More About Vulcana
Vulcana Women’s Circus was established in 1995 in West End, Brisbane, to address the need to encourage women’s participation in physical skills through innovative, non-competitive programs. Vulcana’s processes and direction evolve from the recognition that a large number of women and young people have limited access to cultural expression or the means to achieve it.
From the beginning the organisation has offered a variety of circus and performance workshops for women from the local community. Circus activities have an extraordinary potential to facilitate empowerment, cultural development, health and wellbeing, as well as provide an exhilarating performance form that can be imaginative, evocative and innovative.
In Oct 1995 Vulcana staged its first major community show A Girls Own Adventure at the Princess Theatre featuring workshop participants. There has been a major community show produced nearly every year since and a steady increase in the range of community performance events undertaken. All have been created with the involvement of large numbers of community participants and with the support of highly skilled and respected artistic teams. They have all been performed at a major performing arts venue to critical acclaim with sell-out seasons.
Vulcana has grown from producing one community performance project and a series of circus workshops each year, to a diverse annual program of activities. In 1999 Vulcana developed its first major outreach project with five collaborating community organisations to provide three terms of circus skills training for young women marginalised by poverty, isolation and lack of education. The project culminated in public performances at Reclaim the Night, Brisbane. The project was fundamental to the development of a working model of practice that utilises circus within a community cultural development context. The organisation has continued to expand its outreach programs with one to two major projects per year plus smaller projects with a variety of organisations. Using evaluation with participants, trainers and participating organisations, Vulcana has continued to develop a unique and highly successful model of practice.
Vulcana is also committed to supporting circus performers and the physical theatre industry. Since 1999 Vulcana has created a series of professional development initiatives - including workshops with international trainers - for emerging trainers, artsworkers and performers growing out of the Vulcana workshop program. Nearly all of Vulcana’s current trainers and artsworkers have emerged through Vulcana’s core program of workshops.
Since 2000 the historic Stores Building at the Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm, has been home to Vulcana.
