Degree course in Contemporary Circus and Physical Theatre
Housed in the beautifully renovated St. Paul’s Church building Circomedia is a centre for the full and part-time teaching of contemporary circus and physical theatre.
Circomedia is a circus school in Bristol that offers a creative program of physical theatre combined with classical circus skills and is renowned across the globe for the consistently high standard of its teaching. The school is fully endorsed by Arts Council England. And has twenty years of teaching experience having been founded in 1993 from a beginning at Fooltime, the first ever UK circus school.
One of the main teaching principles practiced at Circomedia is that of producing performers who are able to contribute to the creative process themselves as well as being a conduit for the directors concepts and interpretations. The school has a strong belief in developing its students in mind, body and personality.
A range of full time and part-time education courses are offered across two separate campuses and these include a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Contemporary Circus and Physical Theatre plus a choice of foundation degrees, professional diplomas and BTEC courses.
A number of part-time and evening workshops for over adults of all levels of ability are available at Circomedia and these include ariel skills, static and flying trapeze, silk or rope skills and acrobatics. Children over five years and young adults under the age of eighteen can enrol for the ‘City Circus’ program which has classes to for the introduction and and further teaching of acrobatics, juggling, stilts, trapeze and more to complete novices or more experienced students.
Circomedia operates from two sites in historic sites in Bristol. The location at Portland Square is housed in what was once St. Paul’s Church. This beautiful building was saved and renovated by The Churches Conservation Trust in 2005 and now features an expansive training space, a large and fully equipped mixed aerials practice area plus a studio housing the UK’s largest in-door trapeze set-up. This location is also home to the schools own performance hall which as well as presenting students production regularly acts as a normal theatre for professional companies performing circus, dance and physical theatre. The innovative use of this building recently saw it receive the Hudson Heritage Award for The Best re-use of a Heritage Building.
The campus at Kingswood is home to the Degree Course and contains four training spaces, plus the schools main library. The site is built around a central courtyard and other facilities include a cafe, private study room, IT suite and the main administration offices.