Honnelles Circus School

The Honnelles Circus School is a Centre for Expression and Creativity located in Onnezies, a village in the commune of Honnelles, in the heart of the Haut-Pays natural park. Situated in a rural setting, it has been developing for several decades a project combining the learning of circus techniques , artistic expression and personal development .

The school was founded by Guy Hénaut with the aim of creating a space where circus arts would be accessible to as many people as possible. A former auto mechanics workshop was thus transformed to house circus activities.

The project is part of the legacy of the "New Circus," a movement that helped open up the teaching of circus disciplines beyond families traditionally associated with the circus. In Honnelles, the circus is primarily considered a powerful tool for expression , creativity , and personal development .

Circummotor skills from age 3

The discovery begins as early as age 3 thanks to circus-based activities . These workshops, specially adapted for the youngest children, combine games , movement and techniques inspired by the circus to promote motor, social and cognitive development.

Children can climb, jump, throw, dance, and experiment with different balance and acrobatic situations on the ground. Fixed trapezes, mats, wall bars, balls, hoops, silks, and other equipment allow for the creation of particularly varied courses.

The goal is not to push children to achieve peak performance from a very young age. Activities are presented as games that allow children to gradually discover their bodies, their capabilities, and how they can move in space.

Circus skills workshops

From school age onwards, participants join circus skills workshops . Several groups are offered depending on age in order to progressively support children and then teenagers up to 18 years old.

Learning is organized around three main axes :

• acrobatics and mastery of one's own body;
• balance on different objects;
• juggling or object manipulation.

Acrobatics

Acrobatic training begins with ground-based games that allow individuals to become aware of their bodies, their supports, and their capabilities. It can then progress towards more technical forms of acrobatics, both static and dynamic .

Balancing on Objects

Balancing on objects is another important part of the teaching. The school uses balance balls , barrels , balance boards , and cables to allow participants to develop stability, concentration, and body control.

Juggling and object manipulation

Juggling and object manipulation, on the other hand, develop dexterity , precision of movement , coordination and perseverance .

Historically, the thousands of participants who have passed through the school have also been able to discover tightrope walking , clown acrobatics and various aerial practices .

A human and artistic pedagogy

Technical learning is systematically associated with a human and artistic dimension. The pedagogy favors a playful progression in which the young person initially comes to enjoy practicing before gradually acquiring better self-control.

Theatricalization is also part of this approach. The school does not consider techniques as an end in themselves: they constitute a material that can be transformed into expression and performance.

The practice is not competitive . Participants progress together while retaining their individual strengths and personalities. The goal is therefore not to compare individual performances but to allow each person to find their place within a collective endeavor.

Safety , listening , determination , trust , respect , and solidarity are among the values emphasized in the curriculum. The school summarizes its philosophy by stating that circus arts are an art that must be taught with respect for the individual.

The production group and autonomous training

The most dedicated practitioners can continue their journey within a production group . This benefits from more training time and allows for the development of genuine collective creative work.

The school also provides an independent training slot . Registered participants can thus have additional space to work on their techniques and gradually develop more autonomy in their practice.

Performances play an important role in the project. Each young person is given the opportunity to present the results of their work to an audience, without any spirit of rivalry with other participants.

School internships and interventions

In addition to its annual workshops, the Honnelles Circus School organizes numerous intensive courses during school holidays. These allow children to discover circus skills or various circus techniques in a more intensive format.

The school also intervenes directly in schools . In preschool, it develops circus-based psychomotor projects; in primary and secondary schools, interventions are more focused on learning different circus techniques.

These school projects aim to develop physical control , confidence , perseverance , and group cohesion . The final result may be a group presentation in front of an audience.

Training and outreach to other audiences

The Honnelles Circus School also plays a role in training future educators and teachers who wish to integrate circus techniques into their teaching tools.

His approach has also been used in centers for people with disabilities , demonstrating a willingness to consider circus techniques as educational and expressive tools that can be adapted to different audiences.

With its circus skills from early childhood, its technical workshops for children and teenagers, its production group , its internships , its school interventions and its resolutely non-competitive approach, the Honnelles Circus School constitutes an important structure for the discovery and amateur practice of circus arts in the Haut-Pays.