Cirknos – Scuola di Circo Contemporaneo e Sociale

Cirknos is a contemporary and social circus school located in Lecce , in Puglia , southern Italy.

The school is located within Manifatture Knos, a former vocational training establishment converted into a place for research, creation and cultural participation.

Cirknos fits perfectly into this environment.

The school views the circus simultaneously as a physical practice , an artistic language , an educational tool , and a means of creating relationships .

A non-competitive pedagogy

His educational project is based on a non-competitive approach .

Students are not placed in a constant state of comparison.

Everyone can progress at their own pace according to their abilities, experience and goals.

Physical security is naturally a priority.

But Cirknos also places great importance on emotional safety .

The risk-taking inherent in circus disciplines is accompanied by work on awareness of limits, confidence and respect.

The game is one of the main educational tools.

It allows you to develop technique and physical fitness while maintaining fun, curiosity and creativity.

The Piccolissimi: Circus from age three

The school welcomes children from the age of three .

Piccolissimi has groups specifically adapted for early childhood.

At this age, the circus becomes primarily a field for motor exploration .

• Children develop coordination and balance.
• They learn to better orient themselves in space.
• They discover different objects and motor situations.
• Work also helps to develop imagination and confidence.
• Relationships with others play an important role from these early groups.
• Children gradually learn to participate in a group activity and to respect the boundaries of others.

The following groups allow for a gradual introduction to the different families of circus arts.

A multidisciplinary approach

Cirknos offers a multidisciplinary program for children and teenagers.

Juggling and unicycle

Juggling is one of the major disciplines at the school.

Unicycling is also among the specialties taught by the team.

Balancing and stilts

Balancing acts constitute another important area.

Students learn to manage their posture, center of gravity, and coordination in progressively more complex situations.

Cirknos also has a true specialization in stilt walking .

One of the school's co-founders, Dario Cadei , specializes in balancing and acrobatic stilt walking.

Ground acrobatics and acrobalancing

Ground acrobatics constitutes another major focus.

The school has a specific acrobatics course supervised by both artistic gymnastics teachers and circus trainers.

Participants work on rolls, verticals, cartwheels, jumps, roundoffs and flip-flops.

The progressions are organized to simultaneously develop technique, strength, mobility and safety.

Acrobalance complements this practice.

It allows for the development of support, balance in partnership, trust and cooperation.

Aerial disciplines

Aerial disciplines constitute another important focus of Cirknos.

The school has several weekly slots exclusively dedicated to aerial acrobatics for adults.

The teaching is organized into several levels.

The room is equipped with a large, self-supporting aerial structure allowing for the suspension of several pieces of equipment.

This structure was developed with UOU Aerea .

It allows the training space to be organized without relying solely on permanent anchor points in the building.

Practice spaces

The main room is approximately 200 m2 .

It is equipped for the practice of the main circus families: ground acrobatics, aerial disciplines, juggling and balancing.

The history of this equipment reflects the collective identity of Cirknos.

Initially, the teachers pooled their own trampolines, aerial structures and juggling equipment to gradually build the school.

The equipment was then developed thanks to the support of the students and the growth of the association.

A small marquee, five meters in diameter, now completes the main hall.

It primarily hosts creative laboratories designed for young children.

This small space allows the imagination of the traditional circus to be introduced into an environment adapted to early childhood.

Teenagers

Cirknos also welcomes teenagers.

The school offers them an environment where movement and creativity can be developed without competitive pressure.

Particular attention is paid to this period during which the body changes and the gaze of others can become particularly important.

The technique is being developed gradually.

The circus also becomes a means of expression.

This allows teenagers to strengthen their physical abilities while developing their own artistic identity.

Adults

Adults also have a wide range of options.

The Circo Adulti course welcomes people aged eighteen and over.

Some come to develop a genuine technique.

Others are primarily looking for a creative and social physical activity.

The school allows these two objectives to coexist.

Physical conditioning, technical progressions, figures and combinations are worked on without abandoning the fun and conviviality.

Cirknos also offers several aerial acrobatics courses for adults.

Acrobatic floor classes complement this offering.

Free training allows sufficiently independent practitioners to continue their work outside of supervised classes.

A specific time slot is dedicated to free juggling practice.

Another allows for a more general, independent practice.

The school also has a creative arts course .

This course is designed for teenagers and adults wishing to transform their technical practice into artistic exploration.

It creates a bridge between learning disciplines and building a stage language.

