Circus & Percussion

Circus & Percussion

Cirque & Percussions, also known as C&P, is a Parisian association dedicated to the transmission and amateur practice of circus arts. Located in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, it has been offering regular workshops, training courses, and creative projects for over thirty years, allowing children, teenagers, and adults to discover or deepen their knowledge of various circus disciplines.

The association was born from the meeting of trapeze artist Joce Pez and percussionist Frédéric Firmin. Their initial project was to allow children and teenagers to discover circus arts, drums, and percussion. Eric Savoyaud then supported the development of the organization, notably by serving as its president.

Over the years, Cirque & Percussions has grown and opened up to new audiences. Workshops for adults and families have complemented the activities for children and teenagers, while many artists and educators have contributed to the project's development.

Multidisciplinary practice

Today, the association offers a multidisciplinary approach to circus arts. Participants can discover and explore different disciplines:

• acrobatics
• juggling
• the balances
• aerial disciplines
• flexibility
• acting
• body expression

Aerial disciplines

Aerial disciplines occupy an important place in the teaching. Depending on the groups and instructors present, practitioners can work on the trapeze, silks, rope and aerial hoop.

Balances

Balance is also explored in various forms, including work on tightrope and objects. These techniques help develop balance, concentration, coordination, and body control.

Juggling, acrobatics and flexibility

Juggling complements this training and allows for the exploration of object manipulation, rhythm, and coordination. Acrobatics and flexibility training simultaneously provide an important physical foundation for many other disciplines.

One of the distinctive features of Cirque & Percussions is its integration of acting and expression into technical training. Circus practice is therefore not viewed solely as the successive acquisition of moves: the techniques learned gradually become tools for constructing an act and developing stage presence.

Course locations and organization

Regular classes are held primarily at the Ronsard Gymnasium in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. Groups are formed by age range so that the content and pace of the sessions can be adapted to the participants.

• For the 2026-2027 season, children as young as 4 can start. A Wednesday workshop welcomes children aged 4 to 7.
• The Sunday workshops are divided into several groups: 5-7 years , 7-11 years , teenagers 12-17 years and adults .
• The Sunday workshops represent approximately twenty to twenty-five sessions during the season, depending on the gymnasium's availability schedule.
• The sessions last between one and a half hours and two hours depending on the group.

Children aged 5 to 7 participate in an introductory workshop, while older groups enjoy longer sessions that allow them to gradually explore the different disciplines in greater depth. Teenagers can enroll in an advanced workshop, giving them more time to develop their technique and begin building a more personal style. Adults also have dedicated time slots, allowing them to discover or rediscover circus arts in an environment where various skill levels can coexist.

Internships

In addition to regular workshops, Cirque & Percussions organizes intensive courses. Some take the form of one-off four-hour courses held on Sundays, while others take place over several days during school holidays.

• Holiday camps are multidisciplinary and generally begin with a warm-up and acrobatic work.
• Participants experiment with different techniques: balance ball, tightrope walking, juggling, clowning, etc.
• Learning is built up gradually to allow for discovery or improvement.
• Creativity plays an important role: imagining sequences, building short acts and sometimes concluding with a presentation.

This dimension of creation and performance is one of the historical characteristics of Cirque & Percussions. From its foundation, the association did not only want to introduce its members to circus techniques: it also wanted to allow them to participate in real performance projects.

The performances are integrated into the educational program. Throughout the season, students learn to transform their technical skills into stage proposals and then to connect them in a collective creation. The acts may be linked by a story, music, and a shared staging. The show thus becomes the result of a collaborative effort in which everyone must find their place.

The performance also allows one to discover a different dimension of circus practice: rehearsing, memorizing a sequence, taking into account other artists, entering the ring and sharing one's work with an audience.

The association has extensive experience in this field and has developed various collective creations throughout its history. It also supports the creation and production of circus shows in Paris and other French regions.

Teaching staff

• Elena Taraimovitch — Head of Education, specializing in acrobatics and balancing on wires and objects. Trained at the Moscow Circus School, she also has a career as an artist in acrobatics, flexibility, and hula-hoop.
• Marina Golovinskaia works in the fields of acrobatics and aerial disciplines, particularly trapeze and silks. Trained at the Moscow Circus School, she won a gold medal at the 1990 World Festival of the Circus of Tomorrow for a flying trapeze act.
• Mariana Conti Arguello — specializing in trapeze dance, as well as other artists and educators occasionally associated with the school's activities.

The presence of professional artists allows amateur practitioners to benefit from instruction directly informed by stage and performance experience. Since the instructors themselves may be involved in professional productions and performances, the teaching team may change occasionally throughout the year. The association then organizes its operations to ensure the continuity of the workshops.

Cirque & Percussions thus possesses an identity situated at the intersection of a recreational school and an artistic project. Students primarily come to practice circus arts as amateurs, but the learning process maintains a strong connection with creation, staging, and performance before an audience.

This approach allows participants to gradually discover several dimensions of the circus: the pleasure of learning a new technique, the satisfaction of progressing, the relationship with other practitioners and finally the transformation of learning into an artistic proposition.

After more than thirty years of activity, Cirque & Percussions continues to transmit the circus arts in the north of Paris by bringing together children, teenagers and adults around a multidisciplinary practice.

• Acrobatics
• Juggling
• Balances
• Airlines
• Stage performance