Kodi R.SILVER Member
member
8 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
If one day your goal was to join a circus group or be a professional performer in a group and stuff for stuff like fire dancing and contact staff/poi what type of school would you go to--assuming you'd go to school?What would you study? What would you do?

I'm an Intermediate level contact staff spinner and I'm a senior in high school. My goal for college is to take a couple courses at a community college my first two years and then transfer to save money and I've recently realized one of the things I might want to do is one day go to a school where I can learn to preform and stuff and be a professional preformer and everything. Because I absolutely love it.

But I don't know if this is logical or if there even is a type of school for this stuff.

Can someone help me?

ABOBer92SILVER Member
ABOB - Pois'n'us
178 posts
Location: Northern Ireland


Posted:
A performing arts course is the most obvious choice but tbh i dont know of any official schools/colleges that would have something tailored to circus skills. i started learning at a circus school, it started and is run by a performance company who use it to train new performers, but it isnt an official 'education centre' like schools/colleges -im sure there are similar companies in america, but my best advice if you want to focus entirely on the performing aspect is find out what different things that will be useful to you performing (eg gymnastics is very useful for active performers, sometimes a type of dance for opening new ideas on using equipment) and then practice yourself, learn from tutorials on the internet (as its free) and keep an eye out for workshops that could be useful and i highly recommend trying to get to a juggling/spinning convention or circus festival. as you get better at performing get some insurance (possibly a busking license depending on where you are) and try out a street show or talk to local businesses that might use nighttime entertainment, this'll build up experience which you will need if you want to work for a performance company such as cirque du soleil

on another note, try to have a back up somehow; eg ive gone to college to study hospitality and tourism, the end goal is to be able to run events myself (whether i perform at them or not) but the qualifications will be useful at getting a job across a large sector that can keep ya financially secure while you perform (not to mention many of the places you work for will look at entertainment fairly regularly)

I dont want to be called 'the greatest' or 'one of the greats'; let other guys claim to be the best. I just want to be known as a clown, to me thats the height of my profession. It means you can do everything-sing, dance, and above all, make people laugh


CharlesBRONZE Member
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand


Posted:
There are definitely dedicated circus arts schools around. Christchurch, the home of home of poi, has one. Some are affiliated with Universities and some aren't. Have a long look online and ask your local juggling club.
EDITED_BY: Charles (1380756560)

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Kodi R.SILVER Member
member
8 posts
Location: USA


Posted:
Thank you both.

I live in Chicago's suburbs. Does anyone know (I've tried googling it with weird results) how I could obtain a license for busking when it came time? I'm a little confused about all of the stuff it's saying and not much is popping up online....

I do have a circus school right by me in Evanston, so that's pretty cool. :)

Ross WheelerBRONZE Member
member
7 posts
Location: United Kingdom


Posted:
I did circus before going to away to study and there was limited choices between a few very good circus schools before I found a new degree in "Street Arts" at Winchester University in the UK. Despite not loads of circus people there it was very open to the larger world of outdoor arts and performance so there are few but some courses out there a bit different... I think I heard of a street theatre course in Mexico...

Unsure about busking but I suppose you would need to contact and search through Council info and definitely need a licence around more populated or central area, could ask the next busker you see :)

ABOBer92SILVER Member
ABOB - Pois'n'us
178 posts
Location: Northern Ireland


Posted:
talk to your local council about busking licenses, if you cant get a straight answer out of them then ask a busker or maybe a police officer. some places dont need a license while others can be up to $500 a month, tho more often its something like $150 for a year. remember you might need (public liability) insurance to qualify for a license, though id recommend getting it even if its not required just incase.

I dont want to be called 'the greatest' or 'one of the greats'; let other guys claim to be the best. I just want to be known as a clown, to me thats the height of my profession. It means you can do everything-sing, dance, and above all, make people laugh


JamesguiverBRONZE Member
member
4 posts
Location: Bristol, UK


Posted:
Unfortunately I don't know about other countries but I know of two circus schools in England that offer full time, 3 year degree courses.

I attended Circomedia for a year on their course - they have a real focus on physical theatre and incorporating motivation and meaning into your peices. Circomedia is in Bristol -circomedia.com

The other full time course in the Uk is Circus Space - they focus more on technical skill (or so I'm told). Circus space is based in London. www.nationalcircus.org.uk/

In general (with exceptions) I have found the circus space performers to be at a higher technical skill level, but the circomedia performers much more able to make an act.

Both accept foreign students and will help with visa applications and stuff.


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