A circus artist and emerging scholar with over 18 years experience in the Australian circus sector as a performer, trainer, artistic director and administrator and more recently, as a researcher. She has worked extensively in the youth circus sector leading a team of inspiring artists as the Head Trainer and Artistic Director of Flipside Circus in Brisbane 2004-2010. Working as a creative producer and choreographer, she has collaborated with leading arts organizations, venues and festivals such as with Strut n Fret Production House, Brisbane Powerhouse, Creative Generations, Woodford Folk Festival, Brisbane Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival. In 2012 Kristy completed her Honours thesis “How Circus training can enhance the well-being of children with autism and their families”. Connecting her work to the international sector, in 2015 she undertook a residency as researcher in residence at Ecole Nationale De Cirque and Cirque du Soleil Headquarters (Quebec). Her research has been published in New Theatre Quarterly and Performance Matters (June 2018) and the forth coming Zirkuswizzenschaft . Kristy has her own circus school, Circus Stars, solely dedicated to children with autism, which was the topic of her recent TEDx talk (June 2017). In 2018 Kristy completed her doctoral research titled “Bodies, Temporality and Spatiality in Australian Contemporary Circus” at Griffith University Gold Coast. She currently lectures in Cultural Studies, Sociology and Cultural theory at Griffith University.
