"Courses that connect you to real life employment"
Circus Maniacs believes in supporting each Artistes' unique development, as an individual. Our professional circus arts training programs are therefore flexible and personally tailored.
We do not run full-time courses geared up towards 'qualifications' as we know 'qualifications' are of no real bearing to performers seeking employment within the Circus Industry.
Infact many of our students believe that a pre-structured more generalised course would only frustrate and distract them from meeting their primary goals.
If you want to gain employment in circus and many related performing arts, what is essential is achieving a good standard of physical performance skills; offering a great product (act/show); working hard to promote yourself and having a good professional attitude; ascertaining some good contacts; plus having a spoonful of good luck along the way.
Our circus training programs are for Performers & Artistes who:
Are looking for specific circus training relevant to the International Circus & Performing Arts Industries.
Require a fast-track, personally tailored, circus training programs; i.e. just the relevant bits, not general courses.
Need the space, time, plus professional support to turn their ideas for new exciting projects into a reality.
If you've always fancied running away to to Circus, then this is your chance - a fun filled day (or 1/2 day) of pure escapism!
A Great Gift Idea for Birthday, Christmas & Wedding Presents, also as Prizes, Surprises & special Incentive Rewards for staff at work. In fact, if you are purchasing the course for one or more friends as a present, we will give you 'special vouchers' in exchange for your payment.
Taster courses are recommended if you:
if you would like to have a go at something different for a bit of fun, or
are interested in signing up for a longer course, but are a bit unsure and would like to have a go first
are looking for something that bit more unusual to try with your mates!
are looking for an idea for a 'Surprise Present' to give to someone close to you!
For Adults in 2009, on Sundays throughout the year we are offering:
General Circus Skills Tasters (1/2 day)
Trapeze & Aerial Skills Tasters (1/2 day)
The Total Circus Taster Experience (combined - 1 day)
The Taster Workshops we have coming up are:
Sunday 8th February 2009
Sunday 8th March 2000
Sunday 10th May 2009
Sunday 14th June 2009
Sunday 12th July 2009
Course fees are as below:
10am - 5pm Adults Circus Taster; Whole Day Experience. £50 per person
10am - 1pm Adults Circus Taster; General Circus Skills. £25 per person
2pm - 5pm Adults Circus Taster; Trapeze &Aerial Taster. £25 per person
PLEASE NOTE WE ALSO OFFER BESPOKE TEAMBUILDING WORKSHOPS;
AND ALSO WORKSHOPS FOR BIRTHDAYS, STAG & HEN PARTIES etc....
SPRING TERM – started Mon 5th January, but do check with us regarding places as you may still be able to join in and pay pro-rata...
N.B. SUMMER TERM (starts: Mon 20th April 2009)
EVENING CLASSES:
We have some great adult's classes this term here at Circus Maniacs....
If you've missed the start of term, but don't want to miss out on all the fun, please contact us, as you may still be able to join a class and pay a pro-rata rate.
Mondays:
7pm - 8.30pm General Trapeze & Aerial Skills (All Levels) with Lisa
Tuesdays:
7pm - 8.30pm General Trapeze & Aerial Skills (All Levels) with Lisa
Wednesdays:
7pm - 8.30pm Acrobatics & Tumbling (All Levels) with Tao
8.30pm - 10pm Chinese Pole (All Levels) with Tao
All courses are running from 5th January - 30th March for the Spring Term and April 20th to July 13th for the Summer Term. All terms run for 11 weeks.
To sign up for a term for evening classes the costs per term are as follows:
SINGLE Choose any 1 evening class £85.00 (*£60 conc.)
BRONZE Choose any 2 evening classes £160.00 (*£125 conc.)
SILVER Choose any 3 evening classes £225.00 (*£180 conc.)
GOLD Choose any 4 evening classes £280.00 (*£235 conc.)
plus there is a £20 annual membership fee....
