CABUWAZI – Berlin Circus Schools

CABUWAZI is a Berlin-based network of educational circuses primarily aimed at children and teenagers. Present in the German capital for over 30 years, the organization is now a major player in circus arts pedagogy and arts education in Germany.

His name is associated with a participatory conception of the circus: children are not simply spectators, but become the artists of the ring themselves.

CABUWAZI develops its activities in several districts of Berlin, through establishments with their own spaces, teaching teams and programs.

The network welcomes approximately 12,000 children and adolescents each year and mobilizes around one hundred staff members.

Activities are organised in different forms: regular classes, weekly training sessions, workshops during school holidays, projects with schools, open workshops and the creation of shows.

The teaching is based on a multidisciplinary exploration of circus arts.

Participants can practice juggling, balancing, acrobatics and various aerial disciplines.

Depending on the infrastructure and programs offered at each branch, they can also discover trampolining, manipulation techniques, teamwork and different forms of stage expression.

The youngest children benefit from activities adapted to their motor development, allowing them to gradually discover their body, space, balance and movement.

Older children and teenagers can delve deeper into techniques that interest them and join regular training groups.

CABUWAZI also offers programs allowing the most committed young people to participate in artistic creations and shows.

The stage dimension is indeed an important component of the educational project.

Students participate in the design of acts, performances under a big top, and various cultural events organized in their neighborhoods.

The objective is not limited to learning technical figures.

Circus arts are also used as a way to develop self-confidence, independence, creativity and the ability to work with others.

Participants gradually learn to take responsibility, cooperate, and respect differences within the group.

This social dimension occupies a central place in the identity of CABUWAZI.

The association aims to make circus arts accessible to children and teenagers regardless of their background, family situation or their parents' financial resources.

It therefore offers many free activities, discounted tickets and various measures to facilitate access for families with modest incomes.

The network also works with audiences who usually encounter more difficulties in accessing artistic and cultural activities.

Its Beyond Borders program develops, in particular, circus projects aimed at refugees and residents of different Berlin neighborhoods.

Mobile teams intervene in accommodation facilities, partner establishments and various local locations.

The circus thus becomes a tool for intercultural encounter, communication and participation in collective life.

CABUWAZI also has a strong inclusive dimension.

The diversity of backgrounds, languages and cultures is considered an educational and artistic asset.

The teams are made up of educators specializing in circus arts, professional artists and collaborators from different backgrounds.

The protection of children and adolescents is also an important aspect of the structure's operation, which has developed a common prevention and support system across its various sites.

Infrastructure varies depending on the location.

Some sites have actual big tops, large training halls, spaces for aerial disciplines and areas dedicated to artistic creation.

The Altglienicke branch benefits in particular from modern facilities opened in 2022, including spaces adapted for trampoline, aerial disciplines and the German wheel.

The Tempelhof site, located on the former Berlin airport, has several large tents, workshops and spaces dedicated to costumes.

CABUWAZI regularly organizes performances allowing students to present their creations in front of an audience.

Holiday camps are another important component of its activity and allow children to discover or deepen their knowledge of circus disciplines over several consecutive days.

The network also develops international exchanges, cultural collaborations and various training pathways.

In this way, he participates in the transmission of circus arts beyond his own Berlin locations.

Through its scale, the diversity of its activities and its social commitment, CABUWAZI represents a model of educational circus combining amateur practice, artistic creation, inclusion and citizen participation.

It is an important address for Berlin families wishing to discover circus arts in a collective, creative and supervised environment.