7 Month Professional
Circus Training
Circilár PRO – Designed for emerging and professional circus artists ready to elevate their craft and career.
Application Deadline September 16th at 12pm
Ireland’s pathway
for contemporary Circus Artists
Circilár is a new home for contemporary circus arts in the heart of Ireland. Founded by Aoife Raleigh and Tony Mahon, our mission is simple: to support and elevate the next generation of circus artists through world-class training, community, and creativity.
We believe circus is more than an art form - it’s a powerful way to express, connect, and transform. With Circilár, we’re building a space where emerging and professional circus artists can find the skills, confidence, and pathways needed to build a sustainable career.
Expert-led training
in theatre, dance, conditioning, and flexibility.
1-on-1 mentorship
in your primary circus discipline.
Career development guidance
from auditions to project building.
198 hours of training
plus additional self-practice space.
Discover the Course
Watch Our Information Session
Missed our online information session on 2 September? You can now watch the full session at a time that suits you.
Get an in-depth look at the course, including a detailed breakdown of each module, a tour of the facilities at Shawbrook Residential and Motion Chapel, and an overview of the application process.
The session also includes a Q&A, where attendees had the opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the course.
Three Stages.
One Goal .
Your Next Level.
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11th Jan - 12th March
1 week break 15-19th February
Full-time at Shawbrook Residential, Co. Longford. Core subjects, professional development sessions and specialist workshops.
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29th March - 4th June
Part-time, in your home region. 1-on-1 tuition, tailored training plans, subsidised training spaces.
2 day Mid Course Check-In at Motion Chapel
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7th June - 7th of August
3 day creation workshop at Motion Chapel
5 days at Motion Chapel, Co. Roscommon. Focus on circus school prep, pedagogy, or project development.
Final showcase at Roscommon Arts Centre
Is Circilár PRO for You
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People with experience in circus, dance, gymnastics, parkour, martial arts or theatre.
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Emerging and professional circus artists (18+).
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Artists ready for intense physical training and creative risk-taking.
Total Course Cost
Full Course Fee: €1,500
+ €500 if you require accommodation for Module 1
Key Dates
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes we will accept applicants from outside of Ireland however preference will be given to Irish applicants who have an appropriate level for the course.
We would also like to highlight that you will have to provide your own accommodation for Friday and Saturday nights for the duration of module 1.
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While the space we are using for module 1 and module 3 is not riggiable we will have a free standing rig in situ for the duration of the modules.
This is not ideal but Module 1 is time for all artists to build a foundation in physicality, movement, theatricality and experiment with other skill disciplines which can enrich their main practice, we are planning that there will be plenty of ground based activities that the student can work on.
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Yes this course is eligible for Local Authority funding and Arts Council Ireland funding.
If you are receiving Jobseekers Benefit or Jobseekers Allowance you may qualify for a Training Support Grant.
If you are a member of the Irish Street Arts and Spectacle (ISACS) network in need of financial support then you can apply for a bursary to support your accommodation for module 1. Application for this bursary is part of the Circilár PRO application form.
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We are open to a range of expierences from practicing professionals to emerging artists.
We are looking for people who are not total beginners. You might have a background in dance, gymnastics, martial arts, theatre, parkour or circus. You will be pushed physically and so we need you to be up for a challenge.
You do not need to be already working in circus but we want people who can show that they are committed to making circus their profession.
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The physical preparation course will aim to address the unique needs of the body in contemporary circus. The course will cover strength, flexibility and conditioning using a fusion of historical acrobatics training and modern sports science. The students will also receive education on how to structure and progress their own training for their careers post the course.
Class will include; handstands, flexibility and strength and conditioning.
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All classes are mandatory in Module 1. Each week there will be 2 hours of Dance, 4 hours of Theatre, 6 hours of Physical Preparation, 2 hours of Choreography & Creation, 2 hours of Object Manipulation/Equlibristics, and 2 hours of Aerial/Acrobatics.
These workshops are designed to give students a basic level in a wide variety of disciplines.
These subjects can enhance students own practice as well as making them a more dynamic artist when it comes to working for a company or in a group.
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We will match you with a mentor based on your region, skill level and skill discipline.
If you already have a mentor in mind we are open to working with you to approach them. If there is not a mentor available in your region, and you are open to travelling, or online classes, we can pair you with a mentor in another region or country. Mentors can be outside of the tutors named as part of the course.
The mentor’s fee is covered as part of the course. We have relationships with regional training spaces who are offering discounted or free training to students during this module, we cannot cover rental fees for other spaces.
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Students must commit to attending at least 90% of the classes in each module. If your attendance is below 90% in any module you will not be able to progress to attend the next module.
This course is highly subsidised and competitive and we want to ensure that the students who will get the most out of the course are the ones attending.
We will work with studetns who have proof of needing to miss class for unavoidable reasons on a case by case basis.
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Can I pay in Installments? Yes. The full course fee is €1500. If you require accommodation for Module 1, there is an additional €500 fee.
You can pay this in one or two installments. The first installment of 50% is due in November to secure your place on the course, and the remaining 50% will be due in February.
We are open to talking to each individual to agree a payment plan that that will work for them .
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Circilár PRO is not currently an accredited course. However, we are committed to delivering training of the highest standard, designed in consultation with industry professionals and tailored to meet the real needs of emerging artists. Accreditation is something we are exploring for future editions.
The course is funded by Arts Council Ireland and Longford County Arts Office, and we provide reports to them to ensure accountability, quality, and impact.
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For Module 1 - 128 hours of tuition, 16 hours of lectures and 112 hours of open training.
