Sandflies Go Viral to jump over restrictions

Dreams of joining the circus or lifelong goals of finally mastering how to juggle have been kept alive in the form of online classes in a modified program from Theatre Kimberley’s Act-Belong-Commit Sandfly Circus.

In the midst of social gathering restrictions preventing the Sandfly Circus from continuing to hold its regular circus classes at the Broome Recreation and Aquatic Centre, Theatre Kimberley has introduced Sandflies Go Viral.

The program involves various Sandfly Circus instructors leading classes in juggling, hula hooping and flexibility online to allow participants to learn circus skills from the comfort of their homes.

Theatre Kimberley artistic director Meredith Bell said the idea of holding classes online came about after reaching out to other circus schools to see how they were adapting to the big changes surrounding social gatherings.

“We knew we would have to make some changes to how we delivered our programs because of the government regulations that were put in place,” she said.

“After speaking with other circus schools, we eventually held trials to see if online classes would work for us and they went really well, so we decided to adapt the program to what we could offer in that space.”

Ms Bell said the classes on offer ranged from beginner-level to more advanced classes to allow for a wide range of skill levels to give them a go.

She said the skills taught in the online classes would be more individual-based ones such as juggling homemade cigar boxes, foot juggling, staff spinning, and hula hooping.