Turbul'

Presentation

Turbul' is a circus school located in Nîmes, in the Gard region, and run by the Appel d'Air association. Based at Mas Guérin , a former wine estate transformed into a space dedicated to circus arts, it has been developing a project for over twenty years combining amateur teaching, adapted circus, artistic creation, professional residencies and socio-educational action.

The Turbul' project

Turbul's project is based on a conception of the circus in which technique is not considered an end in itself . Circus disciplines become a language allowing each person to develop their own vocabulary according to their abilities, desires and aspirations.

The school thus seeks to foster the development of the individual in several dimensions. Practice allows students to work on body awareness and control, but also on self-confidence, overcoming fears, listening skills, respect for others, and the ability to function within a group.

• knowledge and management of the body
• self-confidence
• mastering apprehensions
• listen
• respect for others
• ability to evolve within a group

Pedagogy and values

The teaching method alternates between technical learning, play, and independent exploration. It promotes a non-competitive approach, where self-improvement does not mean comparison with others. This approach is explicitly rooted in the values of popular education, community living, and the social and solidarity economy.

Publics and courses

Recreational classes welcome children from age 3, then teenagers and adults. The length of the sessions varies with age: the youngest benefit from a very playful approach while learning gradually becomes more technical and independent.

For 3- to 5-year-olds, games and stories help develop imagination, motor skills, and basic technical skills. From age 6, children begin more focused learning and are gradually made aware of safety, controlled risk-taking, and their own limits.

Teenagers and adults benefit from longer sessions allowing them to delve deeper into the different practices and develop a more personal relationship with circus techniques.

Infrastructure

Residences and relationships with professionals

This ongoing close relationship with professionals is one of Turbul's key features. The school hosts artists and companies in creative residency, as well as local professionals for their regular technical training.

Residencies can be long-term, to support a genuine research and creation process, or short-term for companies from outside the region. In exchange for access to workspaces, artists are invited to participate in the life of the venue.

They can, in particular, work with amateur students, share their knowledge with teachers, or present work-in-progress. These exchanges create a direct link between amateur practice and the professional reality of live performance.

For students, observing artists at work allows them to discover the circus beyond simply learning a trick. For professionals, presentations of works in progress also provide an opportunity to meet an audience and gather feedback during the creative process.

Adapted circus

Adapted circus arts constitute another essential pillar of Turbul's project. The school develops workshops specifically designed for people facing social or behavioral problems, as well as for people with mental or physical disabilities.

These workshops are led by expert circus instructors and developed in close collaboration with professionals from partner organizations: educators, psychomotor therapists, nurses and other support staff.

• educators
• psychomotor therapists
• nurses
• other accompanying staff

Turbul' intervenes in particular with Therapeutic Educational and Pedagogical Institutes, Closed Educational Centers and relay classes accompanied by the Judicial Protection of Youth.

Skills developed

• psychomotor development
• body diagram
• precision of the gesture
• coordination
• lateralization
• balance
• reflexes and agility

The social dimension is just as important. The workshops can help develop communication, confidence, concentration, perseverance, integration into a group, creativity, expression, and respect for oneself and others.

• communication
• trust
• concentration
• perseverance
• integration into a group
• creativity
• expression
• self-respect and respect for others

The pursuit of performance is not the priority. The situations are adapted so that each participant can experiment, progress and gain confidence in a safe environment.

Networks and events

Turbul' is also part of RECEO, the Network of Extraordinary Circus Schools. This network brings together schools particularly committed to providing access to circus arts for people with specific needs and to developing adapted circus in Occitanie and at the national level.

The school is thus participating in a regional dynamic alongside other structures specializing in this field, promoting the exchange of practices, training and reflection around inclusion.

Training courses are another important aspect of the activity. Turbul' offers recreational courses during the school year as well as courses for adults, including some sessions specializing in aerial disciplines.

The 2026-2027 season is already underway: classes resume the week of September 14, 2026 and continue until June 20, 2027. The French Federation of Circus Schools license is integrated into the school's operation and temporary licenses are also planned for participants in workshops.

Turbul' also organizes various events to showcase the practices and creations developed within the school. Cabarets, meetings, and special events contribute to creating a collective life around the venue.

The school also hosts the FREC Soleil Regional Meetings. On May 30 and 31, 2026, Turbul' welcomed five circus schools and 80 participants to Nîmes for the Regional Meetings of the French Federation of Circus Schools.

This involvement confirms Turbul's place within the federal network. The school belongs to FREC Soleil and holds FFEC accreditation no. 30189.

Functioning and identity

In Nîmes, Turbul' is therefore much more than a place offering weekly classes. The school functions as a space for practice, creation and encounter where amateur students, specific audiences, professionals in the medical and social sector, teachers and circus artists can meet.

• Leisure classes
• Internships
• Adapted circus
• Socio-educational projects
• Creative residencies
• Professional training

These activities are based on the same concept: using the richness of circus arts to develop autonomy, creativity, confidence, expression and relationships with others.

The Mas Guérin environment, with its specially designed spaces, its aerial grid, its pit trampoline, its Chinese pole and its work rooms, allows Turbul' to accommodate both a first discovery of the circus and professional artistic work.

This ongoing relationship between pedagogy, inclusion and creation constitutes the unique identity of Turbul' and makes it an important player in circus arts in Nîmes and more broadly in Occitanie.