Max & Maurice Circus Arts School

The Max & Maurice Circus Arts School is an amateur practice school located under a big top in Colombelles, in the Caen la Mer metropolitan area, in Normandy.

It is supported by the Max & Maurice company, a travelling circus company that has been touring France under a big top for almost forty years.

After several decades dedicated to creating and presenting shows, the company wanted to develop a permanent space devoted to the transmission of circus arts. The project combines artistic and sporting practices , community education , respect for individuals, and environmental awareness.

Since the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, classes have been held under a tent specifically dedicated to the school, installed at Plateau, within the grounds of the Hidalgo stadium in Colombelles.

This equipment allows the practice of different families of circus arts in a suitable space, including disciplines requiring specific installations at height.

The school welcomes children from the age of 4, teenagers and adults.

Regular classes are organised by age groups in order to adapt learning to the development, abilities and expectations of each group.

Courses by age group

Children aged 4 to 6

For children aged 4 to 6, the circus is used as a tool for psychomotor and creative development . The activities offered allow them to gradually grasp space, time, the senses, and body awareness while developing relationships with others.

Children aged 6 to 8

For 6-8 year olds, teaching places greater emphasis on cooperation . Children learn to practice in pairs and small groups, to help each other and gradually become more autonomous in their learning and in setting up the equipment.

Security is an integral part of this progress.

The artistic approach also develops gradually. Students are introduced to different forms of creation and learn to take a constructive look at their practice in order to begin to present themselves.

Young people aged 9 to 13

9-13 year olds continue this discovery through multidisciplinary courses allowing them to explore different techniques before identifying the disciplines they wish to explore further.

Teenagers and adults

From the age of 14, teenagers can practice with adults.

The beginning of the season allows for a broad introduction to the various circus activities. The teaching then evolves according to the participants' expectations, whether they are technical , artistic or more athletic .

This practice is complemented by physical preparation , strengthening and injury prevention work.

The school thus hopes to allow each individual to gradually build their own path.

Specialization courses and thematic workshops

Regular courses remain multidisciplinary, but the educational project also provides for the development of specialisation courses allowing students to delve deeper into a particular discipline.

This approach is already largely complemented by the thematic workshops organized throughout the year.

These days or weekends are supervised by specialized professional artists and allow teenagers and adults to discover or perfect a technique.

The program may include Cyr wheel, acrobatic lifts, Chinese pole, object balancing, rolla-bolla, clowning, mime, magic, juggling, trapeze, aerial rope or hoop.

These workshops provide access to disciplines that are not always offered in the form of weekly courses in leisure schools.

Aerial disciplines and juggling

Aerial disciplines thus occupy an important place in the project. Trapeze, hoop and rope may be the subject of specific sessions with professional artists.

Juggling is also developed in different forms, including with balls and clubs.

Acrobatic lifts allow you to work on weight, counterweight, core strength, confidence, static and dynamic lifts and teamwork.

The Chinese pole and the Cyr wheel complement this diversity with more specialized apparatus.

Internships during school holidays

The school also organizes internships during school holidays.

They welcome children from the age of 4 as well as teenagers and offer a fun introduction to acrobatics, juggling, balancing on objects and the trapeze.

Particular attention is paid to the expression of each participant's creative potential .

The internships may end with a presentation or by opening the workshops to families.

This dimension allows participants to share the learnings made during the week without limiting the course to a succession of technical exercises.

"Family Circus" Workshops

"Circus for families" workshops are also organized throughout the year.

Accessible from age 3 when accompanied, they allow children, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters or friends to discover together acrobatics, juggling, balancing on objects and trapeze.

These sessions are supervised by a qualified professional.

Open training for artists and advanced practitioners

The school also has a dimension geared towards artists and advanced practitioners.

The Colombelles big top allows professional artists or those in training to participate in free practice .

The goal is to offer them training slots during the week and to provide technical infrastructure allowing the practice of different circus techniques in good conditions.

This activity does not transform the school into a professional training establishment awarding diplomas, but creates an interesting proximity between amateur practice , artists in training and professionals .

This relationship is reinforced by the Max & Maurice company itself.

The students are involved in a project led by a professional company with decades of experience in creation, big tops and touring.

Professional artists from different companies are also regularly invited to share their expertise during the workshops.

Interventions with diverse audiences

The school is also developing interventions aimed at different structures.

His project includes actions targeting schools, leisure facilities, integration or specialized facilities, businesses and senior citizens.

The transmission of circus arts is thus part of a broader approach of popular education and openness to different audiences .

Support and teaching staff

The Max & Maurice Circus Arts School receives support from the towns of Mondeville, Colombelles, and Giberville. The Calvados Department also supports the project as part of its Departmental Scheme for Artistic Practices.

The courses are led by a team with technical and pedagogical qualifications in the field of physical activities and circus arts.

For the 2026-2027 season, regular teaching is notably provided by Pierre Allain , graduate of the BPJEPS Circus Activities, and Zoé Delorme , graduate of the BPJEPS Physical Activities for All.

A unique, cross-cutting project

With its 4-year courses for adults, its holiday camps, its family workshops, its specialized workshops, its open training and its interventions with different audiences, the Max & Maurice Circus Arts School is developing a particularly cross-cutting project.

Its location under a real big top and its direct link with a professional company allow discovery , amateur practice , improvement and meetings with artists to coexist.

Acrobatics, juggling, balancing, trapeze and other aerial disciplines form the basis of the practice, while Cyr wheel, Chinese pole, lifts, rolla-bolla, hoop, rope, clowning, mime and magic can be explored in greater depth during specialized workshops.