UP – Circus & Performing Arts – Brussels

UP – Circus & Performing Arts is an important Brussels center dedicated to the practice, creation and dissemination of contemporary circus, located in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean .

The structure is the heir to Espace Catastrophe , a historical player in contemporary circus in Brussels, developed since the 1990s. From the 2020-2021 season, the project becomes UP – Circus & Performing Arts and moves into a large space in Molenbeek.

UP does not function solely as a circus school.

The project brings together in one place amateur teaching , improvement , support for young people wishing to move towards a professional practice, training , artistic creation , residencies , shows and meetings with artists .

Transmission, however, constitutes one of the historical pillars of the structure.

UP develops training programs for very different audiences, from children to seniors.

An educational program for all ages

Children can gradually discover circus arts through courses organized throughout the year.

The programs are designed to allow both a first discovery and the in-depth study of a technique.

Circus explorations allow, in particular, for experimentation with several dimensions of the circus without immediately imposing a specialization.

Other courses are more oriented towards a family of disciplines.

Aerial techniques thus allow young people to develop a specific practice in aerial apparatus.

Acrobatics and parkour are also part of the educational offering.

The courses combine movement, circus games and body research in order to simultaneously develop technique and creativity.

A pedagogy centered on artistic transmission

UP's pedagogy places particular importance on the transmission of art.

The stated objective is not simply to teach a succession of figures.

Artist-educators seek to transmit a curiosity, a gesture, a perspective, and a way of exploring one's own body.

The course thus becomes a space to meet others, to experiment and to gradually build one's own practice.

Participating artists with diverse profiles

Another distinctive feature of UP lies in the diversity of artists involved in the training programs.

The specialist modules are led by different artists who possess both teaching experience and real stage experience.

Participants can thus discover several approaches to the same discipline and be confronted with different artistic sensibilities.

Several teaching formats

Teaching is organized in several formats.

• Some courses are offered throughout the entire school year.
• Others operate in the form of sessions lasting several weeks.
• ModulOs , on the other hand, allow you to work more specifically on a discipline over a shorter period of time.

This organization offers different levels of engagement depending on the age, experience, and goals of the participants.

Support towards career guidance

Teenagers wishing to consider a career path also receive special support.

UP organizes preparatory courses for young people wishing to prepare for competitions and the requirements of higher artistic circus schools.

These training courses allow participants to work on technique, physical preparation, but also artistic research and creation.

UP collaborates in particular with ESAC – École Supérieure des Arts du Cirque de Bruxelles – on the reflection and structuring of this preparatory program.

The structure also benefits from the support of the COCOF for the development of this preparation for higher artistic schools.

This continuity between amateur practice , further development and orientation towards higher education constitutes one of the particularities of UP.

A place connected to the professional sector

The venue also hosts professional artists.

Spaces are dedicated to research, residencies and the creation of shows.

Amateur practitioners therefore operate in an environment directly connected to the professional sector of contemporary circus.

The UP Festival

UP also organizes a major international festival dedicated to contemporary circus: the UP Festival .

Belgian and international companies and artists present their creations in various locations in Brussels.

An artistic project open to other disciplines

The artistic project deliberately transcends the traditional boundaries of the circus.

UP develops bridges with urban arts , dance , theatre , digital arts , multimedia and new magic .

The Molenbeek site represents approximately 6,700 m2 of space dedicated to these activities.

A large outdoor esplanade also allows for the display of marquees and various artistic forms designed for public spaces.

UP thus possesses a particularly complete identity: school and place of transmission , training space , center of creation , place of residence and actor in the dissemination of contemporary circus .

A temporary suspension of activities in 2026

However, the structure goes through a particular period in 2026.

This period should in particular allow for the analysis of the functioning of the structure, the identification of its priorities, the carrying out of a security audit of the infrastructure and the preparation of the conditions for a sustainable recovery.

This suspension must therefore be taken into account for anyone currently wishing to join a training program.

However, it does not call into question the historical importance of UP in the Brussels circus scene nor the scope of its educational project.

With several decades dedicated to transmission, an offering for all ages, preparatory training, a close link with professional artists and significant work in creation and dissemination, UP – Circus & Performing Arts is one of the main venues dedicated to contemporary circus in Brussels.