A little about us

Accredited Courses
The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is Australia’s centre of excellence in contemporary circus.
As the only government-accredited institution that provides professional training in contemporary circus arts in Australia, NICA attracts students from across Australia and the globe, as well as labels from the media such as “This company is the future of circus” (Paul Kooperman, Australian Stage, 4/12/08). Each year over 60 young people study at NICA’s custom-built and award-winning facility, with a steely determination to graduate with a Bachelor of Circus Arts degree after 3 years. NICA’s captivating performances provide accessible entertainment of the highest calibre and consistently appeal to a large number of general public audiences.

NICA artists have performed in the opening and closing Commonwealth Games ceremonies and have won awards for Australia in prestigious international festivals in Wuhan (China), Paris and Moscow.

NICA Graduates
Graduates and selected professionals are represented by CircaNICA, Australia’s leading agency for professional circus performers. Graduates are employed by the world's leading circuses including Circus Oz, Cirque du Soleil, Tokyo Disney, Cavalia, Circa, Spiegeltent, La Clique and Silvers Circus, as well as forming their own new innovative circus companies.

Community Programs
NICA provides fun-filled circus activities for people of all ages, after hours and on weekends, as well as during school holidays. NICA hosts an end of year circus extravaganza for over 130 partipants in the teens and children classes, and has its own performing youth troupe called Circus Star.

Social Circus & Outreach
Through its social circus activities, NICA engages with Indigenous organisations and other groups utilising circus as a tool for capacity building and every year hosts a professional development program for Social Circus instructors in partnership with Cirque du Soleil.

NICA is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Environment, Water and the Arts (DEWHA) and the Victorian Government through Skills Victoria.
We also receive funds from sponsors, private individuals, student fees, external based activities and donations.
The National Institute of Circus Arts has Deductible Gift Recipient status (DGR) and donations to NICA are tax deductible.