Courses fill quite quickly, so if you are interested do not hesitate to get in touch asap. Either give us a call on 0117 947 7042 and speak to Katalin or Hannah, or EMAIL Us!
We are also considering running the following Evening classes in the near future, please contact us to register your interest:
Core Conditioning & Stretching
Tight-wire
Doubles Trapeze
By the way, the picture below is of 2 Actors we were training up to walk the Tight-wire whilst singing for the musical BARNUM.
Circus Maniacs has had years of experience training many different casts who have performed this musical. Directors, please don’t leave it until the last minute!!!
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ADULTS PERORMANCE PROJECTS
Both Group Projects commence Thursday 5th / Friday 6th March ‘09
Initially running until mid-July....
If you have some technical skills already under your belt, and are interested in taking part in one of our performance projects, we will have several opportunities coming up shortly, the first of which will be starting at the beginning of March 2009!!!!
Photo credit: March of the Dead – Strange Works, photographer Joseph Hibla
During the Spring and early Summer a group of Circus, Theatre, Performance orientated individuals will be guided in a series of workshops in order to explorer, devise and create a performance.
Workshops will involve circus, dance, theatre, music as well as any talents you may already possess.
The process will aim to result in a small tour.
This will be excellent experience for anyone interested in creating their own performance work, as an individual or in a group.
Experience is not essential, however enthusiasm and commitment are essential.
SESSION TIMES:
First Group: Thursdays 6pm – 8pm/8.30pm .... Starting 5th March or
Second Group: Fridays 2pm – 4pm/4.30pm .... Starting 6th March
COST:
£120 (80 concessions) 16 sessions
This project is initially scheduled to run until early July, with a possible extension.
TO APPLY / JOIN
Please send a note of who you are and why you want to join
to EMAIL or a TEXT to 07951 – 596 078
Duos & groups welcome.
BUILDING ON LAST YEAR’s SUCCESS, WE WILL RUNNING TWO DIFFERENT 1 WEEK EASTER INTENSIVE COURSES.
And the 3rd fantastically exciting options is you can combine them together for a full 2 week course!!!!!:
The dates are:
Week One: 30th March to 3rd April & Week Two: 6th to 10th April 2009.
The Week One Circus Course will offer training in general circus skills. e.g.:
i.e. Week Two offers the same specialist skills that we teach on our specialist 2 week Summer School below.
All 3 course options are ideal for:
actors, dancers, gymnasts etc.. wishing to gain new skills
performing artistes and students who are considering entering full-time Circus training,
teachers from other Youth Circuses who are interested in learning less familiar skills,
plus anyone else who just wants to experience all the fun, challenges & thrills of the Circus!!
No prerequisites, participants of all types and levels of technical ability are welcome.
However, to take part in skills we offer in the Week Two course you will need to be generally physically fit, and your stomach muscles need to be in good shape
If you are uncertain about your physical ability to cope with this course, please contact us to discuss.
If these skills are new to you, you may like to enrol on one of our Adult Circus Taster courses beforehand, to give you an idea first.
Training times:
Monday – Friday 10am - 5pm each day, both weeks..
Fees:
Week One costs: £200 (£160 conc.) plus membership per person
Week Two costs: £200 (£160 conc.) plus membership per person
Weeks One & Two combined costs: £370 (£300 conc.) plus £20 membership per person.
Accommodation:
As for the Summer School (please see below)
N.B. If you decide to stay in the City Centre, it takes about 20 minutes on the bus to get from the Bristol City centre to Kingswood and it’s a direct route.
actors, dancers, gymnasts etc.. wishing to gain new skills
performing artistes and students who are considering entering full-time Circus training,
teachers from other Youth Circuses who are interested in learning less familiar skills,
plus anyone else who just wants to experience all the fun, challenges & thrills of the Circus!!
No prerequisites, participants of all types and levels of technical ability are welcome.
However, you will need to be generally physically fit, and your stomach muscles need to be in good shape.
