The European Federation of professional circus schools

The Cnac has been a member of the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools since it was founded in 1998. The main role of the Federation is to :

- build special links between those establishments which have a shared educational direction and identical aims,
- improve circus arts teaching by organising a professional stream,
- encourage and support international exchanges and obtain the necessary means to bring these into effect,
- promote the work of young artists and help them integrate the workplace,
- encourage the collection and diffusion of information in the area of circus arts teaching,
- provide a set of ethical rules and a professional code of conduct, leading to a European chart of professional training for the circus arts.

EPE Programme (European Pedagogic Exchange network)

With the support of the European Union (the Leonardo Da Vinci project), the FEDEC set up the EPE network as the first key step in a huge project of multi-lateral exchanges and pooling of skills at the heart of the Federation.

The EPE network devised six specialised professional training modules, of six days each, with one further module for the trans-discipline subject of safety and rigging.

These modules brought together trainers and students along with observers and took place in the different member establishments of the FEDEC between 2005 and 2007. The results, available in different formats, are available for consultation on the FEDEC website.

Download the circus arts basic instruction manuals.

In a continuation of the EPE programme, in February 2008 the Cnac hosted an exchange and training module on the teeterboard initiated by the FEDEC and open to member schools.

The programme was for the most part based on :
- Hungarian teeterboard (beginners, intermediate and advanced levels)
- Korean teeterboard
- small teeterboard, with transfer to acrobatic lifts.

Each afternoon was dedicated to teeterboard or trampoline workshops, as well as round table discussions with the participating students.