![Flying Fruit Fly Circus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Flying_Fruit_Fly_Circus.JPG)
The Flying Fruit Fly Circus is Australia's national youth circus, and the only full-time
circus school for young people in Australia.
History
The Flying Fruit Fly Circus was one of the productions of the Murray River Performing Group, initially an ensemble of nine artists, set up mostly by graduates the Victorian College of the Arts Drama School, including Robert "Bomber" Perrier, the first artistic director, Lloyd Suttor, Mark Shirrefs and Ian Mortimer. The group began full-time operations in 1979, the International Year of the Child. Within four months the group had conducted workshops and performed in over forty venues, written two shows, organised 171 circus training sessions and produced the first Flying Fruit Fly Circus event involving 117 performers.
[Perrier, Robert, Finding an Audience: The Murray River Performing Group, Meanjin, Vol. 41, No. 1, Apr 1982: 29–38]
The second annual Flying Fruit Fly Circus event, in 1980, was seen by Chris Brookes, a Canadian playwright who visited at the suggestion of the
Community Arts Board of the
Australia Council
The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...
. He suggested taking the Circus to the Vancouver Children's Festival in 1981.
Tanya Lester won a Gold Medallion in Le Cirque de Demain Competition in Paris. In 1982 she was the recipient of the
Young Australian of the Year
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territ ...
title.
In 1982 the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe of China undertook a training project in Albury-Wodonga with Flying Fruit Fly Circus performers, Circus Oz and other physical theatre artists. The outcome was the show ''The Great Leap Forward''.
[
In 1984 on behalf of the company, Perrier won the ]BHP
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
Pursuit of Excellence Award in Arts and Literature.[
In 1989–90 Flying Fruit Fly Circus represented Australia at Australia Week in ]Veneto
it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman)
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, Italy and were awarded the Ros Bower Award for Outstanding Contribution to Community Arts.[
In 1993 a sell-out season of ''Red Alert'' for the Sydney Festival (and half-time entertainment for the World Series Cricket) was followed by tours to ]Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
, Gippsland
Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...
and Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. In 1997 the Flying Fruit Fly Circus performed at the Melbourne Summer Live concert, the Fashion Spectacular and Moomba. In 1999 the Circus Festival transferred its main operations from Tasmania
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to Albury-Wodonga.[
In 2004, the troupe performed ''Skipping on Stars'', a tribute to the life of ]Con Colleano
Con Colleano (born Cornelius Sullivan; 26 December 1899 – 13 November 1973) was an Australian tightrope walker. He was the first person to successfully attempt a forward somersault on a tightrope and became one of the most celebrated and hi ...
, a famous tightrope walker
Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...
from Lismore, New South Wales
Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It is situated on a low flood pl ...
.
In 2009, Flying Fruit Fly Circus performed ''The Promise'' at the Sydney Festival and Albury for its 30 year anniversary. Federal Minister Peter Garrett
Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician.
In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his signa ...
announced $3.75m government contribution to redevelop Flying Fruit Fly Circus training space.[
In 2010 a major touring exhibition ''Step Right Up! The Circus in Australian Art'' developed through a partnership between Albury City and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus toured nationally from early 2010 through to January 2011 at venues including Mosman Art Gallery, Horsham Art Gallery, Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery, Bunbury Regional Art Gallery and Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery. The exhibition featured paintings, drawings, photographs, sketchbooks, prints and sculptures by various Australian artists.]
In 2015 it became a company in residence at the Sydney Opera House with a three-year partnership and established a collaboration with the Vietnam School of Circus Arts and Vaudeville in Hanoi. It also travelled to Turkey for a two-week engagement in Istanbul as part of the Australia in Turkey Festival.
Description
The Flying Fruit Fly Circus is located on the Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
in the twin cities of Albury-Wodonga on the Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
/New South Wales
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, nickname =
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, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
border. In partnership with the Victorian Department of Education, the students in years 3–9 attend the selective entry Flying Fruit Fly Circus School where they undertake academic studies along with circus training. It is the only full-time circus school people aged between 8 and 19 years old in Australia.
The Flying Fruit Fly Circus regularly performs in Australia and internationally at major arts centres, regional theatres, corporate events and festivals.
It is one of eight "national elite training organisations" of the "Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence
Performing arts education in Australia refers to the teaching of different styles of creative activity that are performed publicly. The performing arts in Australia encompasses many disciplines including music, dance, theatre, musical theatre, ci ...
" (ARTS8), partially funded by the Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
via the Office for the Arts.
Awards and nominations
*1989: Winner, Mo Award
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards) were an annual Australian entertainment industry award, that where established in 1975, to recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia. They were l ...
for Circus Performer of the Year
*2009: Helpmann Award for Best Presentation for Children (''The Promise'')
*2014: Sydney Theatre Award nomination for Best Production for Children (''Circus Under My Bed'')
*2018: Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Children (''JUNK'')
See also
* Cirkidz
* Flying Fruit Fly Circus School
References
External links
*
Flying Fruit Fly Circus Collection
at the Performing Arts Collection in Melbourne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Fruit Fly Circus
Australian circuses
Circus schools
Entertainment companies established in 1979
Educational institutions established in 1979
Performing arts education in Australia
1979 establishments in Australia
Performing groups established in 1979