If you are uncertain about your physical ability to cope with this course, please contact us to discuss.
If these skills are new to you, you may like to enrol on one of our Adult Circus Taster courses beforehand, to give you an idea first.
The last 5 years the summer school has had a terrific atmosphere and students & tutors have all really enjoyed the experience.
Training times:
Monday – Friday 10am - 5pm each day, both weeks..
Which means that you have Saturday and Sunday off between week one and week two, so can use this to relax and enjoy visiting Bristol, Bath or many attractions in the surrounding areas.
There may be some possibilities of an odd evening training during the week, if so, this will not cost extra and we can let you know nearer the time.
Fees:
Fees cost £370 (conc. £300) plus £20 membership per person.
Accommodation:
If you can’t stay with friends locally you could try the following options:
The Kingswood Foundation
[This is a charity who own the site where we are based may have a limited number of rooms to let - i.e. you live on site, right by the circus school!]
Bristol Back-packers
[This is right in the centre of Bristol, so good for going out in the evenings!]
Bristol Youth Hostel
[This is also right in the centre of Bristol, so good for going out in the evenings!]
N.B. It takes about 20 minutes on the bus to get from the Bristol City centre to Kingswood and it’s a direct route.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO made by Alun Thurston – an ex-student.
CONTACT Us!
GO ON OUR EMAIL LIST TO BE THE FIRST TO HEAR ABOUT OUR PLANS FOR 2010!!!
Circus Maniacs is a registered local Partner in the UK Government’s new ‘Change4Life’ Campaign to help encourage families and particularly children live healthier lives.
As part of your chance to get your children involved in one of the most diverse and exciting of physical skills on offer, we are running a number of exciting one-day training opportunities throughout the year designed for youth people aged 8+ to come and have a go.
Our next up-coming Youth Circus Taster Days are:
16th, 18th, 19th or 20th Feb ‘09
13th, 15th, 15th, 16th or 17th April '09
26th, 27th, 28th or 29th May ‘09
Costs: £27 per day (10% discount or 4 or more children booking at same time, 15% discount on groups of 10 or more).
Circus Maniacs also offers lots of other cool training options for young people aged 3+. These include:
Circus Bugz – weekly specialist training scheme for 3 - 7 year olds
- Caterpillars Club (3-5’s) Saturdays 10.00am – 10.45am
- Butterflies Club (5-7’s) Saturdays 11.00am – 12.30pm
Youth Courses - a weekly range of options for ages 7 - 18
* these classes will be running from 7th March onwards – sign up now!....
Holiday Courses (next: 16th, 18th, 19th & 20th Feb ‘09, then: 13th - 17th April '09, then: 26th – 29th May ‘09)
Summer Schools (next: 27th July – 1st August ‘09;)
Circus Party Workshops
Private Classes - skills specific
Outreach Programs - for schools, youth & other community organisations
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WHAT’s NEW in 2009 !!!!
AUDITIONS !!!! 28th FEBRUARY ‘09 @ 1.30pm !!!!
2 x NEW PROFESSIONAL YOUTH CIRCUS COMPANIES
Circus Maniacs is starting a:
JUNIOR YOUTH CIRCUS COMPANY (ages 8 - 12) and
SENIOR YOUTH CIRCUS COMPANY (ages 13 - 18)
Are you talented? Enthusiastic? Determined? Disciplined? Adventurous?
These are brand new Professional Youth Circus Companies that will build upon the strengths of previous International Award-winning projects that Circus Maniacs has run over the last 10 years.
We are calling all serious young performers to come and join us and participate in a unique fun and exciting experience.
Learn to perform all sorts of Circus Skills including: Trapeze, Acrobatics, Tight-wire, Juggling, Manipulation, Chinese Pole & much more.
The training commitment is approximately 5 hours a week for each of the groups.
Both Junior and Senior Performance Groups training sessions will run
from 7th March until end of the Summer term.
