SHIFT: Beginner circus workshop - Intro to partner acrobatics

Have you ever wanted to try circus? If climbing on or balancing other people sounds like fun to you, come along and learn some basic partner acrobatics.

Anyone is welcome to attend this beginner partner acrobatics workshop - there are no pre-requisites. Lucy and Kelsea have been training together at Women*s Circus for many years and are excited to bring circus to people beyond their existing community. 

The workshop will consist of an introduction about consent and safety, focusing on effective spotting. There will be a gentle warm-up before moving into learning some basic partner acrobatic skills and finally cooling down and reflecting as a group. Lucy and Kelsea are passionate about bringing connection and joy to their circus practice, and this comes through in their coaching styles. They seek to meet bodies where they’re at, so encourage anyone who is nervous to come along and participate as much or as little as they want. 

The aim is to have fun, learn, socialise, move, and perhaps realise your body’s capabilities are beyond what you imagined.

Workshop Details:

• Date: Sunday 9 February, 2025
• Time: 5 - 6.30pm 
• Venue: Seventh Gallery, indoor and outdoor usage
• Accessibility: venue is wheelchair accessible. This workshop involves basic physical acrobatic skills and is for 18+ only

Do I need to bring anything?

Please wear comfortable clothes that you can move in. Bring a water bottle. We may be outside so please be sun smart. 

You do not have to attend with a partner, we will work in groups, rotating roles, and ensuring we have spotters for safety. 

There will be time at the start of the workshop to privately let the trainers know of any injuries or access requirements and we will do our best to adapt different drills and skills for you.

About your facilitators, Lucy Seale & Kelsea Blackburn

Lucy Seale has over eight years of circus experience specialising in tumbling, dance trapeze and roller skating - and delights in combining these disciplines. Her love of partner acrobatics was recently reignited at the Australian Partner Acrobatics Convention. She has trained with SPIN circus, Circus Oz, Gravity Dolls and Circus Nexus but started off at Women*s Circus. First learning partner acrobatics within a community where people of marginalised genders are welcome to train regardless of strength, fitness, experience, size, ability or age led her to value circus as a space for inclusion and social connection. She enjoys the way circus brings people together to play, learn, be challenged and create.

Kelsea Blackburn is a contortionist, trapeze artist and hand balancer, who has trained in circus for over a decade. Within that time, they have taught classes across Melbourne with a focus on inclusivity and creativity. She enjoys combining different art forms, such as tap dance and contortion, and creating weird and whacky acts that leave the audience wondering what on earth just happened. They've studied both circus and dance and love anything that involves movement and creation. Having grown up in community circus, she knows the empowerment and joy that circus can bring, and have a passion for adapting circus to all ages, abilities and settings

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Photo credits (from left to right): headshot of Lucy Seale by James Reiser, headshot of Kelsea Blackburn by Yvonne Meng, photo of Nicola Dobison and Lucy Seale by Zoe Seale

This project is part of SHIFT: A Queer Symposia, a series of events at Seventh Gallery across January and February, to create a space for discourse, exchange, & solidarity within the LGBTIQA+ community. SHIFT is supported by the Victorian Government.

Please visit our website for the full SHIFT program.