Circus – La CLEF, Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The CLEF in Saint-Germain-en-Laye offers weekly circus workshops for children and teenagers aged 5 to 15 .

Throughout the year, participants discover different techniques belonging to the major families of circus arts. The activity combines physical practice , object manipulation , the search for balance and artistic expression .

The subjects covered

Acrobatics

Acrobatics is one of the disciplines covered. It allows children to better understand their bodies, develop their coordination, and gradually learn to control their movements in space.

Juggling and object manipulation

Juggling and object manipulation also play an important role in learning. These practices require dexterity, concentration, and coordination, while allowing each child to progress at their own pace.

Balance

The concepts of balance are also explored throughout the year. Participants learn to better understand their points of support and to become aware of their bodies and the space around them.

Emotions and apprehensions

Circus arts are also used as a way to work on emotions and apprehensions . Children are gradually led to experience new situations, to better manage their emotions and to overcome certain fears.

Clown

The clown complements this exploration of circus arts. Each participant is invited to find the clown that suits them and to gradually build their own character.

An expressive dimension

This approach gives a truly expressive dimension to the activity. Beyond technical learning, the workshops allow children and teenagers to experiment, communicate, and develop their own way of expressing themselves.

CLEF thus places exchange , discovery and expression at the heart of its circus workshops.

Course organization

Participants are divided into different groups according to their age. The youngest can start from age 5 , while older children and teenagers benefit from longer sessions allowing them to gradually deepen their practice.

The classes take place every week at La CLEF, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, as part of a season running from September to June .

La CLEF, a cultural venue

The circus activity is part of the much larger project of La CLEF, an association created in 1984 and a cultural venue offering around fifty weekly activities as well as concerts, shows, exhibitions, rehearsal studios and artistic projects.

Even though it is not an independent circus school, the annual organization of courses, the diversity of techniques covered and the possibility of practicing up to adolescence make it a structured offering of amateur practice of circus arts in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.