Skipping on Stars

When it comes to the history of circus arts, Australia has a major claim to fame: tightwire artist, Con Colleano (1899-1973).

Born in Lismore, Colleano started performing when he was just a child and later become an international success by perfecting the forward somersault on a tightwire – a feat previously considered impossible seeing as the performer could not see their feet as they landed.

In 2004, for their 25th anniversary, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus (FFFC) decided to put on a show honouring his life called Skipping on Stars. As part of the production, they recreated Colleano’s iconic costume based on those worn by toreadors (Spanish bullfighters). But Colleano’s toreador persona was just that, a stage persona.

While most of his audiences knew him as a Spaniard, Colleano was actually a Kamilaroi man with Irish and West Indian ancestry. To minimise the risk of discriminatory laws which targeted Aboriginal and Black communities, Colleano tactfully masked his cultural identity throughout his life. His ruse was so effective that two dictators, Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, separately praised Colleano as both ‘a beautiful Italian stud of a man’ and a fine example of the Aryan race respectively.

Skipping on Stars honoured Colleano’s incredible skill on the tightwire while acknowledging the cultural balancing act he maintained throughout his career. Between playful routines performed by the Fruit Flies, Uncle Noel Tovey (Australia’s first Aboriginal male ballet dancer) narrated Colleano’s story. His inclusion was especially poignant considering Tovey had once seen Colleano perform, saying ‘He had a bearing, a presence. That is something I’ve tried to copy for the rest of my life.’

Tovey was so moved by his experience with the FFFC that he set up his own scholarship fund to financially assist two recipients from socially disadvantaged backgrounds to attend the school. The Noel Tovey Scholarship Fund is offered to this day and supports the institution to maintain a proud tradition of circus misfits, just like Colleano, using the art form to thrive.