Die ZirkusAkademie – Friedrichshafen & Tettnang

Die ZirkusAkademie is a circus school located in Friedrichshafen and Tettnang, in Baden-Württemberg, near Lake Constance.

The current structure was created in 2014 from the merger of Zirkusschule Papillon and Jugendvarieté Kraball . It is legally supported by the Förderverein Theatertage am See Friedrichshafen eV , an association also behind the Theatertage am See festival.

Under the motto " Vom Zirkuskind zum Artisten " – from circus child to artist –, the school accompanies young people in a progressive discovery of the many circus disciplines.

Regular classes allow circus arts to be practiced throughout the school year. Groups are formed according to age in order to adapt the learning and technical requirements to the development of the participants.

Acrobatics forms one of the foundations of the teaching. Students develop their physical abilities, balance and strength while discovering teamwork, particularly through the construction of human pyramids.

Juggling also plays an important role. Students can manipulate scarves, balls, rings and clubs, but also discover the diabolo, the devil stick, batons or poi.

The disciplines of balance complement this multidisciplinary approach.

The unicycle, the rola-bola and the balance ball allow, in particular, the development of precision, coordination, concentration and body control.

Aerial arts are also part of the ZirkusAkademie program.

Specific workshops and training courses allow for further exploration of these disciplines, particularly through work on the trapeze and various forms of aerial acrobatics.

Clowning adds a theatrical dimension to learning.

The young people discover how to play with the audience, stage presence and character development, so that technical mastery can gradually become a real performance act.

The school also covers some more unusual techniques from traditional circus, such as fakir arts , in a strictly supervised educational setting and with particular attention paid to safety.

One of the distinctive features of the ZirkusAkademie is to consider the circus as a genuine educational tool .

Technical progress is important, but it is not considered the sole objective.

The school also seeks to develop the personality, creativity, autonomy and self-confidence of children and adolescents.

Each participant is encouraged to find the discipline and role in which they can express themselves.

This diversity allows some to flourish in juggling or acrobatics while others discover themselves more in aerial disciplines, balance or clowning.

The collective dimension is just as important.

Children learn to listen to others, to help each other, to trust each other and to build acts together.

The most experienced also participate in the transmission .

Young people with several years of experience can mentor younger children and share with them the techniques they have already mastered.

This approach allows teenagers to gradually develop educational skills and responsibilities within the group.

The stage is another essential component of the project.

Students participate in numerous performances throughout the year and can present the disciplines and acts they have worked on during classes to an audience.

ZirkusAkademie thus develops shows ranging from classical circus to variety shows, also incorporating theatre, characters and humour.

The company has particular experience in fire and light shows .

In addition to weekly classes, the school organizes internships and workshops during the holidays as well as more specialized training courses.

It also works in schools, kindergartens, facilities for people with disabilities, leisure centers and other institutions.

These projects can take place over one or more days and result in the collective creation of a circus performance.

ZirkusAkademie also develops inclusive and intercultural projects.

Children from different schools can thus come together around the practice of circus arts, learn together and create group acts.

The pedagogy then deliberately uses circus arts as a means of meeting: juggling together, building a pyramid, balancing on a ball, practicing poi or discovering the trapeze become all opportunities to cooperate.

The school also maintains close ties with the Theatertage am See in Friedrichshafen.

This festival dedicated to amateur and school theatre has existed since 1984 and also offers training courses dedicated to circus, movement, clowning and performing arts.

The ZirkusAkademie is thus situated at the intersection of circus school, artistic education and stage creation.

Thanks to its regular courses, workshops, shows, school projects and its work around the transmission between young practitioners, it now constitutes an important structure for the amateur practice of circus arts in the Friedrichshafen and Tettnang region.