Circus and Performance Art

This school lets people be who they are and gives us the support to develop our own style and personality

Iris

Student year 2

I chose Circus and Performance Art at Fontys because I was seduced by the opportunities and connections we have here. In fact, we are part of a multidisciplinary campus where we are lucky enough to work with people from other disciplines. Fontys encourages exchange and cohesion between the different branches of the campus, allowing us to learn from each other.

The school offers a unique programme! Minor, in the 3rd year, which allows you to train outside the school for a while, and I think that's a real advantage! It allows us to tailor our training more closely to what we want.

The challenges may lie in the autonomy. We have a guest teacher system where artists are invited to teach for a few weeks at a time, which is great because we get to learn in a different way, but it can also be challenging in the weeks when we have no teachers to train on our own and remember the advice.

Teachers help us achieve our goals by being extremely open to what we ask. We will always have the opportunity to adapt a training to a need or a wish, because the class is based on respect and consent.

We are part of a community where everyone knows each other. There is always help available between students when needed.

We go to school to learn, but it is also the place where we find our friend.

Circus was for me a way to approach my working life using my body, I then discovered that it could be way more!

Cecilia

Alumnus

I started circus when I was 16. When I approached it the first time I was not aware of how many working possibilities this field could open up. I started it with the aim of becoming a performer/interpreter and came out of the 4 years of studies as a creator and technician/rigger as well.

During the studies, I developed technical skills on my circus apparatus, I learned how to approach artistic creation and additionally I developed rigging competences focusing my minor on rigging, both by getting the certification and practicing during festivals with internships. I’m self employed in the art scene covering different roles: I’m a performer, interpreting roles in different productions as a straps artist, I’m a rigger and light/sound technician for circus/theater productions, fairs and concerts and I’m also a creator developing different kind of art forms, from performances to installations involving in them my technical skills and my artistic researches.

If I think about circus, I see a group of people creating, working and living together. I see circus as a family where everyone has a main competence but still supports the main goal, while always growing . I believe this concept can be translated to different art fields, since as a recent graduate I found myself creating as much as taking care of other various aspects such as productions, marketing, technical competences,... all of these kinds of knowledges nourish my person and my art.