Jasmine Straga

Founder-Director Australian Circus Festival Director J.S. Creations Jasmine studied dancing, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and drama at the McDonald College of Performing Arts, she then went onto training in Spanish Web briefly with Nat Harris at Five Dock and trained herself in Contortion before running away with the circus. Jasmine later toured the world as a contortionist, aerialist and dancer with both classical and contemporary shows, Circo De Los Hermanos Vazquez, Zero Gravity Circus (Canada), Circus Broadway (USA), Mexican International Circus, Roberts Circus (Mexico), Magic Circus of Samoa (Palau, Solomon Islands and Micronesia), Circus Tihany Spectacular (Mexico), Zirca (Singapore), Cirque Sublime (Canada) and Circo Fuentes. Jasmine creative directed the 2011 season of Cirque Medrano in France and Cirque St Petersburg. Jasmine opened Gala Entertainment Management in San Diego in 2005, which quickly grew to one of the world’s largest entertainment agencies for circus, dancers and musicians. Jasmine directed Australian Institute of Circus Arts and Coffs Harbour PCYC Rhythmic Gymnastics Club from 2007-2010, until she made a move to Asia for 5 years, where she Co-Directed R Empire &amp; Gala Entertainment in Macau and Singapore. With these companies, she created shows, events and contracted artists for City of Dreams Casino, Le Arc Casino, Costa Cruises, Sands Casino, Hard Rock Hotel Macau, Venetian Casino Macau, Marina Bay Sands Singapore, Dragone, Resorts World Sentosa Singapore, Cubic Nightclub Macau and was Talent &amp; PR Manager for Asia's largest entertainment &amp; nightlife company at the time; LifeBrandz PTE LTD/Cannery Leisure (Asian divisions; Cafe Del Mar, Ministry of Sound, Zirca Megaclub, Aquanova). Jasmine has sat as a jury member for <ul> <li>Festival International du Cirque de Massy, France 2015</li> <li>International Circus Festival of Wuqiao , China 2007/2009/2011</li> <li>International Circus Princess Festival, Saratov, Russia 2016</li> <li>Expert Jury Panel International Circus Awards. (Masters), Sochi, Russia 2015/2016</li> <li>Festival International del Circ, Figueres, Spain 2010</li> <li>Junior International Masters "OK" Competition, Sochi, Russia 2016</li> <li>International Circus Festival of Minsk, Belarus 2017</li> </ul> Jasmine returned to Australia at the end of 2013 and is running the Australian Circus Festival and teaching circus arts at Performance Art Western Sydney and Umbilico, creating boutique acts for Europe's leading circuses, varieties and cabarets and was nominated for best choreographer/Creative director for the International Circus Masters Awards in Sochi, Russia 2015. Her students have worked in Roncalli, Cirque du Soleil, Friedrichsbau Variete, Circus Krone, Circus FlicFlac, OhLaLa, Salto Natale, Noel en Cirque, Champs de Mars Lille, Absinthe Las Vegas, Circus 1903, The Unbelievables, Hans Klok, Moulin Rouge, Arlette Gruss, Gran Cirque Nadal Girona, G.O.P. Variete and many more. Her acts have gone into winning many international awards; <ul> <li>Bronze Prize for act creation Jack Dawson at the Festival International del Circ, Girona.</li> <li>Bronze Prize at the Festival International du Cirque de Monte Carlo with her student Rich Metiku Contortion)</li> <li>Bronze Prize for her students "Trilogy" hand to hand act Festival International de Figueres, Spain</li> <li>Bronze Prize at the Wuqiao International Circus Festival, China (Her student, Jordan McKnight's contortion act)</li> <li>Bronze Prize at International Circus Festival of Albacete, Spain (For her student Rich Metiku's contortion act)</li> <li>Silver Prize at Cirque De Massy, France</li> <li>Bronze prize and 5 awards at Princess Stephanie of Monte Carlo's Festival International Du Cirque in Monaco (For her student Jordan McKnight's Contortion act)</li> <li>Bronze Prize in Izhevsk, Russia (For her student Jordan McKnight's Contortion)</li> <li>Top five female act nomination for the best international female act in the International Masters Festival of Circus 2016, Sochi, Russia (Act she created in Penrith for Amy Nash)</li> <li>Winning a Grande Prix award and most Creative award at The International Junior Masters OK competition Sochi, Russia (Aerial Umbrella performed by her student Emma Lonard)</li> <li>Three of her acts created in Penrith were invited as the first Australians to compete in International Princess of the Circus Festival in Saratov, Russia (Amy Nash on tippy hoop, Stephanie Wills on Aerial Treble Clef and Emma Phillips foot juggling)</li> <li>Bronze Prize at the International Circus Festival of Minsk Belarus (For her student, Jack Dawson)</li> </ul> Other awards: Kazakh State Circus Award, Au Cirque award, Chernov Creation Award, Burgus Circus Award (France), Nikulin Special Prize (Russia), Elefante D’or Prize (Spain given in Belarus), 2 Special Prizes of the Club Amici del Circo, China Acrobatics Association Special prize, National Sports of Monaco Special Prize