Scuola di Circo Corsaro

The Scuola di Circo Corsaro is a social circus school located in Scampia , in the northern districts of Naples.

The project was born in the 2000s with the desire to use circus arts as a genuine educational and social tool .

The first experiments date back to 2006-2007.

Maria Teresa Cesaroni , who still oversees its artistic and educational direction, then permanently structured the Scuola di Circo Corsaro.

The school works primarily with children and teenagers from Scampia, Piscinola and more broadly from the northern outskirts of Naples.

From its earliest years, the project also welcomed children from neighboring Roma communities.

This diversity is one of the very origins of the project.

The founding principle is simple: to do circus together .

Circus disciplines then become tools enabling young people with different histories, origins and social situations to meet.

The practice is not based on competition .

Each child can instead seek the discipline that best suits their abilities and way of expressing themselves.

Juggling is one of the major disciplines taught.

It helps to develop coordination, concentration and perseverance.

Ground acrobatics also plays an important role.

Young people discover different forms of balance.

Balancing thus constitutes another fundamental family.

Clowning and clowning allow us to work on expression, presence and relationship with the audience.

Aerial disciplines are also part of the school's educational history.

The trapeze is explicitly practiced.

Aerial silks are also taught.

These disciplines require particular attention to safety and relationships with others.

This characteristic corresponds particularly well to the educational project of Circo Corsaro.

A human pyramid, a lift, or a two-person exercise cannot function without trust .

The person carrying the load becomes responsible for their partner.

The one who is carried must learn to trust.

The circus thus becomes a very concrete way to learn cooperation .

Rules are no longer just instructions imposed by an adult.

They become necessary to allow the group to practice together.

Respect for others also takes on a very concrete dimension.

This pedagogy is particularly important in the context in which Circo Corsaro works.

Scampia is a territory facing significant social difficulties.

The school seeks to create for young people an educational space that complements family and school.

The activities are free .

This free service makes it possible to reach children and teenagers who would not necessarily have access to a paid art or sports school.

The project therefore operates very differently from a commercial circus school.

The main objective is not to sell courses.

The aim is to build a sustainable educational initiative in the area.

To achieve this, Circo Corsaro works with a large network of associations, educators, schools and cultural organizations.

The Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti is today one of the important partners of the project.

New Life for Children is also part of this dynamic.

Local social cooperatives are working alongside the school.

The schools in the area are also part of the network.

This cooperation makes it possible to go beyond the courses organized in the circus school.

Circo Corsaro also works directly in schools.

Fun and educational circus workshops are developed with the students.

These interventions have existed for many years.

They have notably been used as a tool to combat school dropout .

The circus allows for the creation of a different relationship between the child and the school environment.

A young person who experiences difficulties in academic learning may discover that they possess other skills.

This experience may change the image he has of himself.

Successfully completing a move then becomes an opportunity to rebuild confidence and motivation.

The project also works on the relationship between the school, the student and the family.

The support is therefore not limited to the time spent on the equipment.

Educators seek to understand the young person's overall environment.

The circus provides an entry point for building an educational relationship.

This approach explains why Circo Corsaro is today considered one of the historical structures of the Italian social circus .

The school is officially listed in AltroCirco 's national register of social circus projects.

Maria Teresa Cesaroni herself plays an important role in this network.

She trained in teaching small circus with Giocolieri e Dintorni .

She then specialized in social circus.

His training was developed in particular through internships in the European Caravan network.

She has been working for many years in the outskirts of Naples.

She is also one of the people who participated in the creation and development of AltroCirco.

His experience allows Circo Corsaro to be both a local project and a structure connected to national and international social circus networks.

Rafael Jack Sanchez McGuirck is another example of this openness.

Trained as a social educator, he has been working with Circo Corsaro since 2012.

He received training in particular through the Cirque du Monde program of Cirque du Soleil and the Italian social circus training program.

His experience has also led him to transmit the pedagogy of social circus in international contexts.

He notably participated in teacher training in a refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan .

Circo Corsaro therefore possesses expertise that goes far beyond the technical teaching of a few disciplines.

The school contributes to reflecting on methods for using circus arts in special education and social intervention.

She participates in national meetings and training sessions in the sector.

Today, the FiX training program is one of the main Italian courses for teachers and operators of social circus.

Circo Corsaro is one of the Italian schools that host the modules of this training.

In 2026-2027, the project is still among the structures cited by AltroCirco alongside Spazio NU , BadaBam , Circ'Opificio , Spazio Circo Bergamo , InStabile and Quattrox4 .

