Circo MaXimo – Scuola di Circo di Roma

Circo MaXimo is a historic circus arts school based in Rome.

The school was officially created in 2001 by a group of artists, circus educators and teachers from artistic gymnastics.

However, its story begins a few years earlier.

As early as 1998 , the future founders organized workshops in Rome to discover circus techniques as well as evening classes for young people and adults.

The goal is gradually becoming to create a permanent structure in which circus arts can be taught throughout the year.

Circo MaXimo was thus born in 2001 .

The school presents itself as the first experience of its kind in Rome and more broadly in central and southern Italy.

Since its creation, several hundred children and adults have participated in its courses.

Some former students have become circus artists, jugglers or acrobats.

But Circo MaXimo's main purpose is not to select future professionals.

His project places the development of the individual at the center of education.

Circus techniques are considered a means rather than an end .

This idea is particularly important in work aimed at children.

The school seeks to use circus arts to enhance their well-being and simultaneously develop their physical, relational, psychomotor and creative skills.

A non-competitive practice

Circus arts are viewed as a non-competitive activity .

The student should not try to be better than others.

The goal is rather to progress in relation to oneself .

This lack of competition allows children with different abilities and profiles to practice together.

The wide variety of circus disciplines also contributes to this accessibility.

Every child can encounter a discipline in which they gradually achieve personal success.

This success fosters self-confidence.

The circus also becomes a tool for expression.

The imagination plays an important role.

The child does not simply learn a series of standardized movements.

He is encouraged to experiment and discover different ways of using his body and objects.

A learning progression adapted to each age

Circo MaXimo begins this learning process very early.

CircoMotricità is intended for children aged three to five years.

The game then becomes the main educational tool.

The principles of juggling, theatre and acrobatics are used to develop the relationships between the body, space and others.

The children freely explore different objects.

Motor skills courses are also built using circus and gymnastics equipment.

This first step aims to develop motor skills as much as to foster relationships within the group.

From age six

Children aged six and over can join circus arts classes.

The school then adapts its objectives to the age of the participants.

For six and seven year olds , the work remains strongly focused on psychomotor skills and creativity.

The discovery of techniques is mainly achieved through play.

The relationship with a partner also begins to become important.

Trust and contact are gradually introduced.

In the eight to ten year old age group

In the eight to ten age group, work becomes more structured.

Flexibility, coordination and muscle tone are developed.

Students learn to better understand rhythm.

They also work on their relationship to space and to the group.

The technique is beginning to become a true means of expression.

Among older young people

Among older young people, physical preparation becomes more specific.

The technical work is thorough.

The student is gradually encouraged to use the technique to develop their own creativity.

Teamwork and autonomy are becoming more important.

Young people also learn to analyze their own practice.

The ability to present oneself in front of others is another objective.

Circo MaXimo thus offers a genuine educational progression rather than a simple one-off introduction.

The subjects taught

Juggling is one of the historical disciplines of the school.

• Students can work with balls and clubs.
• The diabolo is also part of the equipment used.
• Other forms of object manipulation are discussed.
• Unicycling is another important discipline.
• Tightrope walking is taught.
• Students can also work on balance spheres and rollers.
• Acrobatic lifts and pyramids introduce a strong collective dimension.
• Vertical exercises develop hand balance and body control.
• Ground acrobatics complement this work.

The Pluricirco for adults

For adults, this diversity is notably brought together in the Pluricirco course.

The principle is to offer a multidisciplinary approach.

Participants are encouraged to experiment with different families before potentially choosing those they wish to explore further.

The sessions begin with physical preparation.

Warm-up, strengthening, flexibility and body awareness precede technical work.

No prerequisites are required to participate.

Adult beginners can therefore join the school.

More experienced practitioners can continue their progress in parallel.

Juggling, in particular, benefits from specific training.

Circo MaXimo considers it both as a non-competitive physical activity, a playful practice and a means of artistic expression.

Coordination naturally constitutes an important part of learning.

But the work also seeks to develop rhythm, spatial orientation, concentration, and the relationship between space and time.

More experienced jugglers have a free training area.

This possibility also exists for other circus techniques.

The venue then makes some of its equipment available.

Balance wire, sphere, rola-bola, unicycles, mats and juggling equipment can be used.

This organization allows for the complementation of structured teaching with more autonomous practice.

The school also offers acroyoga for adults.

This discipline naturally aligns with the culture of cooperation and teamwork already present in acrobatic lifts.

A school committed to popular education

Circo MaXimo's identity, however, rests as much on its pedagogy as on the disciplines taught.

From its inception, the school has had a strong relationship with popular education and external intervention.

She has worked in numerous schools.

Workshops were organized in sports centers and cultural facilities.

Circo MaXimo has also developed projects in centers that host young people.

A particularly interesting collaboration was carried out with the Casal del Marmo Juvenile Detention Center .

The school organized a summer circus school there for several years.

The circus was then used in a very different educational context than regular classes.

Circo MaXimo also worked with the University Institute of Motor Sciences in Rome.

Between 2002 and 2006 , a training activity dedicated to the techniques and methodologies of circus arts was offered there.

The school has also developed training programs for teachers.

In particular, a circus education seminar was organized for teachers from different disciplines and specialist teachers.

These experiences demonstrate the importance that Circo MaXimo places on transmission.

The school does not consider circus arts solely as performance techniques.

She is interested in their educational use.

Carlo Leonardi, co-founder and teacher

This orientation is notably embodied by Carlo Leonardi , co-founder and teacher of the school.

His career is strongly linked to Belgium.

He trained at the Brussels Circus Arts Academy, the Brussels Circus School, Espace Catastrophe and De Kleine Academie.

His training at the Brussels Circus School has a particularly pedagogical dimension.

There he received training as a socio-cultural operator using circus techniques.

His background covers juggling, acrobatic gymnastics, tightrope walking, unicycling, rola-bola, sphere, stilts, fixed trapeze, theatrical expression, pedagogy, psychology, anatomy and psychomotor skills.

Before returning to Italy, he taught in circus schools in Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve.

He also works at Espace Catastrophe.

Her experience includes integration projects using circus techniques with young people from socially disadvantaged neighborhoods in Brussels.

In Rome, this educational culture directly contributed to the creation of Circo MaXimo.

A vision of the circus spanning more than twenty years

For over twenty years, the school has been developing a concept of circus where physical progression, creativity, expression and human relationships are inseparable .

For Circo MaXimo, the body is the main tool of the practice.

Learning therefore requires rigor and regularity.

But this requirement should not eliminate the playful aspect.

The joy of experimentation remains essential, particularly for children.

This combination of play and technical requirements allows us to support different profiles.

The 2025-2026 season

The 2025-2026 season confirms the current continuity of the school.

Classes resumed on September 29th .

An important element of the Roman Circassian landscape

Circo MaXimo thus represents an important piece in the recent history of circus teaching in Rome.

Its creation in 2001 came at a time when permanent circus schools were still few in number in Italy.

More than twenty-five years after the first workshops were organized in 1998 , the school continues to advocate a non-competitive and multidisciplinary approach.

For the NetJuggler directory, Circo MaXimo therefore deserves to be presented both as a historic school of amateur circus and as a structure strongly committed to circus pedagogy .

• It welcomes children from the age of three, young people and adults.
• His teaching covers circus motor skills, juggling, acrobatics, unicycle, tightrope, balances, verticals, acrobatic lifts and acroyoga.
• His story also includes interventions in schools, universities, social settings and in prisons.

This combination of regular practice, pedagogy, creativity and social openness makes Circo MaXimo one of the particularly interesting historical structures in the Roman circus landscape.