Doudou Circus – Mons Circus School

The Cirque du Doudou is a non-profit circus school located in Ghlin , within the city limits of Mons , Belgium. It offers circus arts training for children, teenagers, and adults, from initial physical exploration to technical development and the creation of shows.

Circus skills: first discovery of the circus

For the youngest children, learning begins with circus-based activities. Designed for children aged 3 and up, this approach combines the child's overall psychomotor development with the playful world of the circus.

Children gradually learn to better understand their bodies in motion through games, courses and various manipulations using hoops, scarves, mini-stilts and balance balls.

This initial discovery allows us to work on coordination , balance , body awareness and confidence while introducing the values that the school wishes to transmit: perseverance, respect, mutual support, cooperation and above all the pleasure of practicing .

Multidisciplinary workshops

Children can then join multidisciplinary circus workshops organized according to their age. There, they gradually discover the different major technical families of circus arts.

Juggling

Juggling plays an important role in this learning process. It helps develop coordination, rhythm, precision, concentration, and control of movement through various manipulation techniques.

The balances

Balance sports are also widely represented. Students can discover unicycles , rola-bola , barrels , balance balls and stilts .

Unicycling can then be the subject of more in-depth learning. Practitioners learn to mount the device, to move around, and then to progressively use their technical skills in exercises and games.

Acrobatics

Acrobatics complements this physical training. Today it is offered in different forms, notably through acrobatic partnering workshops bringing together children, teenagers and adults.

Aerial disciplines

Aerial disciplines are one of the important pillars of the Cirque du Doudou. Several workshops are entirely dedicated to them, allowing students to progress from initiation to advanced levels.

Trapeze and aerial silks are particularly prominent in the teaching. Aerial hoop now complements the programming of some workshops.

The goal is to gradually learn to master height and different figures, then to go beyond purely technical exercises to combine acquired skills and build a performance.

The school also offers a workshop specifically dedicated to the trapeze for young children, allowing for an adapted introduction to this aerial discipline.

The Chinese pole is now one of the disciplines offered by the Cirque du Doudou. This apparatus allows for a further expansion of the technical training offered to students wishing to deepen their practice.

Magic

Another distinctive feature of the school is its teaching of magic . From the age of 10, children can discover different types of tricks using cards, ropes and everyday objects.

Making your own props can be part of this learning process. The goal is to understand the mechanics of magic but also to develop presentation skills, imagination, and the ability to create your own world.

The acting

Acting complements physical and manipulation techniques. It allows practitioners to develop stage presence, confidence, and the ability to present their work in front of an audience.

Adult workshops and creative activities

For older teenagers and adults, the Cirque du Doudou also offers a circus skills workshop . Therefore, the practice doesn't end with childhood and can be continued into adulthood.

Practitioners wishing to delve deeper into creation can join the production-creation workshop . This group works on developing proposals intended for presentation to an audience and participates in external performances.

The stage and the performances

Creation and performance play a significant role in the school's activities. The year is punctuated by various events, including an annual celebration , a cabaret evening , and external performances .

During the annual festival, the different groups present their achievements: circus skills, circus techniques, aerial arts, magic, acrobatics, trapeze, adult workshops and production group thus have a real performance time.

School internships and interventions

In addition to weekly classes, the Cirque du Doudou organizes numerous workshops during school holidays. Some are entirely devoted to circus arts, while others combine circus techniques with a particular theme.

The school also develops interventions in schools . Circus arts are used there both as an artistic practice and as a tool to promote psychomotor development, confidence and cooperation.

The Handicirque

Another particularly important aspect of the project is Handicirque . The Cirque du Doudou welcomes institutions and organizes sessions adapted for people with disabilities.

These workshops can be organized with small groups or individually. The content and objectives are adapted to the abilities and needs of the participants.

The work may focus on balances with pedal boats, balls, barrels or rola-bola, on ground acrobatics and pyramids, on juggling with scarves, balls, plates, diabolos and hoops, but also on acting and aerial disciplines .

Adapted circus arts are used to develop coordination, psychomotor skills, creativity, concentration and precision, but also self-confidence and relationships with others.

The regular Handicirque workshops can also lead to the creation of a show, allowing participants to showcase the skills acquired during the year.

A comprehensive circus school in the Mons region

With a program ranging from circus motor skills from age 3 to adult workshops, specializations in aerial arts, acrobatics, juggling, unicycle, Chinese pole and magic, a production group, internships, school interventions and an important Handicirque component, the Cirque du Doudou constitutes a particularly complete circus school in the Mons region.