Higher education - CNAC Châlons diploma course
Three year diploma course: Dnsp and Ba equivalent in "arts"
The national higher professional diploma for circus artists (Level II): a ministry of Culture diploma.
A BA equivalent in "Arts" – Subject: "performing Arts" – Option "Circus Arts," is awarded by the University of Picardie Jules Verne.
From 2023, this Degree will be awarded by the University of Reims-Champagne-Ardenne (URCA).
Following some extensive work in connection with the new accreditation procedure for our training offer, the three-year DNSP course will be entirely organised at the CNAC in Châlons-en-Champagne from the start of the 2020 academic year.
The new class (35th) recruited in the spring of 2020 will therefore be the first to complete their entire course at the CNAC, and to be taught by the same teaching team.
From now on, these students will be awarded the following diplomas:
- the Diploma in Culture: National Higher Professional Diploma for Circus Artists (DNSP-AC) and, from 2023, a degree in Performing Arts awarded by the University of Reims-Champagne-Ardenne (URCA).
This new system will make the national offer of higher education in the circus arts clearer.
The École nationale des arts du cirque in Rosny-sous-Bois will now offer a two-year preparatory training program.
The ÉNACR, the Académie Fratellini and the CNAC will join forces to jointly organise the training for the State Diploma for Circus Teachers (D.E. Cirque). Consult our page.
Three years of studies are spread over six semesters
More than 3,000 hours of teaching:
- three years (Dnsp 1, 2 and 3) at the CNAC in Châlons-en-Champagne.
- four taught units for 180 ECTS credits (European Credits Transfer System):
trans-disciplinary core syllabus
core theory subjects
core practical subjects
strengthening/widening subject fields.
Table of units taught and ECTS credits for the three-year course : being updated, soon to be online again.
A course that leads to professional working life
Throughout the course, the CNAC facilitates and applies prepare students for professional working life situations.
During Dnsp 1
The group show at the end of Dnsp year 1 is an important step in the course, as the students are required to work under a director, while creating a strong artistic project. This circus performance should emphasize, in a unity of style and time, the qualities of each student from a technical point of view and across the variety of subjects taught (dance, theatre, music and stage design, etc.).
Each year a different performing arts professional is asked to direct the performance. The work is then performed several times.
During Dnsp 2
- two weeks work experience with a company
- Repertory piece
The course now places particular emphasis on reinterpreting or recreating repertory pieces. This approach encourages Cnac students to network and to develop professional relationships. It also highlights the school's commitment to helping the history and memory of the circus live on.
The students work on a reference piece from the circus repertory with the artists or the circus companies who created the work. This enables students to experience the various artistic approaches and processes while broadening their circus culture knowledge. The exercise ends with several public performances.
In Dnsp 3
- In Dnsp 3 it is possible to join a "tutor" artistic team for a defined period of time within the framework of a partnership agreement.
- Les ÉCHAPPÉES
The students' course is interspersed with periods of research and creation dedicated to the development of their artistic identity and to experimentation in the ring. This work culminates in the 3rd year with performances known as "ÉCHAPPÉES," which enable each student to show the results of their technical and artistic research. These performances are often a step in a long-term creative process continued upon leaving the CNAC.
