Circus School 85

Circus School 85 is an amateur circus school located under a big top in La Chaize-le-Vicomte, Vendée, near La Roche-sur-Yon. Founded in 2009 by Sharon and Albert Micheletty, from a circus family, it has been welcoming children, teenagers and adults wishing to discover or deepen their practice of circus arts for over fifteen years.

The school is now run by their daughter, Perle Micheletty. Passionate about the circus since childhood and a professional artist herself, she continues the family tradition of practicing and performing.

Circus School 85 defines itself as an educational and cultural association whose objective is exchange and sharing around circus arts.

Annual courses

The annual courses are accessible from the age of 3 and are organized according to different audiences and forms of practice.

• Baby Circus : welcomes children aged 3 to 6 with an approach adapted to their age.
• Mixed classes : from age 6, they allow you to discover and explore different circus disciplines.
• Parent-child sessions : a shared family activity.
• Teenagers and adults : have their own classes, allowing them to continue practicing beyond the children's groups.

A multidisciplinary teaching

The teaching is multidisciplinary and combines land and air disciplines.

• Juggling is one of the techniques taught, as are balancing on objects , including the balance ball.
• Aerial disciplines also occupy an important place in the school's offerings. Aerial silks are explicitly offered, as is pole dance .

One-off workshops

Occasional workshops allow participants to delve deeper into certain specialties. Depending on the instructors and the time of year, these workshops may focus on pole dance, aerial hoop, aerial silks, clowning, or magic.

These workshops are led by professionals in the relevant discipline and are designed for different levels, from beginner to advanced practitioner.

Regular learning is built around discovery but also improvement .

Each student can thus progress throughout the year and participate in group projects .

The creation of a show

The creation of shows plays an important role in the functioning of the school.

The progress made during the season is showcased in the end-of-year shows . Students participate in the preparation of acts and group projects that require regularity, cooperation and collective effort.

The school also organizes demonstrations and meetings with professionals, helping to maintain a link between amateur practice and live performance.

Circus School 85 has a close relationship with the Micheletty Circus and with the professional circus world.

This family background allows students to develop in an environment where amateur transmission directly interacts with professional artists.

Internships and interventions

Holiday internships

In addition to the annual courses, the school organizes internships during school holidays.

These workshops are open to different ages and levels, from beginner to advanced. They offer the opportunity to discover circus arts or to deepen an existing practice over several afternoons under the big top.

Participants can register for one or more days depending on the format offered.

External interventions

The school also develops significant activities aimed at external organizations.

It can organize workshops for schools, leisure centers, youth centers, and other institutions. The sessions can take place under the big top in La Chaize-le-Vicomte or directly at the partner organization's location.

Different formats can be built around these projects: introduction to circus arts, internship, end-of-internship show, intervention by professional artists, makeup or other entertainment.

The adapted circus

The adapted circus constitutes a particularly important aspect of the educational project.

For several years, the École de Cirque 85 and the Cirque Micheletty have been developing projects around the theme " circus and disability " with medico-social establishments in the territory as well as with ULIS and UEMA classes.

Circus disciplines are then used as an educational and recreational tool .

• The exercises are adapted to the abilities of the participants in order to work in particular on motor skills , coordination and physical abilities .
• The practice also allows for the stimulation of reproduction, memorization, imagination and cognitive abilities.

Play occupies a central place in these sessions in order to limit situations of failure and to associate progress with pleasure.

The school also places particular importance on creating a safe environment and establishing a relationship of trust, allowing each participant to engage at their own pace.

This experience with different audiences makes adapted circus a true component of the Circus School 85 and not just an occasional intervention.

Entertainment and big top

The organization also develops various entertainment services.

She can offer circus workshops, makeup, visual entertainment and mini-shows for community, private or professional events.

The big top itself is part of the project. It serves as the main venue for classes, workshops and performances and can also be rented out for certain events.

A school with multiple dimensions

Circus School 85 thus combines several complementary dimensions: regular amateur practice, family transmission of circus arts, improvement, creation of shows, holiday courses, specialized workshops, external interventions and adapted circus.

A child can start there from the age of 3 with Baby Circus, continue in mixed classes, discover different land and aerial disciplines and gradually participate in the school's shows.

Teenagers and adults also have regular practice opportunities, while parent-child formats allow for family discovery.

The presence of the Micheletty Circus and professional artists around the school finally helps to maintain a direct link with the world of entertainment.

Established in La Chaize-le-Vicomte since 2009 , the École de Cirque 85 is an amateur school under a big top offering a practice open to particularly diverse audiences, from early childhood to adults and people with disabilities.