Artistic Director & Founder

Freyja Wild is a life-long contemporary circus artist. She has toured the world with some of the biggest names in the business, subtly subverting gender roles and embodying feminine strength. You can still see echoes of her style and innovation in hula hooping and group acrobatics throughout the circus sector.

Freyja is a founding member, and the Artistic Director and CEO of ROOKE, Tasmania's leading contemporary circus company. She cares deeply about community and creating meaningful, stable work for circus artists as they move away from full-time touring to settle down. In 2024, Freyja received the honour of a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in recognition of her contributions to the circus sector.

Executive Producer

Justin became the Executive Producer at ROOKE in 2025. He has previously worked as a producer, curator, programmer, tour manager, festival director, and arts manager across the world.

Stage Manager: Caper and Crow, Sydney Opera House, La Boite Theatre Company, Polytoxic, Queensland Ballet, Flipside Circus, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Out of The Box, Queensland Music Festival, Brisbane Festival, State Library of Queensland, The Brides of Frank and Kooemba Jdarra. Production Manager, Brisbane Powerhouse, Polytoxic, Strut & Fret Production House and Underbelly (UK).

Producer: Restaged Histories Project, FRINGE WORLD Festival, Artrage (WA, Creative Producer), Wynnum Fringe Festival, RE//Perth, RASWA, Marcia Hines’ Still Shining, Brisbane Queer Film Festival (Co-Director).

Company Unicorn/Programs Administrator

Dana has been in the performing arts most of her life; she was a singer, actor and dancer from a young age. Dana has performed in plays & musicals, performed solo and in bands at festivals, pubs, and private events; and has won several singer/songwriter awards for her original music.

Being the middle child of 5 siblings, Dana knows how to be part of a chaotic team, when it’s important to sit back and bide your time or when to jump into the fray for that last hot chip! By 17, she had been to 19 schools and lived in over 30 houses across 5 states, probably part of why her packing Tetris skills are unparalleled – which comes in very handy when trying to fit an entire circus in the back of a car.

Dana discovered circus, through Flow Arts, at 19. She started performing and hasn’t looked back. She is a co-founder of the Fyrebird Flow Collective based in Lutruwita/Tasmania, that has been performing across the state for the past 8 years. She is also co-owner/operator of SuperSillyUs Circus - a successful Launceston-based business providing circus workshops, performances and copious amounts of silliness. She believes in the power of learning through play and never being too old to start something new.

Technical Director

Ryan is an audio engineer, production manager and technical director from Brisbane, currently based in Hobart. He has worked extensively in Australia and around the globe presenting works to over a million people across 22 countries in musical theatre, circus, drama theatre, live music and major sporting events, with companies including Circa, Disney and Ed Sheeran.

Ryan is currently the Product Manager of PV4 for RWS Global. PV4 is a next-generation content management, distribution and playback platform used for events such as Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Associate Artist, REAP Program Coordinator & Founder

Conor is an acrobat, performer, maker and director. He has 14 years of professional performance experience and has lived and toured around the world with some of the biggest names in circus. A graduate of  the Circus Space, London (now the National Centre for Circus Arts), he has worked with Cirque Éloize, Cirque du Soleil, Circa, Circus Oz and The 7 Fingers, performing in numerous theatres and festivals in 29 countries across 6 continents. In 2021 he co-founded ROOKE, Tasmania’s leading contemporary circus company and is now both directing and performing for ROOKE. Conor has a keen interest in the intersection between circus, dance and theatre, and how the forms can blend and combine to bring us together and share the human experience.

Trainer & Performer

Tom was a fidgety child, forever told off for tapping, pacing, and using regular objects in irregular ways. It was no surprise then, that when he discovered circus arts at SuperSillyUs Circus at the age of 10, he was instantly hooked. As a teenager he was introduced to fire spinning - igniting a passion which has burned brightly ever since. He went on to co-found Fyrebird Flow Collective - a fire spinning troupe based in Lutruwita/Tasmania, that has been performing at festivals and events across the state for the past 8 years.

After starting his journey with SuperSillyUs Circus, Tom is now the co-owner and operator  with his partner-in-life-and-crime Dana-Marie Jensen. Tom is serious about being silly, believes that practice makes progress and that everything is a prop. A self-proclaimed ‘big kid’, Tom excels at engaging young people through circus, proving that play is a highly productive state for learning. 

Tom has been Head Gymnastic Coach and Program Facilitator at the YMCA, and has a wealth of experience and knowledge in safely sharing physical skills with young people, people with disability and importantly communicating information with the parents and carers of his students.

Choreographer & Performer

Jenni is an independent dancer, teacher, and award-winning choreographer/director based in Lutruwita. Driven by the personal, political and transformative forces of embodiment, Jenni’s multi-limbed practice centers care and radical play. Her choreographic work seeks to subvert relational narratives, analyze socio-politics that impact women and playfully expose modern assumptions of stigmatized subjects. Heavily influenced by aesthetic and cinematic tropes, Jenni aims to balance experimentation, risk and entertainment value within her work.