Fabulous opportunities to take part in performances, festivals, and training camps in Summer 2009.
Any International travel opportunities for the Senior Company that we can arrange in connection with our Partners from the N.I.C.E. Network, will be heavily subsidized by the European Union.
AUDITIONS - for both Juniors and Seniors :
Time: 1:30pm, Saturday 28th February 2009
Place: Circus Studio, Circus Maniacs School of Circus Arts, Kingswood, Bristol.
What to wear: Please attend wearing appropriate clothing as for PE or Dance.
You will take part in a circus workshop, after which we would like to ask you to make a short presentation of your existing skills (any) that should last between 1 and 3 minutes.
We hope to see you !!!
For further details and registration please EMAIL Us!
If you really want to take part but can’t make this audition date, please contact us, we may still be able to consider you for a place.
SCHOLARSHIPS / BURSARIES
Circus Maniacs will be offering a limited number of Scholarships Bursaries to assist talented and fully committed Young Performers. More details on application.
*** GIVE US YOUR VALUED SUPPORT ***
If you are interested in being part of any of these new ventures as a sponsor, volunteer or supporter in some way, either give us a call to let us know on 0117 947 7042, or EMAIL Us! and do ask to go on our mailing list so you will be the first to be up-dated with our process. Thanks!
Circus Maniacs School of Circus Arts is an Independent Arts Training Organisation founded in 1995, which is currently based in Bristol (in the South West of England). The school is legally registered as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. Company registration no: 05551548 (Head office address stated below).
Circus Maniacs offers training in a diverse range Circus Arts covering all aspects from Trapeze & Tight-wire to more ground-based skills such as Chinese Acrobatics, Stilt-walking, Juggling etc..
Our youngest students are just 3 years old, the oldest student whom has enrolled with us was 83!
To find out more about the training programmes we currently offer,
PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING QUICK LINKS:
You can also navigate around the page using the tabs at the top of each section.
OUR TUTORS:
The Circus School's Director is Jackie Welbourne, the UK's highest achieving physical circus artiste to date having won major prizes at the top international circus festivals held in Paris & Monte-Carlo; and formerly starring as an aerialist with leading international companies like Cirque du Soleil.
Head of Acrobatics is Guo Tao, from Tianjin Acrobatic Troupe, who has been working for Circus Maniacs for over 5 years.
Tao is a distinguished performer, winning a Golden Lion award in 2000 at China's top acrobatic festival held every 4 years.
He brings with him a lot of new (non-western) skills and techniques.
Many of the Circus School tutors are professional performers who either teach part-time or are guest tutors.
This helps to keep ideas and techniques fresh for our students, particularly for those who have enrolled for Professional Training and/or Act Development.
CHINA TRIP 2008:
In 2005/2006 assisted by the UK Trade & Investment’s Passport to Export initiative (Creative Sector Industries), Circus Maniacs received export training training and some support in visiting potential international markets including China.
In September 2008, whilst on our 3rd trip to China, (this time funded by the Chinese) Circus Maniacs signed a co-operation agreement with Taiyuan Acrobatic Troupe.
A team of 3 of us were invited as their guests: Jacqueline Welbourne (Director/Choreographer), Tao Guo (Chinese Acrobatic Coach) and Gareth Bailey (Corde Lisse specialist); to work for a couple of weeks as consultants / trainers giving an insight into western creative choreographic approaches.
Above (left): Business discussions... and Mr Wei (the Director) teaching Gareth Bailey how to conduct a Chinese Tea Ceremony, and (right): A few of the many delightful and amazing hard working performers that we taught.
OTHER INTERNATIONAL TRAINING & EXCHANGE OPPORTUNITIES
N.I.C.E. (Network of International Circus Exchange)
Circus Maniacs is also a founder member of N.I.C.E., that was set up in 2005 to assist organisations working for the benefit of young people to facilitating International exchanges on 3 levels: Young People, Volunteers, and Trainers.
