Yamatji girl Lucia Richardson offered position at prestigious national youth circus, Flying Fruit Fly

A young talented Yamatji girl from Geraldton has been offered a position in an elite circus training organisation with no audition required, bringing her dream of becoming a professional circus performer one leap closer. Lucia Richardson, 15, is a Amangu dancer from the Yamatji nation, found a passion for circus performing when she began working with master trainer Daniel Power in February last year. In less than two years, Lucia has been noticed in the professional circus realm, gaining a scholarship with the WA Circus Festival in January this year. Late last month, she travelled to the Flying Fruit Fly Circus National Training Project in NSW where she was noted for her potential to make a career out of the circus. Mr Power said out of more than 60 participants in the first week and 80 in the second, Lucia was one of two participants to be offered a full-time position in the school. “It’s an extraordinary thing. It’s quite an honour to be offered a position without having to audition,” he said. Mr Power said even the contemporary circus company CIRCA was pioneering a new wave of circus played in theatres across the world and had noticed Lucia’s talent. “CIRCA have also recognised Lucia as potential, a contemporary circus company has eyes for her,” he said. Mr Power said for a performer of such young age, Lucia presented as a mature artist with integrity and soul who worked as a smart performer, solving problems with organic solutions. The Flying Fruit Fly Circus combines ordinary school work with vigorous training for Year 1 to 12 students. Mr Power said the artists that Flying Fruit Fly produced were world-class, and it often fed into National Institute of Circus Arts. “NICA is my next big goal after Fruit Fly,” Lucia said. Lucia’s mother, Regina Richardson, said she gauged her daughter’s potential at the WA Circus Festival and recognised she was born with it. Lucia started dancing when she was just three years old and said performing in a circus was her dream for a long time, but didn’t join circus until last year. “It was really good to see where I was skill-wise. Coming from an acrobatic background — when it came to tumbling or flexibility I was quite advanced — but I realised I needed to train harder in the aerial area,” she said. Lucia said aside from holding a strong connection to her relatives and country, her whole life she loved dancing and circus, and to be offered a position at Flying Fruit Fly was a dream come true. She said as an Indigenous girl, it could be difficult to stay motivated in the current landscape of Australian politics and racial bias. “I personally haven’t experienced too much of it, but I believe it’s different for everyone. And being Indigenous there’s that vulnerability to being associated with drugs and alcohol,” she said. Lucia said although it was something First Nations people had come to live with, family support and positive mentorship from teachers and coaches helped her stay focused on her goals. “Even reaching out to people at school, sometimes they offer to take you to training. Having the support from adults, mentors and teachers really helped a lot to stay dedicated to what I do,” she said. “But it’s also just that passion I had to begin with, I just had to stick with that and work hard.” Aside from Lucia’s self-drive, she said she wanted to become a trailblazer and become known as the first to complete her goals to inspire others. “I don’t know if I’m the first Aboriginal person to join a circus, but things like joining Fruit Fly Circus, attending NICA, I want to be an inspiration to other Indigenous children who want to get into the performing arts area, or a career in general,” she said. Lucia said she wanted to complete Year 12 for future opportunities, and being able to complete her schooling in a performing arts environment was where she would work the best. Mrs Richardson said there were no expectations for Lucia to be offered a position at the school when they visited to improve her professional development. “At the end of the first week you have someone coming to us and saying they want her there, it was a really emotional moment,” she said. “We have such a deep attachment to Dan and gratitude for everything that he has done to help Lucia, not just with circus but believing in herself, that mentoring support has been incredible. “He is one of Australia’s best aerial coaches, right here in Geraldton’s industrial area.”