Marchin Circus School

The Marchin Circus School is a major amateur circus school located in Marchin, in the province of Liège. Created in 2000 , it has gradually developed into a structure that now welcomes more than 600 children, teenagers and adults each week.

The school offers circus arts training from early childhood and continues to support participants into adulthood. Workshops are organized by age group, allowing participants to progress from initial exploration to advanced techniques and creative development.

A practice from early childhood

For younger children, circus-based motor skills provide a first entry point into the circus. It allows them to develop motor skills, coordination, balance, and body awareness through playful situations adapted to their age.

The multidisciplinary workshops then allow students to discover the different major branches of circus arts. They can experiment with various techniques before gradually developing their preferences.

The major families of circus arts

Juggling and object manipulation

Juggling and object manipulation play an important role in this discovery. Balls, diabolo, and various manipulation techniques help develop coordination, concentration, precision, and perseverance.

The balances

Balance is also a key element in the program offered by the school. Tightrope walking, unicycling, and various balancing exercises allow participants to develop body control, concentration, and confidence.

Acrobatics and acrogym

Acrobatics constitutes another important aspect of the teaching. It can be practiced in different forms and extends in particular through acrogym, which combines body work, collective figures and cooperation between practitioners.

Aerial disciplines

The Marchin Circus School also offers a wide range of aerial disciplines . Trapeze and aerial silks have specific workshops designed to develop strength, flexibility, coordination, and spatial awareness.

The Chinese pole is also among the disciplines taught. Its presence in the program demonstrates the technical diversity offered by the school and allows students to explore a circus discipline requiring strength, body control, and creativity.

A non-competitive, creation-oriented approach

However, teaching is not limited to mastering a series of figures. The Marchin Circus School advocates a non-competitive approach in which techniques gradually become tools for expression and creation.

Creativity thus plays a vital role in the educational project. Participants are encouraged to research, imagine, and build rather than simply reproducing technical exercises.

This approach also seeks to develop perseverance and boldness . Circus allows one to try, to fail, to start again, and to gradually observe one's own progress.

Team spirit is equally important. Many practices require trust, cooperation, and consideration for others, giving learning a strong collective dimension.

Handicirque: an inclusive dimension

The school also develops a significant Handicirque activity. Workshops are offered to people with disabilities in order to make circus practices accessible to audiences with different abilities and needs.

This inclusive dimension is fully part of the structure's project and does not correspond to a one-off activity: the Handicirque workshops are among the school's regular activities .

Internships during school holidays

In addition to its weekly classes, the Marchin Circus School organizes numerous workshops during school holidays. These workshops offer the opportunity to discover the circus arts or to further develop specific techniques.

Multidisciplinary circus workshops are organized specifically for children. Depending on the time of year and the projects, the program may also combine circus arts with a particular discipline or theme.

Latitude 50, Fédécirque and the professional world

The school also maintains a particularly strong relationship with Latitude 50 , a center for circus and street arts also located in Marchin. This proximity creates bridges between amateur practice, contemporary creation, and the professional world of circus.

The Marchin Circus School also collaborates with Fédécirque and participates in various projects aimed at promoting encounters between young circus performers, facilitators and structures in the sector.

This relationship with the professional artistic world is particularly visible during the " En Piste! " event, which brings together groups from the school, trainees and artists in residence around a day dedicated to the circus.

A dedicated room since 2020

Since 2020, the school has benefited from its own hall specially built for circus arts. This building is the culmination of a project developed over several years to provide a facility adapted to the school's growth and the specific needs of its disciplines.

The venue was built on the same site as Latitude 50, further strengthening the links between amateur learning and the professional hub for circus and street arts in Marchin.

Recognition and role in the Circassian landscape

The Marchin Circus School is recognized as a Centre for Expression and Creativity by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Province of Liège.

With more than 600 weekly participants , an activity ranging from early childhood to adults, specialized disciplines, internships, an inclusive approach with Handicirque and regular collaborations with Latitude 50 and Fédécirque , the Marchin Circus School is today one of the important structures for amateur learning of circus arts in Wallonia.