El Circo Fiasco – Puurs-Sint-Amands / Oppuurs

El Circo Fiasco is a circus workshop located in Oppuurs , in the municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands , in the heart of the Klein-Brabant region.

A story born around juggling

The history of the structure began in 2007 with a group of juggling enthusiasts.

Originally, a few friends used to meet up to juggle in a park. Their practice attracted the attention of families, and parents began asking them if they also gave lessons.

These requests gradually gave rise to the idea of developing a real circus workshop.

El Circo Fiasco thus began to organize activities allowing children to discover the different circus techniques.

In 2015 , the project was officially structured as a non-profit association.

A circus school and its disciplines

For several years, El Circo Fiasco developed a genuine circus school activity with weekly classes.

The workshop welcomed around fifty members and offered a practice accessible from the age of four .

Participants were able to discover several major families of circus arts.

• Juggling naturally occupies an important place in the history of the association since it was around this practice that the project was initially born.
• Unicycling is also one of the workshop's key disciplines. Participants can thus progressively develop balance , coordination , and control of their movements .
• Acrobatics and various balancing techniques complement this multidisciplinary approach to the circus.

A philosophy open to all

El Circo Fiasco's philosophy is above all to show how the circus can be fun , stimulating and accessible .

The association caters to children but also to adults and aims to allow as many people as possible to experience circus arts.

A variety of activities, including itinerant ones

As it developed, El Circo Fiasco organized courses , holiday workshops , introductory workshops , shows and various activities .

The organization also operates outside its place of activity.

It can offer workshops in schools, at local events or as part of events wishing to include an introduction to circus arts.

This itinerant dimension allows the association to reach an audience far exceeding the inhabitants of Oppuurs alone.

El Circo Fiasco operates in various regions of Flanders as well as in Brussels .

A foothold in the Flemish amateur circus network

The association has also participated in projects with other small Flemish circus schools.

In particular, she collaborated with Sarakasi and De Vliegende Mier on a project aimed at offering more opportunities to teenagers practicing circus arts and encouraging their development towards support and mentoring roles.

This dimension illustrates El Circo Fiasco's desire to become part of the wider Flemish amateur circus network .

A recent development in the situation

However, the situation in the workshop has changed in recent years.

Like many small Flemish circus schools lacking significant structural funding, El Circo Fiasco has encountered difficulties in maintaining its weekly educational operation.

The regular courses that historically formed the core of its activity have finally been discontinued .

However, the association has not disappeared.

El Circo Fiasco continues to organize circus activities in other forms, including internships , initiations , one-off workshops and entertainment .

The structure is still identified by Circuscentrum as a circus workshop of the Flemish landscape.

El Circo Fiasco can also be found in recent events where the team offers the public the opportunity to discover and try different circus techniques.

For families in Klein-Brabant, the structure remains an interesting address to follow for internships , workshops , holiday camps and introductory days .

With nearly twenty years of existence , its roots in Oppuurs and its continuous presence in the network of Flemish circus workshops, El Circo Fiasco remains an actor in the transmission of circus arts in the Puurs-Sint-Amands region.