This came about because of international cooperation that had already been developing between various organisations, as a result of which our Youth Circus Performance Company has had some very exciting opportunities to take part well subsidised cultural exchanges over the past 10 years.
If you are between 13 – 25 and would like to take part in an International performance project or workshop this summer (2009), please contact us – we will be recruiting shortly! To check out all our current training opportunities, please click on the ‘Youth Circus Activities’ link above.
Above (left): Some of the delegates at the inaugural NICE conference on 2005, and (right): at a management meeting in Lille 2008.
YOUTH IN ACTION PROGRAMME
In 2008 Circus Maniacs was vetted and approved by the British Council as a promoter of the European Commission’s ‘Youth In Action Programme’.
As a result of this Circus Maniacs is now able to act as both a host and a sending organisation for the European Voluntary Service (EVS) programme which offers young people (18-30) the opportunity to volunteer abroad, primarily in Europe, for a period of two to twelve months.
Shorter placements of two weeks to two months are available to young people with fewer opportunities.
So far funding has been approved for Circus Maniacs to host 6 Volunteers, so by Easter this year we expect to have 6 European Volunteers working with us: one from Sweden, one from Germany, two from Portugal, and two from Turkey.
NETWORKING ON MYSPACE....
Who I'd like to meet:
Potential Students, Circus People, Acrobats, Professional Performers and Teachers (with Physical, Comedy or Burlesque skills).
Extreme Sports fanatics (air, sea or land!), plus anyone who has a particularly unique talent to share!
Also Musicians, Producers, Venue or Event Managers, and people with creative production skills interested in Circus Arts collaborations.
Our Address (Head Office):
Circus Maniacs School of Circus Arts
Office 8a, Kingswood Foundation,
Britannia Road, Kingswood,
BRISTOL BS15 8DB
England (UK)
If you’d like to buy a Circus Maniacs T-Shirt please EMAIL US for sizes and prices.
Below is our recommended video playlist of Circus and related Performing Arts that have been specially selected (we will be regularly changing / adding to the playlist).
Please enjoy, and we hope we see you soon all geared up ready and inspired to start training with us!!!!
Antonio Hoyos will be joining us on the 16th of June, appearing as "The Great Antoine!"
We are delighted that this great comedic performer can join our line-up.
The Pop Haydn Post-Modern Medicine Show will be appearing at The Laugh Factory, 8001 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood! One show at 8:00 PM.
Pop will be joined by Professor Dave Bourne and the Medicine Show Band, Rob Zabrecky, Sophie Evans, Antonio Hoyos, Phil Van Tee and Pop's Candy Girls for a wonderful show of Old Time Music, magic, comedy and variety.
It'll make you feel better!
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
19th Century Attire Welcome!
You can buy tickets at LaughFactory.com or call: 323-6561336 ext 1.
For more information and video go to my Myspace Profile or:
Circus fans should check out the documentary, “Tearing Down the Tent,” which features a behind the scenes look at the characters that fill a circus tent.
Told through the adventures of Jamie Reel, who runs away to join the Cole Bros. Circus, the movie shows Reel getting to know the cast of circus folk as he works as a clown, helps with the camels, stands inside the Moto-Globe of Death with a motorcycle racing around his head and rides an elephant.
Here are some links to the project as well as links to a trailer and behind the scenes footage of the documentary, which covers a wide range of topics from the foreign workers being unable to work for the circus because of the visa issue; gay clowns; sexy trapeze artists and death defying stunts the performers discuss with glee, showing the adrenaline junkies they really are. Told with humorous interludes that show the personalities that make up a circus, viewers will also see a glimpse of the struggles a circus family must go through to stay on the road.
I wish there was a Circus Maniacs in my neighborhood - your site is so inspiring! And to think I used to live so close to you - in Portishead... Big Crazy Happy waves to Circus Maniacs! ~~~~~~~~~~alison~~~~~~~~
