When Jonathan Goh decided to study circus arts, one question followed him again and again: “Can make money meh?”
The Singaporean performer now has a historic answer.
Goh, 30, became the first Singaporean to graduate with an Honours degree in Circus Arts from London’s National Centre for Circus Arts, completing the programme in July 2025. The institution confirmed his distinction to The Straits Times.
His achievement represents an unusual journey for someone who entered a field that is still relatively niche in Singapore.
Goh discovered circus arts when he was 11 after watching a fire-spinning performance. Although he dreamed of pursuing formal circus training while still in secondary school, he initially chose to enter the profession directly instead.
The COVID-19 pandemic eventually forced him to rethink that path. With his performing career disrupted, Goh decided to take what he described as a “leap of faith” and pursue the education he had once imagined.
That decision came with a major financial commitment.
The three-year programme cost overseas students about £18,000 (around S$30,500) per year. While studying in London, Goh attended classes five days a week for roughly seven hours a day, leaving little opportunity to perform full time.
To help cover living costs, he performed at London’s Covent Garden whenever possible, earning about £200 to £400 a week. He also performed around Europe during summer breaks, including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, while returning to Singapore during the winter holidays to perform.
Today, Goh says his monthly income fluctuates between S$6,000 and S$12,000, although his career was far less financially predictable while he was studying.
But for Goh, the degree was about more than earning potential.
His training covers multiple circus disciplines, including trapeze, aerial work, Chinese pole, teeterboard and juggling. He says formal education helped him move beyond simply experimenting with tricks and taught him to think more deeply about body mechanics, performance and storytelling.
Instead of focusing solely on executing difficult movements, Goh now considers how an act can communicate an idea or tell a story.
His work also extends beyond his own performances.
Goh is co-chairman of the Buskers’ Association Singapore and has been involved in workshops and programmes designed to help develop the local street-performance and circus community. *SCAPE Singapore has also featured him as a workshop leader teaching performers about building street shows and engaging audiences.
Independent circus producer and director Xyn Foo described Goh as a community leader who is actively trying to nurture other practitioners.
For Goh, becoming Singapore’s first degree holder in circus arts is therefore not simply a personal milestone. It also represents a broader effort to demonstrate that circus can be treated as a serious artistic discipline and professional career.
From a childhood fascination with fire spinning to international performances and a degree in circus arts, Goh’s journey has taken an unconventional route—and the question of whether circus can become a viable career is one he is now answering through experience.
WWC ONE MEDIA G,A
