InStabile – Culture in Movimento / InStabile Chapiteau

InStabile – Culture in Movimento is a cultural space dedicated to contemporary circus and live arts located in Florence, Tuscany.

Located on the banks of the Arno, under the Varlungo bridge, the project notably includes a real big top dedicated to shows and artistic activities.

InStabile does not define itself solely as a circus school.

It is a multidisciplinary cultural center combining training, artistic programming, shows, events and community life.

However, contemporary circus occupies a central place in its identity.

The venue regularly hosts professional artists and companies.

Contemporary circus and street theatre performances are programmed throughout the season.

A training activity

Alongside this distribution activity, InStabile is developing a genuine training program.

Weekly classes are offered to children and teenagers.

Activities aimed at adults complement the program.

The center also organizes occasional internships and seminars allowing for in-depth study of different disciplines.

The training is provided by artists and teachers with professional and pedagogical experience in Italy and abroad.

2025-2026 Season: Classes under the Big Top

For the 2025-2026 season, InStabile explicitly announces the resumption of its training activities under the big top.

The program includes several courses dedicated to circus arts.

Circummotor activity

Circummotor skills constitute one of the first levels offered to young children.

The Circo-Motricità Materne course allows the youngest children to gradually discover the circus arts through movement and play.

The teaching approach then prioritizes motor development.

Coordination, balance, spatial awareness and body awareness can be addressed through various playful situations.

A multidisciplinary practice

The children then grow up towards a more multidisciplinary practice.

InStabile offers several slots for Circo Pluridisciplinare .

These courses allow young participants to discover different families of circus arts rather than immediately specializing in a single apparatus.

The diversity of techniques is an important characteristic of this approach.

Students can experiment with different forms of manipulation, balance, and acrobatics.

Juggling

Juggling also has its own course.

The current program includes a Giocoleria e Contact workshop.

Participants can thus deepen their object manipulation and contact juggling skills.

This specialization complements the multidisciplinary courses.

The educational project

InStabile's educational project is largely based on experimentation.

The circus is not considered solely as a physical activity.

It also constitutes an artistic language.

Students can learn to develop their creativity and their own way of expressing themselves.

The collective dimension also plays an important role.

Circus practice promotes observation, mutual support and cooperation.

Family Circus

InStabile is also developing family activities.

The program notably includes Family Circus .

This formula allows children and adults to share the circus experience.

It helps to make the circus tent a space for practice open to different generations.

Links with other circus structures

The venue also has a close relationship with other circus schools and artists in the Florentine region.

Julien Morot is involved in particular in multidisciplinary circus and circus motor skills courses.

He is also the artistic director of Passe-Passe , a circus school in the Florentine area.

This movement of educators and artists creates links between the different circus projects in the region.

Passe-Passe also regularly presents his creations at InStabile.

The big top thus constitutes a meeting place between training and dissemination.

Young practitioners can learn a discipline and then discover professional shows in the same cultural environment.

This proximity to the scene is a particular strength of the project.

The artistic program

InStabile's programming includes a wide variety of disciplines.

Juggling is regularly featured.

Clowning and physical theatre are among the forms that are welcomed.

Aerial disciplines are also featured in the program.

The Chinese pole was presented under the big top.

Aerial rope is also among the programmed disciplines.

Artists from prestigious professional schools like the FLIC in Turin come to present their creations.

This program allows students to discover the diversity of contemporary circus today.

InStabile also develops morning sessions specifically designed for schools.

Young people can thus discover live performance in a real big top.

The project therefore goes beyond the scope of just weekly classes.

Cultural mediation and artistic discovery are an integral part of its activity.

Workshops and a multidisciplinary approach

The venue also hosts workshops.

These workshops can cover circus arts, but also theatre, dance, music, movement or other physical practices.

The approach is intentionally multidisciplinary.

Circus can thus engage in dialogue with dance.

Physical theatre can meet juggling.

Movement and music can be integrated into the creative process.

A place open to professionals

InStabile also welcomes professionals.

The site presents its training program as accessible at different levels, from beginners to professionals, depending on the activities offered.

