The Mirror

Dylan loves to create, challenge and move. Specialising in hand balancing and acrobatics he uses his long limbs to his advantage to create a unique style and evoke strong emotions in his audiences. At a young age Dylan fell in love with being on his hands and found circus as a platform to express himself both physically and creatively. Over his many years in circus Dylan has been a part of directing, creating, producing and has performed in many shows and productions around the world. Dylan has worked casually for different companies such as Gravity & Other Myths, Slingsby and Windmill but also with his own company Time in Space Circus and has toured his own work Internationally to China and Czech Republic. Dylan continues to grow and develop his knowledge, whilst being an active member within the Australian Arts Community.

Born in Istanbul, Ekrem has been living, studying and working in Australia since 2005.

Coming from a Bulgarian family of teachers, Ekram grew up in a home that valued and nurtured the arts and creativity. After studying a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, he continued on to undertake a graduate degree, followed by a PhD, in Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Ekrem’s career highlights as a musician include his composition for an independent theatre play called ‘Vigil’ in 2009, and winning the Outstanding New Singer Award at the Balkan Youth Music Festival in Istanbul, in 2005.

While music has always been his passion, Ekrem’s interest in circus, was first sparked back in Istanbul, through Saturday morning circus broadcasts, when he was growing up – but it was his first rehearsal with GOM in 2019 that really consolidated Ekrem’s love for circus, and changed his practice as a composer.

Invited to join GOM for their performance of Out of Chaos, this changed everything for Ekram, who was about to give up on his career as a musician. He now composes music for the company and loves reimagining what music can be, and what it can do for contemporary circus.

His favourite moment on stage was the end of GOMs last last performance at the Chamaeleon Theatre in Berlin. After an intense six month residency and 172 shows, he approached the mic, and departing from script, simply said with understated dramatic tension: “…and so it ends.”

A well versed acrobat Emily has been doing circus for over ten years. Originally from New Zealand she has been adopted as an Australian acrobat since moving to Melbourne in 2015. Since starting her career she has performed with a variety of companies around the world including Circus Smirkus, Circus Oz and Gravity & Other Myths. Outside of being an acrobat Emily can be found exploring and enjoying a good coffee.

After dabbling with dance as a little girl, Jascha started recreational circus classes at Cirkidz Circus School in Adelaide when she was just four years old. This initial spark for the circus was fanned into a flame when she was offered a place in the Cirkidz Performance Troupe at age nine.

Over the next ten years, Jascha trained as a performer and creative with Cirkidz, eventually becoming a coach, teaching performers of all ages, and directing the junior performance troupe.

Jascha and her fellow Cirkidz colleagues founded GOM in 2009, and after a number of Adelaide Fringe performances they fell into full time touring, following a successful first season of A Simple Space at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013.

As one of GOM’s ensemble acrobats, Jascha usually takes on the role of flyer or a middle, on stage. Behind the curtain, Jascha is also a key member of the managerial and directorial team for GOM, responsible for guiding and implementing future endeavours. She recently took on the role of Associate Director in GOM’s, Out Of Chaos, and is co-directing a new piece, currently in development.

Her favourite moment onstage is always at the very end of each show, as the troupe wraps their arms around each other for their final bow.

Adelaide born and bred, Lachlan has been involved in active and creative pursuits his whole life, starting circus classes at Cirkidz at just eight years old.

It was here where Lachlan’s passion for performance and training was developed, and formed the friendships that forged the beginnings of GOM.

Lachlan’s love for the circus was solidified when he performed in a show called Freaky at the 2007 Come Out Festival for kids in Adelaide, as it gave him a chance to perform with professional adult artists from Circus Monoxide and with their CirKidz trainer, Triton, who also became a founding member of GOM.

His first professional role was as a trainer for Cirkidz, and as a street performer at many of the various arts festivals in Adelaide. The turning point in Lachlan’s career came in 2013, when he and the GOM team travelled to the UK to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe.

