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Captain Frodo, the incredible rubber man, street & sideshow performer.
Derek Ives, clown
Kate Ellis, acrobat & circus performer extraordinaire
Annie Stephens & Paras Christou, new circus performers
Michael is a wire-walker, acrobat, clown, juggler, trumpeter and sometime percussionist with Circus Oz. At the age of ten, Michael was a founding member of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, with whom he trained and toured extensively. Michael spent the spare time of his formative years perfecting the art of walking over tables and countless other objects on his hands. Michael joined Circus Oz in 1987, performing with the company for two years before going freelance for gigs with the French circus Archaos and others. Touring with Circus Oz has taken Michael to every corner of Australia, and overseas on numerous occasions, visiting every continent except Africa (and Antarctica). Michael has been doing circus for so long he is sometimes terrified by the prospect of having to run away and join the real world…
Mel is a 31 years old Sagittarian with a passion for tatts. She is known for her powerful physique and her feisty performances. Her exuberant rapid on-the-spot front walkovers & backflips from the Russian ring invariably get audiences going. Despite her acrobatic fervour, Mel has never broken a bone, and has suffered but one injury - a ruptured disc in her neck. Mel trained at dance acrobatics from the age of three. Her first circus gig was in 1995 in Perth with Reg Bolton, and in her early years she also performed with Perth company Bizirkus. She is currently performing with Circus Oz. Mel is able to support large acrobats on her stomach in a back arch and once, legend has it, a Circus Oz truck driver weighing 135kg!
Gareth, pictured here as the Amazing Bjaaland, is a performer, musician, rigger and bus freak. He is currently driving around the world with a mob from Western Australia called Lunar Circus, headed by the illustrious Fatt Matt Yates. He began his career in circus as a boy, performing street shows around the Northern Rivers. Gareth possesses formidable skills in various circus disciplines including; hand-balancing, acrobatics, head balancing and juggling. He also plays guitar, banjo and fiddle like a demon. Gareth is known for his work with the group Circus Monoxide and for his odd-ball comic characters. Gareth would like it known that he doesn’t always wear women’s swimming costumes on backwards - in fact he sometimes likes to wear them forwards as well.
Born in Germany and raised in England, Lou now lives in Brisbane with her 4 year old child. Heavily tattooed and standing 5 foot and 11 inches, Lou is a striking sight in the air, on a trapeze or web rope, not to mention on the street. Lou has been much noted for her strength and grace particularly performing cordelisse [a form involving poses on a vertical rope]. Lou has performed at numerous cabarets, parties, nightclubs, and festivals throughout Europe and Australia. Lou recalls many odd happenings during the course of her busy career in circus, including performing in Berlin on the end of a crane as riot police marched in.
Trent Arkley-Smith, musician and clown, as Strudel
A burly little dynamo with a raucous laugh and loads of character, Nicci was born in 1970 & joined the Flying Fruit Fly Circus at age thirteen. A circus all-rounder, Nicci has worked as a performer, stage manager, lighting operator, tour manager, production manager, tent boss, site manager, acrobatics instructor and circus band singer. Nicci recalls performing as a shopping trolley tamer as one of the many highlights working with Circus Oz. Among her many skills as a circus performer are: tumbling, Chinese hoop diving, hand balancing, contortion, trick bike, flying trapeze, aerial Russian ring, tightwire, whip-cracking, German wheel, knockabout, shit juggling, not to mention gumboot tap-dancing.
Andy Bray, circus performer
Judith Lanigan, stage and street performer
The big guy with the big hair, known as the idiot strongman, Daryll is a New Zealander who sought asylum in Australia in1992... status still pending. He studied psychology and worked as an actor before discovering circus at the Circus Space in London where he trained. Darryl joined Circus Oz in 1993, and after three years on the road with Oz the time came for him to branch out and freelance around Australia and internationally, working as a performer, rigger and production manager. Before long though, Dazza found himself back in a dress in the middle of the ring, performing with Circus Oz again. Darryl is a juggler, acrobat, aerialist, tambourine virtuoso and member of the Circus Oz Board of Directors. He is currently dividing his time between touring with Oz and spending time at home on Browns Island on the Murray River. Last haircut 1982.