The venue therefore also provides a space for artists to explore or experiment with certain practices.

However, this is not a professional circus school in the sense of a structured higher education program.

InStabile does not currently offer professional training comparable to that of FLIC or other higher education institutions.

Its function is different.

The big top is more of a place for continuing education , experimentation, meeting and dissemination.

This position allows it to welcome very different audiences.

• Beginners can discover a discipline.
• Children can attend regular classes.
• Experienced artists can participate in certain workshops.
• Professionals are welcome to come and present their work.

A multidisciplinary cultural center

The cultural dimension of the place is particularly important.

InStabile theatre program.

Dancing is part of his activity.

World music also occupies an important place.

Lindy hop and tap dance are taught.

African dances accompanied by live percussion are also on the program.

This diversity gives the place a much broader identity than a traditional circus school.

The big top functions as a true space for cultural encounters.

Values and projects in the territory

InStabile explicitly claims values of hospitality and openness.

The project focuses on interculturality.

Social inclusion is among the themes announced.

Equal opportunities are also an important focus.

Environmental sustainability complements this approach.

These orientations are reflected in several projects carried out in the Florentine territory.

InStabile participates in initiatives aimed at developing access to culture and the performing arts in different neighborhoods.

The Fuori del Centro project is an example.

He seeks to create new opportunities for growth, socialization and sharing through artistic practices.

Contemporary circus performances are offered within this framework.

Events are sometimes free to make them more accessible to residents.

InStabile thus develops a concept of the circus tent as a place open to its territory.

Contemporary circus and interdisciplinary connections

Professional programming plays an important role in this process.

The public can discover contemporary forms sometimes far removed from the traditional image of the circus.

The shows frequently combine several disciplines.

Juggling, physical theatre, clowning and dance can coexist in the same creation.

Aerial disciplines can intersect with contemporary dance.

The Chinese pole can be used in a show combining acrobatics and comedic improvisation.

This diversity directly enriches the artistic environment in which the students develop.

The venue also allows partner circus schools to present their creations.

Passe-Passe, for example, presented a creation bringing together sixteen young artists at InStabile.

The show combined trapeze, aerial silks, unicycle, acrobatics and tightrope walking.

These collaborations reinforce InStabile's role as a meeting point for contemporary Florentine circus.

The marquee is therefore not simply intended to provide a room for classes.

It creates an environment in which practice, performance and cultural life are directly linked.

• Students can attend the venue every week.
• They can attend performances.
• They can meet artists.
• They can discover disciplines different from those they themselves practice.

This proximity to professional creation is a particularly interesting element for the circus culture of young practitioners.

A place, an identity

InStabile also possesses a strong sense of place.

The marquee set up near the Arno creates a very different environment from a classic gym.

The presence of a genuine performance space constantly reminds us of the artistic dimension of the disciplines taught.

The activity also extends outdoors.

Depending on the season, InStabile uses its open-air space to host shows and events.

The project therefore adapts to the different periods of the year.

The 2025-2026 cultural season confirms the continuity of the project.

Circus classes have resumed.

Professional programming continues.

Contemporary circus performances are announced several times a month.

The weekly classes also allow for the maintenance of a regular educational activity.

InStabile and Passe-Passe: two complementary structures

InStabile thus represents a particularly interesting place to discover circus arts in Florence.

Its identity differs from a traditional school like Passe-Passe.

Passe-Passe is first and foremost a school structured around circus pedagogy.

InStabile is first and foremost a cultural venue and a big top that has a genuine training activity.

The two structures are therefore complementary rather than competitive .

For the NetJuggler directory

According to the NetJuggler directory, InStabile deserves its own entry because of the regularity of its circus classes and its important role in the dissemination of contemporary circus in Florence.

Circomotricity, multidisciplinary circus, juggling and contact are the disciplines currently best documented in its regular program.

Family Circus completes the offering.

Internships and workshops allow for the occasional expansion of the practices offered.

Finally, the programming of shows, school interventions and cultural and social projects give InStabile a particularly rich dimension.

The venue creates a true bridge between circus initiation, regular practice, encounters with artists and the discovery of professional performance.