West Circus School from Busselton and the Margaret River Circus School. They will get the chance to camp out at Lunar Circus, the home of the annual Karridale Circus Festival. These schools will be joined by the professionals from Circa Contemporary Circus, a national touring company based in Brisbane. Circa are touring with their current production of Humans 2.0 and the workshop group will get to see first-hand the craftsmanship that goes into making their productions. Organiser and Head Over Heels co-owner Mr Salter said he was excited to be bringing an opportunity like this to the South West for the first time. “We’re a little bit lonely here in the South West,” he said. “It came together quite quick. Everyone from the schools is so excited to meet and network and just find out what’s going on with one another. “We’ve got around 40 people coming down already.” Mr Salter is advocating to change the stereotype around circus performance and how it has evolved. “I mean a lot of people still think of like the old-school big top circuses, and there are still some of those around,” he said. “But circus performance has certainly changed and evolved so much, especially with companies like Circa really challenging and showing what circus can be. “Events like these are just really good for our youth performers; it gives these kids a chance to connect and see what they can do with their talents.”