Supercrampe – Recreational Circus School

Supercrampe is a recreational circus school based in Reims and run by the TRAC association – Toutes Recherches Artistiques et de Création (All Artistic and Creative Research ). It develops amateur circus arts through weekly classes , holiday workshops , themed and advanced training courses, as well as outreach to various audiences.

A school participating in the TRAC association's project

The school is part of the broader project of the TRAC association, which champions the principles of popular education and seeks to promote artistic practice for all. Circus arts are considered there as practices that are simultaneously physical , artistic , collective , and accessible .

A practice from early childhood to adulthood

Supercrampe welcomes children from early childhood and then accompanies practitioners throughout childhood , adolescence and into adulthood .

Initial experiences can take the form of parent-child workshops or courses for very young children. The approach is then primarily focused on motor skills : small acrobatics on the ground, coordination, obstacle courses, balances and confidence-building games allow children to gradually discover their bodies and the circus environment.

As children grow up, learning becomes more technical and allows them to explore the different branches of circus arts.

The subjects taught

Ground acrobatics

Floor acrobatics is one of the fundamentals of the teaching. Students gradually learn the basics such as rolls and balances before progressing to more complex elements according to their age and level.

Balances on objects

Balancing acts on objects also play an important role. The balance ball and the tightrope are among the apparatus used in introductory workshops.

Juggling and object manipulation

Juggling and object manipulation help develop coordination , precision , rhythm , and concentration . They are integrated into both introductory workshops and more regular classes.

Aerial disciplines

Aerial disciplines are also part of the training offered by Supercrampe.

Students can discover, among other things, the fixed trapeze , aerial silks and aerial hoop .

The Chinese pole completes this family of vertical and aerial practices and allows you to discover a technique very different from suspended apparatus.

This diversity allows a child entering school to discover several families of disciplines before gradually developing their preferences.

Skill levels: beginner and advanced

Supercrampe distinguishes different levels of practice .

Introductory courses and workshops allow beginners to acquire the basics, while advanced training options are available for students who already have circus experience or sufficiently advanced physical practice.

Access to certain advanced groups requires several years of experience in circus arts, gymnastics or dance, or the approval of the educational director.

This organization allows us to maintain a school that is largely accessible to beginners while offering real continuity to students who wish to deepen their practice.

Internships, an important part of the activity

Internships are a particularly important part of Supercrampe's activity.

They are organised regularly during school holidays and allow either the discovery of the circus, or the continuation and deepening of a practice already undertaken.

• For younger children, the courses are adapted to their motor development and take a playful form.
• For older children, introductory courses allow them to explore several disciplines during the same week: acrobatics, balancing on objects, juggling and aerial apparatus.
• Advanced training courses are offered to practitioners who already have sufficient experience.

The school also organizes weekend courses and thematic courses , allowing for more specific work on certain practices or issues.

Supercrampe is thus developing a complementary offering to the weekly courses, which allows students to occasionally intensify their practice and allows people not enrolled for the year to discover the school .

The place of families

Families also play a role in the project.

Some courses and workshops are designed to be practiced jointly by parents and children .

Beyond learning circus techniques, these sessions allow us to work on confidence , controlled risk-taking and how to accompany a child in a physical activity without eliminating all possibility of experimentation.

This approach aligns with the broader educational principles promoted by the TRAC association.

Interventions outside of regular classes

The school is also developing activities outside of its regular classes.

She can work with schools and develop projects combining circus arts practice and educational projects.

Students can then discover juggling, balancing, acrobatics, pyramids and different forms of collective creation.

The artistic dimension is important: the practice is not limited to learning a succession of figures but can be integrated into a performance project , with work around scenography, music, movement and presentation in front of an audience.

A strong territorial dimension

Supercrampe also participates in actions developed by TRAC in the neighborhoods of Reims .

The association notably runs an inter-neighborhood circus intervention program and participates in municipal initiatives allowing children and teenagers to discover circus arts.

This territorial dimension is essential to the project: the objective is not only to welcome people who spontaneously come to register at the school, but also to reach out to new audiences .

Supercrampe within the TRAC association

Furthermore, membership in the TRAC association places Supercrampe in a broader cultural environment .

TRAC carries out several projects in Reims: the Supercrampe school, the Le Temps des Cerises cultural space under big tops, the Fracas festival, the Reims Interplanetary Comic Strip Festival and various artistic actions in the neighborhoods.

Supercrampe students thus develop within a structure that is not limited to sports or technical circus training.

They may be exposed to artists, shows, cultural events and different forms of contemporary creation.

This close relationship between amateur practice and live performance contributes to the school's identity.

It also allows some particularly dedicated young people to gradually discover the reality of the professional sector.

Several artists actually started their careers at Supercrampe before continuing on to professional circus schools .

A leisure school first and foremost

The school remains clearly a recreational school . Its main objective is to allow regular practice of circus arts and progression adapted to each individual's level .

The opportunity for improvement simply offers continuity to students who develop a more extensive practice.

The premises

The school now has permanent premises at 2 rue Clovis Chézel in Reims .

The internships, courses and regular activities take place in the same building as the Régates Rémoises .

This space allows for the installation of the equipment necessary for multidisciplinary practice, including aerial apparatus .

Occasional events

Activities do not stop at traditional courses and internships.

Supercrampe also offers one -off events , including circus-themed birthday parties . Children can then participate in a discovery workshop, circus games, and a fun-filled time organized on the school premises.

An amateur circus school active in the Reims metropolitan area

All of these activities make Supercrampe a particularly active amateur circus school in the Reims area.

His project combines early childhood discovery, weekly classes, technical progression, improvement, holiday internships, school projects and territorial interventions.

Its integration within TRAC is also an important feature: Supercrampe is part of a much larger popular education project, in which circus teaching goes hand in hand with creation, the dissemination of shows, festivals and cultural actions.

A child can thus discover the circus in a workshop or a neighborhood activity, then join regular classes and progress over the years towards more advanced groups.

Teenagers and adults can also continue or begin an amateur practice.

Supercrampe thus constitutes in Reims a place for the transmission of circus arts where discovery, progression, artistic practice and cultural openness are closely associated.