Octave Singulier Circus School

Presentation

The Octave Singulier Circus School is located in Poitiers, in the Vienne region , within a dedicated circus arts venue. Housed in a fully equipped permanent big top , it welcomes children from the age of 4 , teenagers, and adults, from beginners to more experienced practitioners, for a progressive discovery and learning of the various circus disciplines.

Project and mission

The school forms the educational hub of a larger project encompassing three complementary activities: teaching circus arts, creating and presenting professional shows, and event production. This close connection between amateur practice and professional creation allows students to develop in an environment entirely dedicated to circus and live performance.

History

Octave Singulier's story begins well before the creation of the school. After more than ten years as a circus artist, Octave Singulier created his first solo show, "L'atelier à la petite fenêtre" (The Workshop at the Small Window), in 1985. To support this creation, the AGITATO association – Association de Gestion Intégrée au Théâtre Ambulant Octave Singulier (Integrated Management Association for the Octave Singulier Traveling Theatre) – was founded, with its headquarters then located in the Dordogne region.

The Octave Singulier Traveling Theatre then took to the road with its big top, caravan, and various associated artists. The first show was performed approximately 400 times. Through its various productions, Octave Singulier developed a unique world blending circus, theatre, music, and clowning.

Alongside his artistic activity, he has been involved since 1990 as a circus arts instructor. During these years, he developed in particular a pedagogy based on the repurposing of objects and the imagination: the circus object is not only a material enabling the realization of a technical feat, it can also become a support for play, storytelling and creation.

After several years of touring with a circus, Octave Singulier settled in Poitiers. Present in the city since 1999, he gradually developed a circus school there, accessible to all and housed in a permanent big top.

Pedagogy and teaching

Today, students benefit from a space specially designed for learning circus arts techniques. The equipment and facilities allow them to explore numerous disciplines in conditions suitable for regular practice.

The teaching is intentionally multidisciplinary . Juggling, acrobatics, aerial disciplines, and balancing are the main areas covered in the classes. Students can therefore experiment with different techniques before, depending on their progress and interests, delving deeper into certain ones.

• Juggling
• Acrobatics
• Aerial disciplines
• Balances

The diversity of equipment allows, in particular, the practice of trapeze, aerial silks, rope and hoop.

• Trapeze
• Aerial fabric
• Smooth rope
• Hoop

Object balancing acts include, among others, the wire, the rolla bolla, the unicycle and stilts.

• Wire
• Rolla bolla
• Unicycle
• Stilts

The workshops can also incorporate ground acrobatics, mini-trampolines, and human pyramids. Juggling and various object manipulations complement this approach, giving participants a particularly broad view of the possibilities offered by circus arts.

• Ground acrobatics
• Mini-trampoline
• Human pyramids
• Object manipulation

The teaching approach is based on a progression built throughout the season. Sessions are prepared according to the group, the age, and the skill level of the participants. Instructors guide students from the initial discovery of basic techniques to more advanced work.

The goal, however, is not solely to learn routines. As they progress, students also learn to use their skills in a creative process. Developing an individual or group performance adds an artistic dimension to their technical learning.

This process culminates in the end-of-season show. Students can then present the results of their work to an audience and discover the various aspects involved in the transition from learning to performance.

Course and group organization

For the 2026-2027 season, the school welcomes children from the age of 4 and organizes classes by age groups.

• "Gomina" : 4-6 years old
• "Chocolate" : 6-8 years old
• "Zavatta" : 8-11 years old
• "Frisco" : 11-13 years old

Teenagers then have the "Slava" group, while the "Bello Nock" group brings together teenagers and adults. Adults can also participate in the "Danelys" group. This structure allows circus arts to continue from childhood to adulthood.

Internships

In addition to weekly classes, Octave Singulier organizes numerous workshops during school holidays. These can be multidisciplinary or focused on a specific technique.

Multidisciplinary camps allow children to experience numerous workshops over several days. After an initial period of discovery, they can gradually choose a discipline they wish to work on further.

Part of the workshop is then devoted to preparing a short performance. At the end of the week, the children present the results of their learning to their families. In this way, they discover in just a few days the process from being introduced to a discipline to presenting it in front of an audience.

Specialized workshops, on the other hand, allow participants to delve deeper into a single technique. Depending on the program, they may focus on Chinese pole, acrobatics, or aerial disciplines. They thus offer experienced practitioners the opportunity to further develop specific skills.

Arts education and school projects

The school also plays a significant role in arts and cultural education. Numerous schools, from kindergarten to high school, are welcomed each year under the big tops of Octave Singulier.

The projects are built with the teachers and can take very different forms: one-off intervention, work over several weeks, term or project developed over the whole school year.

• One-off intervention
• Work over several weeks
• Project over one quarter
• Year-long project

Several programs allow for combining hands-on workshops with the experience of a professional performance. A class can thus spend a day at the circus, participate in various workshops, and then attend a show. Other projects are entirely dedicated to practical experience.

Whenever possible, Octave Singulier prefers to host workshops directly under the big top so that students can benefit from the diverse equipment and circus environment. However, the team can also work directly in schools.

School projects regularly culminate in a final presentation: a public performance by the students, a photo report, or a video. Circus arts thus become a tool for artistic education, combining physical activity, creativity, and the discovery of live performance.

Inclusion

Inclusion is also an important dimension of Octave Singulier's educational project. For many years, the school has been developing an adapted circus activity for children and adults with disabilities.

People with visual or hearing impairments, or those with intellectual disabilities, can participate in weekly classes with other students. The teaching staff works with educators to adapt the situation and provide individualized support for their progress.

The school also welcomes specialized institutions and structures for specific training sessions. Juggling, balance, acrobatics and aerial disciplines then become tools for working on psychomotor skills, relationships with others, rhythm, imagination, creativity and confidence.

This desire for openness aligns with the values championed by Octave Singulier regarding transmission and sharing. Circus techniques provide a common language, but they must also allow each individual to express something personal and find their place within the group.

Facilities, residences and site

This coexistence between amateur students, teaching staff, and professional artists helps create a particularly rich environment for discovering circus arts. Participants develop in a space where learning, training, creation, and performance come together.

The team

• Octave Singulier : director and founder of the project, specializing in clowning, rope work and music.
• Corinne Vogt : circus artist, teacher and tour manager. Her work around the body is also informed by training in Pilates.
• Damien Descloux : graduate of the Quebec Circus School, multidisciplinary practice including balances, aerial frame, lifts, acrobatics, trampoline, juggling and flying trapeze; has worked with Flip Fabrique and Machine de Cirque.

Conclusion

The Octave Singulier Circus School is distinguished by the scope of its project. It is simultaneously an amateur school welcoming practitioners from the age of 4, a place for artistic and cultural education, a suitable circus space and a creative site frequented by professional artists.

Regular classes, workshops, student performances, school projects, inclusive initiatives and encounters with professional creation allow us to approach circus arts from many angles.

Located under a permanent marquee in Poitiers, the school offers a path from the very first discovery to specialization in certain disciplines, while maintaining at the heart of its teaching the notions of transmission , creativity , individual progression and collective practice .