The 13 year-old has been selected as one of eight performers to feature in the Flying Fruit Fly Circus’s show at the Hue Festival in Vietnam.
Jess is part of an exclusive group with the Flying Fruit Fly being the only Australian Circus invited to this event.
She said she was extremely excited for this opportunity and gave plenty of praise for the FFFC.
“I love the program, it helps me to keep fit, I get to do so many fun skills which I get to use in my performances, and to do this with my friends is amazing.
“I chose circus because I love performing and making people happy. It makes me feel proud.”
The performance in Vietnam will be called TEMPO.
Artistic director Anni Davey said the show will be put together in the weeks leading up to the festival.
“In all of our work we celebrate the optimism and spirit of youth,” she said.
“Our inspiration is the elasticity of time - how urgently we need to act and how sluggish is the response.
“There are a number of factors that go into choosing a cast, not just the individual skills or skill level of each of the performers but also the mix of skills, the requirements of the show and the potential of the ensemble to find strong and creative responses to provocations.
“Jess is a strong floor acrobat; she is small, so will be a flyer, standing on top of the pyramids and being thrown through the air. She is also friendly and hard working.’’
Originally Jess was set to travel to Vietnam at the start of April.
However, the Hue Festival, which is held at Hue in Central Vietnam on the banks of the Perfume River, has been postponed because of the COVID 19 virus outbreak.
“We think it may reschedule to the end of August,” Ms Davey said.
“Jess has circus in her family history, she is related to the famous St Leon family who ran circuses in Australia and abroad at the turn of the 19th Century.
“Jess is determined and talented and these are the things you need to make it in the circus industry.
“I have only known her since mid 2018 when she was in Grade 6. She is developing into a mature and thoughtful young woman.”
Jess started her journey when attending Circus Arts on Saturdays at the Flying Fruit Fly Circus in April 2015.
The following two terms she participated in two classes per week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
“The Tuesday classes were the next step towards becoming a full time FFFC student,” she said.
“My areas in performance are handstands, aerials, acro and trapeze.
“I have been in shows at the end of every year in our ‘Borderville’. I was also in ‘Junk’ which was at the Arts Centre in Melbourne, ‘Back in the Big Top’ in Albury and ‘Time Flies’ in Sydney.
“In ‘Time Flies’ we performed at The Seymour Centre and had seven sold-out shows with 800 people in the audience for each show.
“I’ve also performed in corporate shows and do roving performances for the NSW Government which have had (Premier) Gladys Berejiklian in attendance.
“FFFC also have Cabaret evenings which are open to the public at our training facility.”
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