Year 1

In the first year the focus is on improving your technical and performing skills.

• You will be prepared to take a wide range of subjects in circus techniques and learn about the various circus disciplines.
• The programme includes: circus history, health and anatomy, cultural philosophy, dance, theatre, ballet training, music and physical preparation.
• As of the second semester you concentrate on your chosen specialisation. But you also continue taking classes in the various circus disciplines.
• You create a group production with other students, supervised by a choreographer (Circus from Dance).
• You design and perform a solo act or a duet.

Year 2

The second year is an intensive year and marks the start of the main phase.

• You take intensive specialization classes in small groups.
• You continue with the various circus discipline classes, but can make a choice in which classes you want to follow.
• You continue with the artistic creative classes from year one and start with Laban Movement Analysis, which principles will return in other classes.
• The theoretical programme includes circus history, health and anatomy and safety.
• You take part in a group production about circus based on theatre.
• You create and perform personal work, in which you will be guided by an artistic coach and a duet. For the duet you will collaborate with a fellow student from another specialization.
• You will participate in two project weeks, one of which is circus based, the other focused on cross overs with other disciplines

Year 3

In the third year, your independence as a circus performer becomes more important.

• You take intensive specialisation classes in small groups.
• You can do an internship with a company in the Netherlands or abroad, for at least three weeks.
• You take classes in entrepreneurship to learn about production, marketing/PR and financial management.
• You create one solo piece and one duet. For the duet you collaborate with a fellow third-year student from another specialisation.
• Together with a coach you develop your own training programme. By now you know what the best warming up is for you.
• You make a production, supervised by a circus maker/director.

Year 4

The final year is your graduation year, with the following highlights:

• Your specialisation: with a coach chosen by you you will optimise your individual act.
• You take classes in the fields of music, light, sound, production, costumes and styling. You use this knowledge in making performances.
• You write a graduation paper, demonstrating that you have analytic research skills. You are capable of presenting a convincing and appealing performance and you have a well-considered view of the profession.
• You graduate with an individual act and a group production supervised by a renowned circus maker. You perform these in one of the larger theatres in Rotterdam.

After graduation

Already during your studies at Codarts we bring you in contact with the professional network, such as Fedec and Circostrada. You take part in festivals like Rotterdam Circusstad, Cirque Mania, PERPLX and Circa (Auch). Every year you get the opportunity from local and international initiatives to join their projects.

Our partners will show you their spaces and way of working. Codarts Circus Arts works together with Circusnext – European Circus Label, Theater op De Markt, Korzo – Cirque Mania and PERPLX.

After graduation you can start as an independent artist or be part of a collective. A number of our alumni work in professional Dutch companies like Panama Pictures, Scapino Ballet, TENT en Boost. Circunstruction follows students during their studies and supports them after graduation at the ‘creation workshop’.

More and more of our graduates find jobs at international circus theatre companies like: Grensgeval and Circus Ronaldo (Belgium), Seven Fingers and Cirque Eloise (Canada), Cie XY en Cie L’MRG’ée (France), Fabrica C (Italy), Compañía de Circo “eia” (Barcelona).

Many artists who started a business on their own got awarded at the international circus world for example with the BNG Circusprijs and at the Young Stage Festival in Basel, Atoll-Festival in Karlsruhe en 30 CC in Leuven (Belgium).

Many of our alumni start their own collective. To name a few: Tall Tales Acrobatics, Circus Katoen, Janus, Knot on Hands, Tooling Bodies, Company Sinking Sideways and Company Trenina.