The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is proud to present the graduate showcase, titled ADRIFT. Curated by Tegan Carmichael and devised by NICA’s third-year students, showing 9 – 13 December at NICA National Circus Centre in Prahran.
To be cast adrift is not to be lost, but to be liberated. It is an allegory for the end of one journey and beginning of another.
Before our students close the final chapter, we turn back the pages and reflect on the path that brought them here. Of every idea scribbled, workshopped, buried, and dug up again. Each student searched within to find their stories, their quirks, and elements of connection. Now, they approach the threshold and leave behind the relics of student life. With a clean slate, they’ll write a new narrative, and from the student emerges a professional artist bound for new horizons.
Tegan Carmichael, Senior Educator, NICA, said:
“Over the past three years, the graduating cohort of 2025 have approached their studies at NICA with curiosity, enthusiasm, a little bit of cheek and a lot of sass. They have challenged and supported each other to expand their technical and artistic boundaries, developing into a versatile ensemble and professional artists with distinct performance qualities. Each graduate leaves NICA ready to make their mark on the industry, with their final showcase exploring what it looks like to stand at the helm, with the confidence to navigate the unknown before them.”
Soon to be graduate, Paige Dorrity reflects: “my three years at NICA have been full of growth and challenges that have helped me build resilience and confidence in myself as a person and a performer. As I enter the industry, I want to keep creating and performing work that feels unique and authentic to who I am, making sure to have lots of fun, laughter and silly business along the way.
NICA is a proud Arts8 training organisation, supported by the Australian Government through the Office for the Arts. Globally recognised as Australia’s Centre of Excellence in circus studies and the only provider of accredited tertiary circus education in the southern hemisphere, our programs, delivered in partnership with NICA’s educational partner, the Australian College of the Arts (Collarts), are highly sought after both nationally and internationally. Graduates of NICA have gone on to pursue exciting careers both locally and internationally and have contributed to the development of Australia’s vibrant circus arts industry.