As a dancer she has collaborated and performed extensively throughout metropolitan, regional and remote Australia as well as Europe, UK, NZ, Americas, Japan and Singapore with artists and companies including; Dancenorth, Tasdance, Legs On The Wall, GUTS Dance, SA Opera/Leigh Warren and Ashleigh Musk. 

She has presented her choreographic work both as an independent artist and through commissions Australia-wide at festivals and institutions including; Mona Foma, Ten Days On The Island, Ohm Festival Brisbane Powerhouse, Dancehouse, Carriage Works, Desert Festival, ADT:Raw, Sound + Fury,  Sydney Dance Company, WAAPA, Stompin, Australasian Dance Collective and Tasdance. In 2022 Jenni won the people’s choice award for her Keir Choreographic work and was honored to receive a Chloe Munro Fellowship. Recently, she participated in an Asia Link Singapore Arts Now exchange, performed in the UK and EU in THAW (Legs On The Wall) and premiered her newest independent work ‘Wet Hard Long’ at Dancehouse in Naarm/Melbourne which recently received a Green Room Nomination for outstanding visual design. 

Performer

Jake Silvestro is an Australian acrobat and artist known for his explosive and narrative style of acrobatics. Using his physicality to deliver sensitive, curious, and exciting physical theatre.

After finishing Art School in 2011 at the ANU Jake has walked his own path between the visual and performing arts, leading him to work all over the world and with some of Australia’s biggest names in Circus and Dance; CIRCA, Circus OZ, Company 2, CASUS, Dislocate, Australian Dance Party, Lingua Franca and The Flying Fruit Fly Circus. He has actively pursued his own creative practice, first with the collective Poncho Circus, which he founded in 2012, and now in his latest solo work ‘December’. 

Jake loves working on projects that help him transport audiences away from their usual reality, and to find a new perspective that helps them reconsider their own world when they return.

Performer & Costume Designer

Jarred Dewey is a widely respected circus artist known for his lithe virtuosity, sense of design, and capacity as a collaborator. He began his training in circus as a teenager at Cirkidz, a youth circus based in his home town of Adelaide. In 2007 he moved to Melbourne to study at the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA), graduating in 2010.
He has since worked extensively with Brisbane based contemporary circus company CIRCA as a full-time ensemble acrobat for nine years. During his time with CIRCA he has devised, toured and performed in 13 different productions (including OPUS, Wunderkammer, PEEPSHOW, and more) in over 30 countries worldwide. He has also been featured in the 2016 London season of La Soirée in Leicester Square, has featured in numerous productions by YUMMY, co-devised and performed in his own multi-award winning show 'Party Ghost,’ and was an original cast member of the Circus Oz production ‘Model Citizens’ directed by Rob Tannion and ' NON STOP' directed by Nicci Wilks. He has also worked with the renowned Palazzo In Berlin and Vienna.

Jarred recently graduated from Melbourne Polytechnic in Costume Design for Live Performance and has begun working as an independent costume maker and
designer.

Performer

Cecila is a multidisciplinary artist grown from Argentinian roots. Based on the lands of the Jagera and Turrbal peoples, movement is Cecilia’s principle artistic language and her work exists in the realms of circus, dance, theatre and photography. Cecilia is a graduate of Warehouse Circus in Canberra and The National Institute of Circus Arts and has worked with Circa Contemporary Circus, The Farm, ARC, A Good Catch, Casus Creations and ROOKE as well as developing her own solo work Break in collaboration with The Farm in 2023. Break was nominated for two Matilda awards.

Performer

Bridie Hooper is an interdisciplinary artist championing circus within experimental performance art.  Her practice navigates universal themes of hope, connection and mortality through deeply personal works that challenge form, context and performer/audience relationship.

After completing her studies at École Nationale de Cirque in Montréal in 2012, Bridie worked with Germany's GOP Variété Cabaret and joined the internationally acclaimed Circa Contemporary Circus in 2013. There, she contributed to 10 debut works and performed globally in 28 countries. Bridie expanded her skills with a Gaga Dance Intensive at Batsheva Dance Company in 2018 and worked as choreographer on the Circa/Opera Queensland collaboration of Orpheus & Eurydice in 2019. Her solo show, INGRESS, won the 2021 Matilda Award for Best Circus/Physical Theatre Production. Bridie values collaborative, multidisciplinary work, extending her practice into sound art, visual art, and theatre, and was a 2023 artist-in-residence with The Unconformity project.

Performer

Margot Mansfield is a circus performer, acrobat, and artist originally from Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia.

