Escola de Circ de La Bisbal d'Empordà

The Escola de Circ de La Bisbal d'Empordà is a socio-educational circus school located in La Bisbal d'Empordà, in the province of Girona in Catalonia.

It is supported by the Associació Fira de Circ , which also organizes the Fira de Circ al Carrer de La Bisbal d'Empordà, one of the historic events of contemporary circus in Catalonia.

History and origins

The school's history begins in 2010 with the creation of the Fem Circ project.

The aim of this initiative was to develop circus training in the region and to encourage new audiences to discover and practice circus arts.

The project constitutes the first step towards the creation of a true circus school in La Bisbal d'Empordà.

A practice accessible to all

Since its inception, the school has sought to make the practice accessible to different sectors of the population.

She works particularly with children , teenagers and families .

Its activity goes beyond just circus classes, as it also develops interventions in schools and institutes in the municipality.

The circus thus becomes an educational tool that can be used directly in the school setting.

A methodology based on participation

The school develops a methodology based on participation , integration and the creation of new educational and collective experiences .

The goal is not just to learn circus techniques.

• The practice also helps to develop creativity and body expression .
• The activities promote perseverance and the ability to progress in the face of difficulty.
• Self-improvement is one of the values developed during learning.
• Personal and collective commitment also constitutes an important dimension of pedagogy.

A multidisciplinary approach

Students discover different families of circus disciplines in a multidisciplinary approach.

• Acrobatics is one of the techniques regularly featured in the school's activities.
• Aerial disciplines are also offered in various workshops.
• Juggling helps develop coordination, concentration and object manipulation.
• The balances complement this discovery of the main families of the circus.

The program may change depending on the groups, projects and artists involved.

A close link with the Fira de Circ al Carrer

The school maintains a particularly close relationship with the Fira de Circ al Carrer .

Each year, this festival transforms the streets and squares of La Bisbal d'Empordà into performance spaces dedicated to contemporary circus.

This proximity allows students to develop in an environment directly connected to professional creation and distribution.

They can discover artists and companies from Catalonia, the rest of Spain and different countries.

The Fira program includes shows featuring acrobatics, juggling, clowning, trapeze, rope, Chinese pole, hand-to-hand and various forms of contemporary circus.

Discovery workshops also allow the public to practice certain disciplines.

A theatrical dimension for students

The school itself participates in the festival's programming.

Students can present the work done during the year as part of a Mostra de Circ .

• This presentation adds a theatrical dimension to the learning process.
• She also creates opportunities for students from other Catalan circus schools to meet .
• The circus thus becomes a way to link training , amateur practice and live performance .

Creating new audiences

This relationship with Fira also helps to raise awareness among new audiences.

One of the historical objectives of the project is indeed to contribute to the creation of new audiences for the circus.

The school thus participates in the dissemination and recognition of the circus as a fully-fledged artistic discipline .

A local and community dimension

The local and community dimension is particularly important.

The project is part of a desire to develop a circus that is accessible and close to the local population .

Interventions in schools allow us to reach children and teenagers who would not necessarily spontaneously attend a circus school.

Activities aimed at families also create spaces for intergenerational practice.

The project thus promotes encounters around a physical , artistic and collective activity.

A comprehensive project: training, creation and dissemination

The Associació Fira de Circ is also developing other actions in support of the professional sector.

It notably hosts artist residencies .

These residencies offer artists spaces for creation and also seek to develop relationships between artistic projects and the local population.

The association thus acts simultaneously in the fields of training , creation and dissemination .

This complementarity gives the school a particularly rich environment.

The students discover the circus in a community where circus arts are present throughout the year and become particularly visible during the Fira.

The Escola de Circ de La Bisbal d'Empordà thus contributes to passing on the circus arts to new generations while developing creativity , body expression , autonomy , perseverance and collective commitment .

Today it constitutes one of the permanent components of the cultural project developed around the Fira de Circ and actively participates in the establishment of contemporary circus in the territory of La Bisbal d'Empordà.