This presence confirms the continuity of its role in the national network.

However, the history of Circo Corsaro has not been linear.

Like many social projects, the school has regularly had to deal with the fragility of funding.

In 2016 , the project experienced an interruption due to a lack of resources.

Activity then resumed and new partnerships helped to consolidate the project.

From 2017 onwards, the Teatro Area Nord became a particularly important place for the school.

This theatre in Piscinola, in the immediate vicinity of Scampia, hosts the activities and shows of the project.

It allows for the creation of a direct link between educational work and a real performance space.

Therefore, children do not only practice within a workshop framework.

They can gradually participate in the creation of a show.

This artistic dimension is essential.

The social circus is not only used as a pretext for educational intervention.

The young people learn real techniques.

They develop acts.

They work on stage presence.

They collectively construct representations.

Creation becomes a way of giving form to the experiences lived during the year.

This approach proved particularly important during the pandemic.

When traditional circus practice became impossible, Circo Corsaro maintained the relationship with young people remotely.

The project then developed what it described as " emotional acrobatics ".

The goal was to maintain the educational relationship despite the impossibility of practicing physically together.

The show that followed this period worked on the emotions, hopes, frustrations and desires experienced by young people.

This experience reinforced an area that remains particularly important today: emotional education .

The current project carried out with the Fondazione Patrizio Paoletti works precisely on this dimension.

Children are supported in understanding and expressing their emotions.

The body, play and circus disciplines become means of communication.

The show presented on May 23, 2026 at the Teatro Area Nord illustrates this approach.

Entitled " Una favola da grandi… ", it was born from a journey dedicated to listening, emotional education and relationships.

The children transformed this educational work into a collective artistic experience.

Maria Teresa Cesaroni was in charge of the artistic and educational direction.

The show clearly demonstrates the dual identity of Circo Corsaro.

There is a genuine educational objective.

But this objective leads to a genuine stage production.

The children become performers in a show that is built collectively.

This approach also helps to highlight their work to their families and the local community.

The public discovers young people in a different light.

The stage becomes a space in which their skills and creativity can be recognized.

This recognition itself constitutes an educational tool.

Circo Corsaro works particularly with children and teenagers.

The data available on previous projects show groups covering approximately six to ten years , eleven to fourteen years and fifteen to eighteen years .

The exact organization may nevertheless evolve depending on the projects and funding.

It is therefore preferable to consider these ranges as indicative rather than as a fixed commercial schedule.

This particularity is important for understanding the school.

Circo Corsaro does not necessarily organize its activities like a traditional school with an annual catalogue of courses and individual registrations open to all.

Some of the participants joined the project through the educational and social networks of the territory.

Schools can be partners.

Educators can guide certain young people.

Projects can also target specific groups.

This organization corresponds precisely to its vocation as a social circus .

The project nevertheless remains a true circus school.

The young people there follow a progression.

They acquire techniques.

They learn to respect safety rules.

They develop a group culture.

They participate in creative projects.

Some remain involved for several years.

The school thus contributes to creating a true circus culture in a territory that historically had few offerings of this type.

Cultural diversity also constitutes a historical dimension of the project.

From the earliest years, Italian children and children from Roma communities practiced together.

The goal was not simply to place different audiences in the same room.

The circus work had to create situations that truly required cooperation and trust.

This method allows for a shift in usual relationships.

In a human pyramid, the social or cultural origin of the partner becomes secondary.

What matters immediately is its ability to carry, support, listen, and protect.

The practice thus gives physical expression to notions such as trust and solidarity .

This philosophy explains why Circo Corsaro is today an interesting reference for professionals in the Italian social circus.

His experience is regularly presented at professional meetings.

Its educators participate in training networks.

The school itself hosts training courses.

Yet she remains deeply attached to her territory.

His main objective remains working with children and teenagers in the northern districts of Naples.

Circo Corsaro thus constitutes a particularly successful example of what a social circus school can be.

Juggling, acrobatics, balancing, clowning, trapeze and aerial silks provide the technical tools.

But these disciplines are used to work towards much broader objectives.

Self-confidence, emotional expression, cooperation, respect for rules, relationships with others and participation in community life are at the heart of the project.

The school also serves as an artistic space.

The young people create and present shows.

They meet artists and educators.

They discover a cultural universe to which they would not necessarily have had access otherwise.

Nearly twenty years after its first activities in Scampia, Circo Corsaro remains active.

Its presence in current educational projects, in the AltroCirco networks and in FiX training shows that the school continues to play an important role both locally and in the development of the Italian social circus.