At age eleven, Margot was invited to join the Performance Troupe at the South Australian Circus Centre. From there Margot studied circus arts and acrobatics in Melbourne, Finland, and Sweden. Through her training, she has become an accomplished all-rounder, proficient in various disciplines such as tumbling, acrobatics, handstands, and hula hoop. 

In 2015, Margot co-founded the award-winning Time in Space Circus, which has toured nationally and internationally. 

She has also collaborated with circus companies such as Gravity and Other Myths, Wildhouse Circus, Na Djinang Circus, Get Well Soon Circus, Bliindfull Circus, Circa Cairns, Sound of Circus, and most recently with Rooke!  

Margot performed her first ever solo show B.L.I.P.S. which was directed by Jess Love in Adelaide Fringe 2024. Here she received a 5 star review, 6/6 standing ovations, won a weekly award for ‘Best Emerging Artist’ and the ‘Edinburgh Fringe Tour Ready Award’. 

Performer

Penguin’s own Jasper Fleer specialises in juggling and fire manipulation. He is a trainer for Slipstream Circus and has trained with Throw Catch Collective. For ROOKE he has appeared in Up Late, Small Wonders and performed at Evandale Fair. Jasper has appeared on Australia’s Got Talent and as a part of ABC Arts’ profile of ROOKE.

In 2025, Jasper debuted his first solo show Behind the Throws.

Performer

Fran Reeve is an emerging multidisciplinary visual and performing artist living and working in nipaluna/Hobart. Fran is interested in examining the relationship between artwork and viewer.

Performer

Anisah has adored being upside down for most of her life. After training in CIRCA’s Youth Troupe during her teenage years she joined Collective Circus. Anisah has performed in shows for The National Circus Festival, Brisbane Festival and Woodford Folk Festival and spent 2023 studying at NICA. Anisah specialises in acrobatics, hula hoops and creative tumbling.
Image by Anais Stewart.

Performer

Jamie is a performer, director and producer. A graduate of Circo Arts in New Zealand and the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) in Australia, Jamie has a passion for spreading joy and laughter around the world, and making the everyday seem extraordinary.

Jamie’s characteristic performance style is a clever mix of vaudeville clown and contemporary circus. Jamie’s performing career has taken him around the world from the UK to Hong Kong, China, Europe, USA and New Zealand, and right around Australia. He has performed at Sydney festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Keifang Clown Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Arts Centre Melbourne. As a director, Jamie has worked for Yuck Circus, Head First Acrobats, Lost in Translation Circus (UK) Dummies Corp and consulted and mentored numerous emerging Australian artists and companies. He co-founded Dummies Corp with Jack Coleman and Simon Wright and is currently CEO and Artistic Director, and also performs in Splash Test Dummies and Trash Test Dummies.

Performer

James Welsby is an artistic director and arts manager with twenty years of professional experience in the performing arts. He is soon to complete a Masters of Business (Arts and Cultural Management) at Deakin University, and has studied Small Business Management at RMIT (2013). He graduated from the VCA School of Dance in 2007 specialising in contemporary dance.

In 2008 James founded Phantom Limbs Dance Company (winner of the Melbourne Festival "Discovery Award” and "Melbourne Fringe Best Dance" 2013). His experiences in dance lead him to perform with companies and choreographers like Cadi McCarthy, Buzz Dance Theatre, Martin Del Amo, Luke George, Nat Cursio, Opera Australia (HOSH) and many more. James was mentored by Stephanie Lake through JUMP Mentoring for a year and was selected for the Kickstart Program at Next Wave Festival 2013. He has created six full-length dance works and has been an artist in residence at Dancehouse and The Bowery Theatre. He taught contemporary dance at Chunky Move for five years from 2010 - 2015, and has been a guest teacher/ choreographer at NICA, WAAPA, VCA, Dancehouse, and the RAD.
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In addition to contemporary dance, James has had an extensive career in drag and cabaret. In 2015, James founded YUMMY Productions ("Best Cabaret Production" and "Best Ensemble" Green Room Awards 2018) which followed with the creation of ten full-length cabaret productions. As the artistic director and CEO of YUMMY, James led an ensemble of performers to over 60 festivals around the world, garnering 4 and 5 star reviews from the The Scotsman, The Age, The Advertiser, The Guardian, The Times (UK), The West Australian, and many more. YUMMY's shows have been seen from regional Australia and NZ right through to the West End in London.

As his alter ego "Valerie Hex," James has also performed for acclaimed artists and companies including: Hannah Gadsby, David Sedaris, Taylor Mac, BRIEFS, Finucane and Smith, Bernie Dieter's Club Kabarett, and at hundreds of cabaret events worldwide.

As a choreographer he has created work for Circus Oz, Zoe Coombs Marr, Gary Starr, Menagerie Collective, and more, and also worked briefly as a rehearsal director for Circa Contemporary Circus.