Street Circus Performance Troupe
Circus Ipswich takes to the streets!
Performance opportunities for our young people. Learn to work as a team and put on a show!
The Circus Ipswich Street Circus Project began in 2020 to provide an opportunity for the young people of Ipswich ages 6 – 17 years old, regardless of their experience or circus skills to perform alongside dancers, musicians and professional acrobats in a truly unique Street Circus spectacular!
Anyone can join! There is a place for everyone in the Street Circus!
You just have to be a student in either the Circus Foundations or Umbrella Circus Term class at Circus Ipswich to join in. No previous Circus experience required!
Street Circus Classes run from 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm each Saturday during term. We may need some additional rehearsals in addition to scheduled class time. We will always give you as much notice as possible for these.
We seek multiple performance outcomes, across the year to give our young people as much experience as we can.
The lead creative for the project is internationally acclaimed circus artist Chelsea McGuffin. Chelsea is renowned for her innovative, daring and fun use of circus to tell stories about the lives of young people. Her work has toured the globe and she is known as one of Australia’s leading Circus Directors.
Chelsea has a continued commitment to the highest standard of Contemporary Circus from Australia and, for the past 15 years, has been a pioneering leader of this form.
Her career started in Sydney then led to touring with Circus Monoxide, Tony’s Imaginary Circus, the Queensland Theatre Company, and a nine-year partnership with CIRCA.
In 2008 Chelsea Co-founded Company2, which co-produced the award-winning production Cantina that successfully toured the globe. Company2 went on to create Scotch & Soda, She Would Walk the Sky, Perched, Kaleidoscope and Le Coup. Other works include Wunderage with Circus Oz and Chelsea worked alongside Rhoda Roberts and a leading team of First Nations artists to direct Natives Go Wild, a Sydney Opera House production.
Over her career Chelsea has maintained a strong commitment to the community, ensuring the next generation of circus performers are inspired, represented, and can see a place for their own voices on the contemporary circus stage.
In 2021, Company2 rebranded under Chelsea’s own name, Chelsea McGuffin, and has been commissioned by Arts Queensland, Backbone and HOTA to develop three new works: Hysteria, Azul and Wired Moon and the Ice Cream Floor. Chelsea is also collaborating with David Hart, an iconic Australian Visual artist on a new work, Bogart, and is working with Circus Ipswich to bring performance outcomes to the local community.