Head of Education and Community Partnerships - Chelsea McGuffin

Chelsea grew up in Canberra and at a young age begun ballet classes discovering her passion for performing. She trained at The National Capital Ballet School, before heading to Adelaide to continue studies majoring in Dance at The Centre for Performing Arts. On graduation, moved to Sydney and began working with Sally Forth (Australian Dance Theatre and Circus Oz).  Here she explored the relationship between circus and dance, discovering her interest in circus and its potential to incorporate dance technique. This led to circus training, where time was spent at the Fruit Fly Circus School, the Moscow State Circus School and master classes in clowning with Angela Decastro. She went on to work with Tony’s Imaginary Circus, the Queensland Theatre Company and Rock N Roll Circus. Here she spent nine years working alongside Director Yaron Lifschitz where Chelsea was part of recreating the company re-named as CIRCA Contemporary Circus. 

In 2008, Chelsea Co founded Circus Company 2 (CC2). CC2 co-produced Cantina with ‘Strut N Fret’ production house for the Brisbane International Arts Festival.  Chelsea was the Director and performer in this award winning production which had four successful years touring both nationally and internationally and put CC2 on the world stage. CC2 went on to create Scotch & Soda, with commissions by The Brisbane Powerhouse and London Roundhouse to create She Would Walk the Sky, Perched in collaboration with Woodford Folk Festival; Kaleidoscope a family work in collaboration with Ethan, diagnosed with Aspergers. Kaleidoscope premiered at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, and was presented for seasons at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival and Brisbane Festival.  Le Coup undertook a six month contract in Berlin at the Chameleon Theatre and currently touring with NCM Nicholas Clark Management. Wunderage a collaboration with Circus Oz, received critical acclaim and captured the attention of international presenters.

In 2021, CC2 rebranded under Chelsea’s own name, Chelsea McGuffin & Co. Chelsea was commissioned by Arts Queensland and HOTA to develop three new works, Hysteria, Azul and Wired Moon and the Ice Cream Floor.

Alongside her extensive career as a touring performer and director, Chelsea managed to maintain a strong and steadfast commitment to the community, ensuring the next generation of performers were inspired, represented and saw a place for their own voices on the stage or in communities as local heros. She has worked across the Youth Circus Sector in Australia building programs and projects and in community development. Chelsea is the programmer for the National Circus Festival and has held a position on the programming team at Woodford Folk Festival since 2015.

Chelsea joined the Backbone team in 2022 and is excited to share her knowledge to help develop programs in the new facilities and become part of the ongoing Backbone team.

Portraits by Morgan Roberts.