Seniors and families

Cirknos also develops activities aimed at senior citizens.

The Circo Benessere Senior program offers two weekly sessions.

This offer particularly illustrates the school's desire to use circus arts throughout life.

Physical activity is therefore not reserved for children, young people or artists.

The school is also developing Circus Family .

This intergenerational laboratory brings together a child and a reference adult.

This could be a parent, a grandparent, or another person who is important to the child.

The activities are done together.

The goal is not to prepare a performance but to develop relationship, trust, listening and complicity through movement.

For example, carrying and being carried allows one to explore confidence and responsibility.

Physical contact is approached consciously and respectfully.

The social circus, a strong identity

Cirknos also has a particularly strong identity in the field of social circus .

This dimension is not presented as a peripheral activity.

The school officially defines itself as a school of contemporary and social circus .

A specific weekly time slot is dedicated to the Social Circus .

The team also develops inclusive pathways for people with disabilities.

Several teachers have particular experience in this area.

Chiara De Pascalis , co-founder and coordinator of the school, specializes in aerial acrobatics and acrobalance.

She works particularly with young children and in social circus projects.

She also has experience with inclusive pathways for children and adolescents with disabilities.

Nina Raffl specializes in juggling and unicycling.

Her work focuses in particular on early childhood and inclusive pathways for children with disabilities.

Pierluigi , a juggling teacher, also has experience in adapting exercises, pace and equipment to children with different needs.

This collective competence allows Cirknos to claim genuine accessibility .

The school seeks to adapt learning paths rather than impose an identical model on all students.

Accessibility is also considered from an economic point of view.

Cirknos states that it seeks to offer flexible solutions that take into account the possibilities of families and participants.

Circus at school

The school is also developing numerous projects with other educational institutions.

Teachers can intervene directly in schools.

Institutions can also come to Cirknos.

The circus then becomes an educational tool allowing for the simultaneous development of motor skills and relational skills.

Coordination, balance and gross or fine motor skills are developed.

But the courses also work on self-esteem and confidence.

Collaboration and mutual support play an important role.

Students learn to respect the pace of others.

The inclusion of more vulnerable people is explicitly one of the objectives.

The programs can be adapted according to the age of the students, the number of participants and the educational objectives of the institution.

Circo in Natura

Cirknos also offers outdoor experiences.

The Circo in Natura project moves practices into woods, parks, beaches and other natural spaces.

Basic juggling, balance and acrobatics are adapted to the terrain.

The landscape then becomes an element of the experience itself.

Participants must take into account wind, ground, distances, sounds and environment.

This approach allows for the combination of movement, attention, and exploration of the territory.

Networks and events

Cirknos also maintains links with several important Italian networks.

The school works in particular in conjunction with UISP .

It is also connected to AltroCirco , an Italian network dedicated in particular to social circus.

CircoSfera constitutes another reference network for its educational activity.

This registration in several networks allows the team to participate in discussions and training dedicated to educational and social circus.

Cirknos also organizes events.

Cabarets provide a space to showcase different practices and creations.

The school organizes outdoor events and gatherings combining entertainment and socializing.

These activities help to make the school a place of community rather than just a classroom space.

At Knos Manufacture

Its presence at the Knos Manufacturing plant further reinforces this dimension.

The site is the result of the conversion of a former vocational school.

Today it hosts training, research, experimentation and cultural production.

Cirknos is directly involved in this dynamic.

The school can thus create links with other artistic disciplines and with various civic projects.

It is also developing its own technical solutions.

The UOU project focuses in particular on the design of self-supporting structures for aerial acrobatics.

This approach shows how the needs encountered daily in a circus school can lead to the development of new tools.

A circus arts practice center in Lecce

Today, Cirknos is therefore a true center for circus practice in Lecce.

• Children can start there from the age of three.
• Teenagers have access to adapted pathways.
• Adults can practice multidisciplinary circus arts, acrobatics and aerial disciplines.
• Seniors also have a specific program.
• Independent practitioners benefit from free training slots.
• The creative process finally makes it possible to link technique and artistic research.

This particularly wide range of offerings is accompanied by a strong social identity .

Cirknos seeks to make the circus accessible to people with different abilities, ages and backgrounds.

His work with people with disabilities, schools and local communities is an essential dimension of the project.

This combination of technical practice, pedagogy, inclusion, creation and community life makes Cirknos a particularly interesting structure in the circus landscape of southern Italy.