Cirqu' Aouette

Presentation

Founded in 1996 , Cirqu'Aouette is a circus school located at 25-27 rue Auguste Lançon, in the 13th arrondissement of Paris . For thirty years, the association has been developing circus arts education open to a very wide audience, from 2-year-old children to adults, while also carrying out projects with schools and specialized institutions.

Cirqu'Aouette defines itself as a school of mixed arts . Its mission is not simply to transmit traditional circus techniques: these are connected to other artistic forms so that each practitioner can gradually develop their own unique language. Circus is thus approached as a living art in which technique, creativity, personality, and expression are inseparable.

The school is affiliated with and accredited by the French Federation of Circus Schools (FFEC) and is part of the FREC Île-de-France. It also holds accreditation for Youth and Popular Education , authorization from the Academic Delegation for Arts and Culture of the Rectorate of Paris, and has the status of a non-profit organization.

Cirqu'Aouette's educational philosophy is summarized by a formula that is particularly important to the association: circus is an art of respect for the individual . Teaching takes into account each person's abilities and limitations. Progress is not based on comparison between practitioners, but on discovering one's own capabilities, the gradual acquisition of techniques, and the development of personal expression.

Practice and disciplines

The proposed approach is decidedly multidisciplinary . The courses allow students to discover the five main areas of focus covered by the school:

• juggling and object manipulation
• balances on objects
• acrobatics
• aerial disciplines
• acting

Juggling is approached with a wide variety of equipment. In its educational projects, Cirqu'Aouette uses, among other things , balls, scarves, clubs, rings, spinning plates, devil sticks, and diabolos . This diversity allows the learning to be adapted to the age, abilities, and desires of the participants while developing coordination, precision, rhythm, and concentration.

Balancing acts on objects allow participants to experiment with balance balls, rolling cylinders, stilts , and various acrobatic devices with two or four wheels. These activities particularly engage proprioception, concentration, and the body's constant adaptation.

Floor acrobatics complements this learning with individual and group exercises. Students work on creating figures, lifts, and human pyramids. Beyond their physical aspects, these practices develop confidence, responsibility, listening skills, and cooperation between partners.

Aerial disciplines also play an important role at Cirqu'Aouette. Specialized classes are offered from age 8, focusing on trapeze, hoop, and aerial silks . These are artistic aerial acrobatics, not flying trapeze: students progressively work on postures, figures, and sequences in a reassuring educational environment.

Path by age

Children entering the world of circus begin very early with parent-child movement workshops for 2-3 year olds . These sessions are designed as moments of discovery, sharing, and exchange between the child and the accompanying adult. The circus environment becomes a playground for exploration, allowing young children to develop their first motor skills.

For 4-5 year olds , the discovery of circus arts is closely linked to morphological and psychomotor development. Play occupies a central place: the situations offered allow children to experiment, express themselves and create in an atmosphere of trust.

From age 6 , the initiation becomes progressively more structured. Children aged 6-9 participate in weekly 90-minute workshops, while those aged 10 and up benefit from two-hour sessions. Circus techniques and artistic development are explored simultaneously so that each individual can flourish without judgment or comparison.

This progression leads to the creation of genuine circus acts . The children's classes culminate in an end-of-year show presented in a dedicated performance hall. This performance represents the culmination of the teaching cycle: the students not only demonstrate the skills learned throughout the year, but also discover creation, staging, and audience interaction.

Teenagers can continue this multidisciplinary practice or delve deeper into aerial acrobatics . A specific course also brings together teenagers aged 14 and over and adults around aerial disciplines.

Adult classes are open to amateur practitioners and include acrobatics, object balancing, trapeze, hoop, and aerial silks. The instruction combines circus arts discovery, versatile physical conditioning, muscle strengthening, and postural stretching. The goal is to practice for enjoyment while progressively exploring the possibilities of one's own body.

During school holidays, Cirqu'Aouette supplements its regular classes with workshops and camps . Multidisciplinary workshops allow children to discover or delve deeper into various circus arts, while specialized aerial acrobatics workshops are available for teenagers and adults.

School and cultural activities

Another essential dimension of the project concerns schools . Cirqu'Aouette is a recognized partner in the development of educational discovery and initiation programs in circus arts and techniques for children from preschool age 4 and elementary school students.

These school projects can involve:

• ground acrobatics, lifts and pyramids
• balances on objects
• juggling and object manipulation
• acting and clowning

The school can also set up a real circus tent on its premises . For a week, the children practice circus arts under the big top before putting on a show for their parents. This format offers a particularly immersive experience and brings the world of the circus directly into the school.

Cirqu'Aouette has also developed the project "L'Art fait son Cirque" (Art Makes its Circus) , which establishes an original dialogue between circus arts and visual arts. Created at the initiative of Isabelle Martinez, president of the association and in charge of educational activities at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris), this program uses the physical experience of the circus to explore artistic concepts such as balance, rhythm, color, space, and the figure of the clown.

Thus, an experiment in balancing on a ball or roller can lead to a plastic exploration of mobiles; the gestures of juggling with balls, rings, clubs, scarves, diabolo or Chinese plates can be transposed into a search around rhythm and trace; the clown, for its part, becomes a starting point for exploring characters, materials, colors and art history.

This openness to other disciplines fully corresponds to the identity of "mixed arts" claimed by Cirqu'Aouette and makes it possible to make the circus a true tool for artistic and cultural education .

Adapted circus and social action

Finally , adapted circus arts constitute one of the historical and fundamental pillars of the school. Since its inception, Cirqu'Aouette has worked with specialized institutes and establishments to make circus arts accessible to people who are dependent on or distanced from culture.

The goal is not to erase differences but to see them as an asset. Projects are developed jointly with professionals from the institutions involved and experienced facilitators from Cirqu'Aouette. Artistic, technical, and human situations are adapted to foster new sensory and emotional experiences.

In this context, circus arts become a means of development:

• motor, cognitive and creative abilities
• spatial awareness
• confidence and self-awareness and awareness of others

The physical and psychological safety of participants is an integral part of project development.

Cirqu'Aouette also works with other communities and can develop tailor-made projects with organizations and works councils. Circus-themed birthday parties are also offered for children, featuring activities such as tightrope walking, balance ball, rolling cylinders, acrobatics, partner acrobatics, pyramids, juggling, trapeze, and aerial silks .

Balance sheet

Through this diversity of activities, Cirqu'Aouette has become a particularly comprehensive circus school in Paris . From physical awakening for 2-year-olds to adult classes, from juggling to aerial acrobatics, from student shows to school projects under the big top, the association builds a true continuity between technical learning, artistic expression and popular education.

Its historical commitment to adapted circus , its work with the National Education system and Parisian cultural institutions and its constant desire to respect the abilities and limitations of each individual give Cirqu'Aouette a strong identity: that of a school where the circus is at once a physical practice, an artistic language, a tool for meeting and a means of allowing everyone to discover and express their own possibilities.