Mathilde Gordon

Help the hard-working aerial circus troupe, the Flying Gypsies, raise money to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime skills building and professional development experience.

We are a Darwin based aerial circus group of young women aged between 13-16, who are extremely enthusiastic about what we do. Thanks to Corrugated Iron Youth Arts we have been able to train together for a number of years, developing shows and performing at a range of events, such as in the opening ceremony of the 2011 Arafura games.

At the end of July this year we shall be embarking on a 6 day journey to Brisbane to train extensively with Vulcana Women's Circus, The world renowned Circa and the fabulous Flipside Youth Circus. We will also see Cirque Du Soleil’s inspirational new show, 'Ovo'.

The amazing activities we will be undertaking:

We are currently working hard to create a show that incorporates synchronised acrobatic ground work with stunning aerial routines . We will perform our showcase for all the companies in exchange with performances from their circus groups. We hope to create opportunities which will mutually benefit all organizations.

Vulcana has offered two skills development sessions and they will additionally take us on a social circus workshop program to develop our teaching methods in this area. They have offered professional development for our trainers as well as skills exchange with their young performance troupe.

Circa will provide two skills sessions and an exchange with their performance troupe, filling in more days of hardcore training and workshops.

Flipside will host a skills exchange and showcase with their performance troupe.

(we’ve made sure, of course, to include time for some shopping).

LASTLY and WITH MUCH EXCITEMENT AND EAGERNESS we are going to see the Cirque Du Soleil show 'Ovo'.

This will give young Territorian circus artists exposure to a highly polished show of world renown. None of us have ever seen Cirque Du Soleil and so this will definitely be a dream come true!

This trip will help us gain new skills that we don't have access to in the Northern Territory and offer an opportunity for us to gain further experience in our chosen aerial disciplines as well as developing links with other like minded circus groups, interstate. As emerging circus artists we hope to develop our teaching skills and techniques so that we can give back to the NT community for many years to come.

Why we need the help of you Wonderful People

Vulcana Women’s Circus, Circa and Flipside have all expressed interest in creating links with Corrugated Iron and the Flying Gypsies so we can create opportunities for further exchange within the NT. This could create ongoing access to trainers with skills we have yet to develop in this area.

Cirque Du Soleil will not be visiting the Northern Territory on their tour of Australia so our only opportunity to see them, is to travel.

In order for any of this to begin, we need to fundraise as much as we possibly can for airfaires, accommodation and workshop costs for 11 people! This is why we need YOUR help!

So please help us reach our $3000 goal by donating (small or large – preferably the latter ;) and being a part of giving the Flying Gypsies from Darwin an incredible opportunity to broaden their horizons and reach their full potential!