As a founding member of GOM, Lachlan’s role within the company ranges from leader, mentor, and creative director, to designer and administrator. He is most often involved in conversations about the innovation and creative quality of GOMs work and sees this as his major contribution to the company.

His favourite moment on stage was performing A Simple Space at the 2013 Tasmanian circus festival, as it was the first time GOM had ever performed the work, in front of peers and the community, and was terrifyingly exhilarating!

Lewis has been very active since a young age with his involvement in sports and a love for the outdoors. He found contemporary dance later in life which he trained at Adelaide Centre for the Arts. Since graduating he has performed with Shaun Parker & Company, Leigh Warren & Dancers, Sandpit and numerous other independent Companies. Circus and Acrobatics is a recent discovery and now he is passionate about combining and evolving these different art forms.

Lisa specializes in Hula Hoop as well as Partner and Group Acrobatics. Having trained and loved circus since the age of 9, Lisa graduated from South Australia’s Circus Centre in 2013. Shortly after, she joined Australia’s leading contemporary circus, CIRCA. Over the course of 4 years with CIRCA Lisa has been a part of 11 different productions and has toured to 13 different countries. While not at CIRCA, Lisa has performed with other companies such as Briefs Factory, Slingsby Theatre company, South Australian Circus Centre, Time and Space Circus and a work with Jerome Bell. In addition, Lisa performs with her award winning co-founded company Point & Flex Circus. Some of Lisa’s career highlights include Performing Opus at La TOHU in Montreal, creating and performing Circa’s Close Up as part of 2016 Edinburgh Fringe, performing at the Sydney opera house on her 21st birthday and being named by respected arts journalist Lyn Gardner as ‘the best hula hooper she has ever seen’. Lisa enjoys circus as a physical and creative outlet for her energy and ideas. She loves the family circus has given her and the sense of belonging that comes with being a part of this wonderfully crazy community. Lisa can’t wait to see what shows the feature has in stall for her and where she will be performing next.

Born in Amsterdam, Martin moved to Adelaide with his family in 1997 and was inspired to take up circus performance after seeing a National Institute of Circus Arts show with his grandparents in Melbourne as a child.

A keen gymnast from the age of eight years old, Martin competed at the state level until an injury led him to focus more on his circus training, which he’d begun at Cirkidz at age 12.

Soon joining Cirkidz’ elite program, The Troupe, Martin gained a higher level of training and began performing in public shows, including Fringe shows and school tours. It was during this time that Martin met the other founders of GOM.

GOM’s first show Freefall launched in 2009, and led to seasons at the Adelaide Fringe in 2010, 2011 and 2013, a 10 week regional Australian tour and an international tour following a successful Edinburgh Fringe season. Martin has been touring with GOM ever since.

Martin works as an acrobat in both the creation and performance of all GOM shows, and has also taken on the role of training manager, tour manager, and production manager for the company.

His favourite moment on stage with GOM was the premiere night of their performance of Backbone at the Adelaide Festival. The intense feeling of premiering a work in his home city, in front of friends and family, then finishing to receive a standing ovation, made the many months of rehearsals worth it.

Raised in Western Australia by a family of scientists Maya didn’t quite follow in her parent’s footsteps. Instead she studied at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne specialising in aerial ladder, group acrobatics and foot-juggling. Since graduating in 2017 Maya has been lucky enough to tour the world with 10 awesome circus companies including Circus Oz, Circa Contemporary Circus and her own co-founded company Four or More Circus. When she isn’t on tour Maya teaches social circus and community classes believing in the educational and inspirational power of circus. Maya thrives in a team environment and is therefore ecstatic to be joining the passionate, creative and generous team that is GOM.

At age 10 Simon started down his acrobatic path and joined the Flying Fruit Flies Circus (FFFC) in Albury. After seven years of training he went on tour as a technician with the company Acrobat, while also teaching acrobatics at the FFFC. Simon has performed a number of acts in a variety of cabaret settings before joining Gravity & Other Myths in 2014 specialising in tumbling and group acrobatics.