About Toni

Toni was born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand. She stumbled upon performing as a career by chance after bumping into someone who was helping to set up the first tertiary circus school in the Southern Hemisphere.

Achievements

Thinking it would be fun for a year, she enrolled and ended up returning for a total 3 years tertiary circus study and now has a Diploma in New Circus. She went on to work as a freelance entertainer for several years, performing in theatre productions, festivals, circuses and at corporate functions. One of her most memorable gigs was hanging from a trapeze underneath a bicycle on a wire suspended between the 14th floor of two buildings!

Looking for a new challenge, and wanting to stretch her wings, Toni bought a one-way ticket to Germany in 2003. She took her skills to the streets of Europe in her one woman show 'Minnie Maniac', touring throughout Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany).

In 2006, Toni ran away from the circus to go to university.

Expecting to struggle after a long break from study, she was surprised to finish at the top of the School of Science and Engineering by the end of her first year, gaining an Alumni Award for Academic Excellence. She went on to gain multiple awards and scholarships and finished on the Dean's honour list, completing her science undergraduate degree with a double major in Biology and Psychology in 2008.

After looking for a 'real' job with some vigour, Toni realised she wasn't designed to work in a lab with the same people all day.

Heading back to Canada in 2009, she resurrected Minnie Maniac in a tour that took her from Vancouver to Montreal, delighting in the scenery and the friendly faces all along the way.

All this and UniSmart too

Performing is her passion and she believes that she was designed to enthuse and inspire through the medium of entertainment. Constantly looking for ways to educate and inform in an entertaining way has led her to UniSmart.