Reg Bolton, teacher & scholar of circus arts
Josephine the aerial queen
Jeff Turpin, as if being a clown wasn’t enough
Rita Van Opzeeland, aerialist
Much famed in circus circles, Stephen has worked in the entertainment industry for the last twenty years. When asked for information about himself, Stephen won’t tell you much, but it is well known that he has performed and directed with Circus Oz for many years, in many countries. He has also worked with the companies Bizircus, Dislocate, The Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Rock n Roll Circus, The Collapsable Man, Marg and the Beast, The Ukulele Ladies, Horned Moon, A Scam and A Strongman, Coco and Guido, The Essendon Policewomen’s Marching Band, The Maurice’s, The Flying Felafels, The Miserables, The Comedy Company and more. Stephen is currently working with the NICA [the National Institute of Circus Arts] passing on the wealth of his knowledge and experience teaching, training and directing.
Born in Brisvegas in 1972, Lil was a compulsive show-off from a young age [so her Mum says]. With a background in Rhythmic Gymnastics, dance, contact impro and capoiera, she says she didn't settle until she discovered the circus community. Skills-wise, Lil will have a go at anything, but prefers to “stick to the ground”. She has a particular passion for adagio (duo balancing) and is a plum ace whip-cracker. Lil says she is generally “into anything that lets her dress up” in the fabulous costumes she is noted for. Being a dab hand on the sewing machine, Lil designs and makes her own costumes. Lil has performed with Vulcana Women’s Circus and is now a member of the immensely successful Happy Sideshow, which has been touring festivals in Australia and Europe for the last three years. Lil recently uncovered a photograph of her great great great grandfather who travelled to Australia at the age of 6 as part of a circus trapeze troupe.
The enigmatic Glendy is pictured here during a stint as musical director with Circus Monoxide. Glendy plays the trombone , trumpet and the tuba (when he’s allowed). He also sings and performs clowning. He enjoys the “multi-function type of gig” that circus is, but admits to finding it exhausting on occasions. Glendy believes that “circus people are a bunch of freaks”, and has therefore felt right at home with the circus community. “Where else could you watch someone spend three hours perfecting the art of pulling a rubber dove out of their pants or learning how to drop a metal bucket onto their head so that it makes the right noise?”, he ponders. For Glendy, it’s these little things that make working with circus worthwhile.
Michelle Ijtsma, aka Mrs Whippy, is known to cater for the circus and other fringe communities on occasions. Michelle was raised in Brisbane and Hong Kong. She became involved with circus “as a form of therapy to shock herself out of a messy head and back into her body” and incidentally discovered a propensity for naked stilt-walking. Michelle has performed with Vulcana Women’s Circus and Legs Eleven doing stilt walking, clowning, bad acro and shit juggling with a dash of fire eating, fire twirling and belly dancing. Michelle now dabbles in community arts and youthwork, while being an artist, administrator, website designer and IT student. Michelle prides herself on her ability to pick her nose with her big toe, and further she boasts an aptitude for licking her own elbow. [She dares you to try it.]
Per is THAT Circus Oz performer with the wobbly body. He is a juggler, acrobat, clown and trombonist. Per was born in Stockholm, which may explain his blonde hair but does not, as far as anyone can tell, account for the ‘wobbly body’, for which he is known. He learnt English living in Broken Hill, and learnt circus as a child in Albury, joining the Flying Fruit Fly Circus in 1980. He trained, performed and taught with the Fruit Flies until 1991, during which time he toured extensively around Australia and overseas. Per joined Circus Oz in 1994 and has since performed with the company throughout Australia and the world. He now juggles touring with a commitment to a young family who sometimes join him on the road. One would wonder why Per has gone to all the trouble of originating many clever clowning routines, when he’s the kinda guy that people laugh at as soon as he walks out on stage.