Archimente – Al Circo con Claudia

Archimente is an association in Val di Susa that develops activities around social circus, non-formal education, well-being, community life and outdoor activities.

In San Didero, the association offers the " Al Circo con Claudia " course, a regular circus motor skills course allowing children to discover circus arts through play, movement and imagination.

The project is currently aimed at children aged 3 to 10 .

Two groups are formed in order to adapt the activities to the age and motor development of the participants.

• The first one welcomes children aged 3 to 5 years .
• The second one is intended for children aged 6 to 10 .

The meetings take place every Wednesday .

For the 2026-2027 season, the course starts at the end of September and continues until the end of May.

This is therefore a genuine year-long program and not just a one-off internship.

The activities offered

Juggling is one of the main entry points into the world of the circus.

Children can experiment with different objects suitable for their age.

Scarves, balls and Chinese plates are among the materials documented in Archimente's activities.

Manipulating these objects allows for the gradual development of coordination between sight and movement.

It also requires concentration .

Balancing acts constitute a second major family of activities.

Children experience different situations in which they must adapt their posture and better understand the position of their body.

Basic acrobatics complement this work.

The exercises are naturally adapted to the age of the participants and are integrated into a comprehensive approach to motor skills.

Clowning is also part of the journey.

It introduces an expressive and imaginative dimension that distinguishes the project from a simple gymnastics class.

A pedagogy based on play

The game forms the common thread of all the activities.

Circus techniques are therefore not presented as a series of exercises to be successfully completed.

They become tools that allow children to experiment .

This possibility of experimenting freely is particularly important in project-based learning.

The route aims to avoid competition between participants.

Each child can progress at their own pace.

Differences in ability are not used to establish a ranking.

On the contrary, they allow us to discover that each person can possess different skills and desires.

Archimente also places great importance on the needs expressed by children .

The speaker observes their desires and requests.

• Some proposals can then be tested individually .
• Others are developed in small groups .

This organization gives the child an active role in their own development.

Motivational and relational objectives

Knowledge of the body is one of the essential objectives.

Motor skills courses help develop coordination and balance.

The child gradually learns to better perceive their movements.

Relaxation exercises are also offered.

They allow for the introduction of listening to the body, calmness and recovery within the session.

Circus practice is simultaneously used as a tool for socialization .

Games allow the group to be built up gradually.

The children participate in trust- based activities.

They also need to learn to collaborate .

The relationship between the participants is therefore part of the learning process.

The project seeks to create a relationship based on trust and respect between the children, the group, and the facilitator.

This relational dimension explains why Archimente explicitly links his activity to the social circus .

The association does not consider the circus solely as an artistic or sporting discipline.

She also uses it as a tool to create community and well-being .

This orientation is reflected in the general presentation of Archimente.

The association develops activities accessible to the public with the aim of creating connection and well-being through social circus, non-formal education, outdoor sports activities and various projects related to the territory.

“Al Circo con Claudia” fits directly into this philosophy.

Practical information

The course is taught by Claudia Siddi .

It also serves as the direct contact for registrations and information regarding the course.

The 2026-2027 season takes place in the multipurpose hall of San Didero, Piazza Europa.

A free trial session was organized on September 30, 2026 before the start of the course.

Places are limited and prior registration is required.

• The 3-5 year old group works on Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
• The 6-10 year old group continues from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m.

The previous year, in 2025-2026 , the same project was already running in San Didero.

He was then welcomed into the gymnasium of the nursery school.

This continuity over several seasons confirms that this is not an isolated animation.

Archimente also occasionally develops other circus-related projects in the Val di Susa.

For example , family circus events allow very young children to discover the circus world accompanied by an adult.

This broader activity shows that the association seeks to make the circus accessible to different audiences.

Archimente in the NetJuggler directory

According to the NetJuggler directory, Archimente therefore presents a different profile from the major Italian schools, which have a permanent space and many specialized disciplines.

The technical offering is smaller.

• There is no professional training program .
• There is also no documented advanced specialization pathway .

On the other hand, the structure fully corresponds to the definition of a school or a regular amateur and educational circus program .

The children participate in a weekly activity for almost the entire school year.

They discover several fundamental families of circus arts.

They practice juggling, balancing, acrobatics and clowning .

Motor skills training is complemented by relational and educational objectives.

Cooperation, trust, respect, creativity and listening play an important role.

The approach is explicitly non-competitive .

Finally, the association directly claims its belonging to the field of social circus .

This last characteristic makes the structure particularly interesting for the directory.

Archimente shows how circus arts can be used in a small community like San Didero not only to transmit techniques, but also to create a space for meeting, expression and development for the children of the territory.