The Arts and Movement Lab – Enghien

The LABO des Arts et du Mouvement is a Centre for Expression and Creativity located in Enghien, in the province of Hainaut. Created in 2014, the association develops a particularly cross-disciplinary artistic project in which circus arts are combined with visual arts, theatre, ceramics, textile creation and various forms of contemporary expression.

Circus arts are one of the main areas of activity at LABO. They are taught from early childhood and can then be practiced throughout childhood and adolescence, with several programs also offered for adults.

For preschool children, the first workshops focus particularly on circus-related activities. Movement and the circus arts become tools for jumping, climbing, manipulating, experimenting with balance, and gradually getting to know their bodies better.

The LABO also develops a particularly interesting approach that combines visual arts and circus arts from a very young age. The Arto-Circo workshop thus combines artistic expression and circus-related motor skills: children can draw and manipulate materials before climbing, jumping, and exploring movement.

At primary school age, several circus arts groups allow children to continue discovering and gradually develop different technical skills.

Acrobatics plays an important role in this teaching. It allows practitioners to explore support, movement, rotations and different possibilities of the body, with a progression adapted to the age and level of each individual.

Balancing and juggling complement this multidisciplinary approach. Balls and other manipulative objects help develop coordination, precision, concentration, and perseverance.

The LABO also offers formal instruction in aerial disciplines . Trapeze and other high-flying practices are integrated into the activities, and specific workshops allow teenagers and adults to further develop their aerial skills.

For teenagers, the program allows them to gradually move towards more specialized disciplines. The LABO notably develops a workshop dedicated to tightrope walking, unicycling, and juggling.

These disciplines allow for very different approaches to the concept of balance. Tightrope walking develops concentration, positioning, and body control, while unicycling combines dynamic balance, coordination, and movement.

The LABO also explores the links between circus and urban practices. Acrobatics and parkour can thus be associated with street art in projects where movement, space and graphic expression interact.

This cross-disciplinary approach is one of the structure's main characteristics. Participants are not confined to a single discipline: visual arts, movement, theatre, and circus arts can all come together within the same program or creation.

Adults also have opportunities to participate. Circus arts classes and aerial workshops allow them to discover or deepen their knowledge of different techniques in an amateur setting.

Beyond technical learning, the LABO places experimentation at the heart of its educational project. Participants are encouraged to search, try, start again, transform and gradually build their own way of creating.

The structure thus advocates an approach in which error and exploration are integral parts of the artistic process. The goal is not simply to successfully execute a figure, but to understand how a technique, a movement, or an object can become a means of expression.

This approach naturally extends to the creation of shows. The LABO notably has its own troupe, IMAGIN'AIR , allowing for the collective development of creations intended for public presentation.

Students from the various workshops also participate in performances. The LABO's open days , for example, allow visitors to discover the circus arts, circus, aerial arts groups, and projects combining several disciplines.

These events allow young practitioners to experience the stage and discover how the learning acquired during the year can be assembled to become an artistic presentation.

LABO also organizes numerous workshops and training courses . Some are devoted to circus arts in general, while others allow participants to delve deeper into a particular technique such as aerial silks or aerial hoop.

The workshops can also combine disciplines. Circus, theatre, visual arts and urban practices are regularly combined in order to offer participants creative experiences that go beyond the scope of a traditional technical course.

LABO also works in partnership with local cultural organizations, notably the Enghien Cultural Centre. Its students and troupe can thus participate in artistic events and projects organized in the area.

Recognized as a Centre for Expression and Creativity by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, LABO considers artistic practices as tools to develop imagination, autonomy, personal expression and the ability to create collectively.

With its curriculum ranging from circus skills to adult circus, its multidisciplinary workshops, its aerial specializations, its work around the wire, the unicycle and juggling, its internships and its creative troupe, the LABO des Arts et du Mouvement constitutes a true structure for learning and creating circus arts in Enghien, even if its project goes far beyond the sole domain of circus.