Funámbola – Escuela y Espacio de Circo

Funámbola is a school, association and space dedicated to circus arts located in Huércal de Almería, Andalusia.

The project was born in October 2017 from the desire of a group of practitioners and artists to create in the Almería region a true place dedicated to the new circus.

The goal was to have a space where people could learn, teach, train, create, experiment and share the different circus disciplines.

Funámbola has gradually developed as a stage laboratory open to both beginners and experienced practitioners.

Children, teenagers and adults can now discover and practice circus arts there.

The children's circus school

The children's circus school is one of the association's main activities .

Even the youngest children can start from the age of three thanks to circus motor skills classes.

Aimed at children aged three to five, this activity uses circus tools to develop motor and cognitive skills.

The exercises specifically target orientation, balance, coordination, attention, laterality, and motor control.

Creativity and cognitive flexibility are also among the skills developed.

Children aged six and over can join multidisciplinary circus groups.

• The first group welcomes children aged six to seven.
• Other groups allow children and teenagers aged eight to fifteen to continue their learning.

The courses allow them to discover several major families of circus disciplines.

• Aerial silks are among the techniques offered.
• Aerial hoop is also taught.
• The children are simultaneously discovering juggling and different forms of balance .
• Ground acrobatics is another important element of the training.
• Theatre allows us to complement technical work with an expressive and theatrical approach.

This multidisciplinary training contributes to the development of psychomotor skills, confidence and concentration.

Working together also allows students to learn how to cooperate with other students.

The end-of-year gala

The end of the year is marked by a grand presentation of the work done.

The students are preparing a gala allowing them to showcase their progress in front of their families and the public.

This stage dimension gives an artistic purpose to the learning done during the courses.

Adult classes

Adults also have a wide range of options.

Aerial silks are offered at several levels.

• Beginners and intermediate users can gradually acquire the basic techniques.
• Intermediate and advanced practitioners have access to courses tailored to their experience level.

Aerial work combines strength, flexibility, coordination and creativity.

It also helps to develop confidence and body control.

Aerial hoop is one of the disciplines that can be explored in greater depth.

Straps are also offered to practitioners with the necessary skill level.

The aerial rope complements the diversity of apparatus present in the space.

Acrobatics, juggling and balancing acts

Acrobatics has its own specific courses.

The practice can incorporate various influences from acrodance, capoeira, breakdance and parkour.

This diversity corresponds to the general philosophy of Funámbola, which promotes encounters between different forms of movement.

Juggling also plays an important role.

Balls, diabolo and various forms of object manipulation are part of the venue's universe.

Balances are widely represented.

• The rola-bola allows you to work on coordination and stability.
• The balance ball is another possibility.
• Unicycles and stilts allow us to explore other forms of movement and balance.

Funámbola also has equipment for practicing the Cyr wheel .

The German wheel is also one of the disciplines present in the space.

The clown complements this diversity by introducing a theatrical and expressive dimension.

The variety of practices makes Funámbola a particularly multidisciplinary space.

A place for independent practice

People who frequent the place can be beginners, regular students, independent practitioners or artists.

This diversity promotes the exchange of knowledge and experiences.

Funámbola defines itself as an open, living and dynamic space.

This philosophy was already present when the project was created in 2017.

It continues to guide its associative operations.

A new 600 m² space

The project has reached another important milestone with its installation in Huércal de Almería.

The association has left its former space on Calle Montenegro in Almería to set up a new large hall on Calle Belén.

This move allows Funámbola to have approximately 600 m2 at its disposal.

The new space thus offers an area approximately twice that of the old location.

The association wishes to take advantage of these new opportunities to continue developing its educational and artistic activities.

The development of the site represented an important collective project for the association and its members.

The new space hosted its first major public events at the end of 2025 .

It now constitutes Funámbola's new home.

Open days, workshops and galas

In addition to regular classes, the association organizes open days .

These events allow the public to discover and try out different techniques.

Aerial silks, hoop, juggling, diabolo, balancing and rola-bola are among the disciplines offered during these events.

These days are designed to accommodate different ages and levels of experience.

Funámbola also organizes occasional internships and workshops .

These offerings complement the weekly classes and allow students to discover new disciplines or to deepen their understanding of a particular technique.

Galas play an important role in the life of the place.

They allow students to present their work, but also allow local artists to showcase their creations.

The new space thus hosts acts, shows in development and proposals from circus companies.

In this way, Funámbola contributes to the development of the local circus scene.

A meeting point for the circus community

The place serves as both a learning space and a meeting point for artists from Almería.

• Companies can work on new proposals there.
• The artists have a space to practice.
• Students can interact with more experienced practitioners and discover different forms of circus.
• The public can finally encounter this world through galas, shows and open days.

This interplay between learning, training, creation and presentation is one of the project's distinctive features.

An association, a community

Funámbola operates in an associative form.

Permanent members benefit in particular from access to the training area as well as preferential rates for certain activities.

This model encourages the involvement of practitioners in the life of the place.

The association thus contributes to structuring a Circassian community in the province of Almería.

Funámbola is now identified as one of the circus spaces and schools of Andalusia.

Its development since 2017, its children's school, its adult courses, its open training and its new 600 m2 space make it an important place for circus practice in the region.

The project allows children to start circus arts as early as three years old , to pursue a multidisciplinary practice during childhood and adolescence, and then to specialize or train more autonomously in adulthood.

Funámbola thus combines school, associative practice, training, creation and dissemination in a single space dedicated to circus arts.