Circus schools are institutions that offer professional and sometimes degree-level training in various
circus skills
Circus skills are a group of disciplines that have been performed as entertainment in circus, sideshow, busking, or variety, vaudeville, or music hall shows. Most circus skills are still being performed today. Many are also practiced by non-p ...
such as
acrobatics
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acr ...
, aerial arts,
object manipulation
Object manipulation is a form of dexterity play or performance in which one or more people physically interact with one or more objects. Many object manipulation skills are recognised circus skills. Other object manipulation skills are linked to ...
, and other specialized physical skills. The rise of the circus school as a venue for the transmission of traditional circus arts and the formalized research of new acts is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and uni ...
.
Notable professional circus schools
* (La Plaine Saint-Denis, France)
*
Centre Nationale des Arts du Cirque (Châlons-en-Champagne, France)
*
Circomedia (Bristol, UK)
*
Circus Juventas (St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.)
*
Circus Center (San Francisco, California, U.S.)
*
Cirkus Cirkör (Stockholm, Sweden)
*
Ecole Nationale des Arts du Cirque de Rosny - ENACR (Rosny-sous-bois, France)
*
École nationale de cirque (Montreal, Canada)
*
École Nationale de Cirque de Châtellerault (Châtellerault, France)
*
École de Cirque de Québec
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région ...
- ECQ (Québec, Canada)
*
Ecole Supérieure des Arts du Cirque (Brussels, Belgium)
*
École supérieure des arts du cirque Toulouse-Occitanie (Toulouse, France)
*
The Flying Fruit Fly Circus (Albury, Australia)
*
Gamma Phi Circus (
Illinois State University
Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...
)
*
National Centre for Circus Arts (formerly The Circus Space; London, UK)
*
National Institute of Circus Arts
The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) is a government-accredited tertiary-level circus school in Australia, located in Prahran, Victoria.
History
NICA was established in 1995 by Swinburne University of Technology after a study revealed t ...
(Melbourne, Australia)
*
New England Center for Circus Arts (Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.)
*
New York Circus Arts Academy (New York City, U.S.)
*
Philadelphia School of Circus Arts (Philadelphia, U.S.)
*
Zip Zap Academy (Cape Town, South Africa)
Circus programs within degree-awarding academic institutions
Gamma Phi Circus at Illinois State University is the oldest collegiate circus in the United States. It was founded in 1929 and is part of the College of Applied Science and Technology at ISU. Florida State University
Flying High Circus is a collegiate circus that was founded in 1947 as an extracurricular activity club. Members must be students who are registered and seeking degrees from FSU. Student interest clubs that offer students the chance to train recreationally in contemporary circus arts include Cirque NouveaU: An Aerial Arts Club at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Chart ...
, a club that offers ground skill workouts in partner balancing and tumbling to undergraduates.
[Chang, Anni]
"Student Group Looks to Get off the Ground"
''The Daily Northwestern'', November 22, 2010. Retrieved on September 28, 2015.
References
{{Circus skills
Lists of schools