LE CLOUE – The Loue Circus School

LE CLOUE — The Loue Circus School

Founded in 2020 in Quingey, Doubs, LE CLOUE – L'École de Cirque de la Loue (The Loue Circus School) promotes the practice and discovery of circus arts in the Loue-Lison region. The association offers weekly classes, workshops during school holidays, and outreach programs for schools, social and medical facilities, and other local audiences.

LE CLOUE 's project goes beyond simply teaching circus techniques. The association aims to raise awareness, introduce, and train all audiences in circus arts and emerging cultures, as well as participate in the creation and dissemination of live performance. Its project encourages cross-pollination between circus and other art forms such as dance, theater, music, and visual arts.

Public and regular classes

Regular classes currently welcome children from age 4, teenagers up to age 17, and adults. The teaching methods evolve gradually with age. For the youngest children, learning is largely based on play, imagination, experimentation, and exploring the equipment. Children learn to try, fail, try again, and progress in an environment where curiosity and the joy of practice are paramount.

From the age of 7, students experience all the major circus disciplines and begin to develop a more collective understanding of the practice. Individual progress is valued while learning to practice and create with others.

Among 10-13 year olds, expression and creativity gradually take on greater importance. Young people discover their technical affinities, learn to make choices, and experiment with different research and creation methods in order to build a more personal practice.

For teenagers aged 13 to 17, the work combines physical strengthening, flexibility, multidisciplinary practice, in-depth study of chosen techniques, and creative expression. Artistic encounters and exchanges enrich their research and can lead to the presentation of trials or more developed works to an audience.

Adults' Area

LE CLOUE also offers a space for adults. This program combines group warm-up, circus games, cool-down, and independent practice. It allows adults of varying experience levels to have a dedicated space for practicing circus arts each week.

Internships during school holidays

During school holidays, the school organizes workshops specifically for children and families. The parent-child workshops welcome children aged 2-6 and allow adults and children to discover together the different branches of circus arts.

The workshops for 4-6 year olds explore the following disciplines. Imagination and storytelling are used as teaching tools. The workshops for 7-12 year olds allow participants to discover different disciplines and then delve deeper into those they find particularly interesting.

• balances
• juggling
• acrobatics
• the carried
• the clown
• various circus games

Aerial disciplines and swinging trapeze

Aerial disciplines occupy an important place in the history of the school. Trapeze, aerial silks and rope have been taught in particular during courses and workshops, and the association has been able to install a specialized rig in the Quingey gymnasium.

LE CLOUE also offers a unique activity centered around the swinging trapeze. Introductory sessions have been organized since the association's early years, in partnership with the company La Mal Lunée . This spectacular aerial discipline is offered to both beginners and experienced practitioners during dedicated sessions.

Territorial interventions and action

The school also has a genuine outreach program outside of its regular classes. It develops tailor-made projects in school, extracurricular, and medical-social settings to adapt the introduction of circus arts to the characteristics of the different groups involved.

This territorial dimension is important in the association's project. LE CLOUE seeks to make circus arts accessible beyond just the students enrolled for the year and works in various structures in the Loue-Lison area.

The association is also considering a form of traveling school under a big top. This approach aligns with its goal of developing mobile projects and bringing circus arts closer to the inhabitants of a largely rural area.

Creation, distribution and events

Creation and dissemination are now integral parts of its mission. LE CLOUE aims to foster connections between amateur practice and professional performance and develops partnerships with companies and other players in the performing arts.

This dimension was particularly evident in 2025 , on the occasion of the school's fifth anniversary. LE CLOUE organized a circus festival in Quingey under a big top, bringing together, among others:

• the Pourquoi Pas collective
• the Merci Laratrappe collective
• The Butler Company
• the Kadavresky company

The event thus brought together students, residents and professional artists around contemporary circus.

LE CLOUE also provides occasional support for professional creation. For example, the organization is among the supporters of the show "Dans l'ombre des oiseaux" by the Kadavresky company, a street circus creation combining Chinese pole, aerial straps, clowning and live music.

2026-2027 Season

The holiday camps are also being renewed in 2026-2027, with parent-child options for 2-6 year olds as well as specific camps for 4-6 year olds and 7-12 year olds.

LE CLOUE is thus a young circus school particularly rooted in its territory. In a few years, it has developed regular courses, family workshops, aerial disciplines, school and medico-social interventions, artistic partnerships and a professional showcase event.

In Quingey and more broadly across the Loue-Lison region, its project combines technical training, creativity, imagination, group practice, and an openness to live performance. From first circus experiences with families to independent adult practice, the association seeks to make circus arts accessible to diverse audiences while actively participating in local cultural life.