Ruby & Rachel: Double Trapeze in Oz

I came to Australia to perform at the Tasmania Circus Festival—and to hike and play in the land Down Under while simultaneously collecting my girlfriend for immigration back to Canada. Little did I know…

I arrived after Xmas, fresh from a completed performing contract in Greece, thinking I’d be back in the Northern Hemisphere within four months, tops. Well, life has its switcheroos. Come April, we were handing our love story to immigration services in Tasmania—practically getting married. I was the one submitting the application for residence—in Oz.

The Circus Festival had introduced me to a good chunk of the Australian circus scene and a healthy dose of strong, inspiring women and men who all come with a full spectrum of life experiences performing and making circus in various forms. I met a potential biz/art partner there, who lives in Brisbane.

Another factor for staying in Oz is Pearl (her/our dog). If she left Oz, we’d have to give Pearl to quarantine for at least a month to get her back in. So we ended up moving from Tasmania to Brisbane, where there’s a thriving circus and aerial arts community, and where I would get to meet the parents of my partner: they live up the East Coast near Brisbane.

So, these are preview photos of me and Rachael working on our double trapeze act, which we started rehearsing three months ago in my backyard—yep, Brisbane is 

tropical and I have an aerial rig in the garden! We bought matching underwear as an interim costume until we get a few proper gigs. While there’s a lot of inventive quirky acts being made in Oz, we still cater to the skin and glitz market of corporate events—so we have some fun with that.

XOXO Ruby

Photos courtesy of the author