National Institute Of Circus Arts

Specialties

The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is Australia’s Centre of Excellence in contemporary circus.

NICA is a national arts training institute that offers Australia’s only Bachelor of Circus Arts. The course is accredited by Swinburne University of Technology and the institute is located at its Prahran campus. The course attracts applicants from across Australia and the world and entry into the first year is highly competitive.

NICA’s mission is to deliver innovative training programs to talented students, whose performances will re-​imagine circus.

As well as providing professional training through a 3 year Bachelor of Circus Arts, NICA also offers a wide range of fun and safe recreational courses for children, teenagers and adults, and supports the circus industry with professional development and master classes.

CircaNICA, NICA’s commercial arm, supports the careers of Australia’s circus artists by providing creative and production services to clients from a wide range of industries, contributing enormously to the popularity of circus as an art form.

History

Established in 1999.

From humble beginnings in an unrenovated warehouse in the Melbourne Docklands, NICA ran a pilot national training project in 1999. All eight participants graduated with a Diploma of Circus Arts from Swinburne University in 2001, and found employment with Australian companies the following year.

NICA has now grown significantly, receiving accreditation for the Certificate III, Certificate IV and Diploma in Circus Arts in order to continue training artists to meet the demands of a growing local and international circus industry. Today there are more than 100 students across six year levels.