For Module 2 - 20 hours of one on one time with your mentor and 2 days of talks and workshops at Motion Chapel, including 1 night accommodation
For Module 3 - this varies depending on your choice of strand, all include 5 days space rental, 5 days with your mentor as well as a 3 days creation workshop and 2 days tech, rehearsal and performance at Roscommon Arts Centre (accommodation included for all of the above)
198 hours of tuition in total with an additional 112 hours of open training space.
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All applicants will be contacted by early October. We may have more questions and request a call with some indivudals.
Each person will receive either a yes, a no, or a place on the waiting list. If you are placed on the waiting list, you may be offered a spot if a student drops out of the course.
For Module 2, we will match each applicant with a mentor. We will consult with each applicant to ensure they are happy with their mentor before confirming the pairing.
To secure a place on the course, each student will be required to pay 50% of the fee by mid-November.
Meet your tutors
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![Emmet Louis]()
Emmet Louis
PHYSICAL PREPARATION
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Emmet Louis is an internationally respected coach specialising in mobility, hand balancing, and strength conditioning for circus artists and movement practitioners. He initially trained at Circomedia, Bristol and the National Centre for Circus Arts, London, before working as a professional performer on the London corporate circuit. After an injury brought his performance career to a close, Emmet transitioned fully into coaching and has dedicated the last 13 years to teaching and developing advanced training methodologies. He is the creator of the Modern Methods of Mobility system and co-creator of the Handstand Factory, both of which have become influential resources for circus professionals. Emmet has coached artists internationally, collaborating with circus schools, professional companies, and independent performers. His teaching combines deep technical expertise with a creative, adaptable approach, supporting artists in achieving both longevity and excellence in their careers.
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Isabela
OBJECT MANIPULATION / EQUILIBRISTICS
&
ACROBATICS / AERIAL
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Isabela is a Brazilian/Irish circus performer and educator with over 22 years of experience, 14 of those professionally and the last 8 years as a full-time educator. She graduated at the National Circus School of Brazil, is currently finishing her BA in Physical Education, and was Head Trainer at Galway Community Circus. She has completed the European Circus Transformation Course (CTF) and A.S.K Training (Assistant Training Sharing Knowledge) and has delivered multiple training for trainers for Irish and international trainers.Her main circus disciplines are Handstand, Washington Trapeze and Contact Juggling, though her background also includes acrobatics (gymnastics/tumbling, trampoline, Icarian games, partner and group acrobatics), aerials (silks, trapeze, dance trapeze, aerial perch and aerial hoop), object manipulation (contact juggling, and basics in ball and club juggling, flower stick, spinning plate, cigar boxes, hula hoop, diabolo), and equilibristics (tightwire, funambulism and basics in globe, rola bola, and stilts)
Her teaching methodology is strongly game-based, focused on finding creative, accessible and enjoyable ways to learn and explore new movement pathways, while also being influenced by the rigour and discipline of Russian and Cuban technique backgrounds.
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Angelica Santander
THEATRE | CLOWN
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Angelica Santander is a clown, director and early years practitioner, her work combines theatrical, circus and clowning elements. She strives to create original work that exposes and questions the essence of our humanity, its ridiculousness, purpose , fears and desires.
She is currently touring Juanita’s Big Problem, a 50 minute solo clown show that deals with plastic pollution and Desert Bloom , an early years show inspired on the magic of nature.
Angelica is interested in exploring themes that are relevant to our times such as climate change , equality, migration-immigration and technology. To create work that is challenging and inspiring for children and adults alike.
Angelica has presented her work in diverse festivals around Ireland such as Roola Boola Children’s
Arts Festival 2024, Hullabaloo Children’s Festival 2023-24, Grasshoppers Festival, Balbriggan 2022-23-24,
Scene and Heard Festival, Dublin 2022/23/25, Daring Dames Festival, Achill 22/23/24, Pagliacce Festival,
Turin, Hullabaloo Children’s Festival 2023 among others.
In parallel she works as a physical theatre and clown mentor for professional performers. Over the years she has mentored several circus artists such as, Conjunto Pepelin, Symmetry Circus, Polina Shapira, Claire Higgins,Erika Brocca, among others.
Her latest achievements include being part of the Cairde festival Unveiled Programme for new work with TOO LATE, her latest solo clown show. Directing the Galway Community Circus Young Ensemble Performance COSMOS, 2025. She was awarded the Manifesto Residency with the circus quartet LAS CUATRO, 2025. The Supported Residency from Twisted Lane Productions ,2024. Being part of the Dcp’s Boost programme, as theatre and clown tutor and assistant director for their show SCLIMPINI(2023). Being awarded the Catalyst Residency with the clown duo Skin and Blisters,2021. She is the Recipient of the Arts Council Streets arts Bursary Award, Agility Award ,2021 and Artist Development Award 2020
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Catharina Lowe
Choreography & Creation
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Catharina, AKA Anica, Louw brings over 40 years of international dance expertise to her work. She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of LD Dance Shawbrook in Co. Longford, established in 2000. Under her direction, Shawbrook has grown into one of Europe’s premier dance retreat and residency centres, featuring multiple studios and both indoor and outdoor theatres. Today, it hosts national and international companies and artists throughout the year. Previously, Anica served as Principal of the Shawbrook School of Dance (1979–2016). She holds a BA in Dramatic Arts, a Higher Diploma in Education (Languages & Drama), and is a lifelong member of the Royal Academy of Dance. A qualified ballet teacher and experienced festival organizer, Anica has played a pivotal role in shaping the Irish dance landscape through her teaching, leadership, and commitment to nurturing both emerging and established artists.
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Alain Servant
THEATRE
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Alain Servant is a French actor, director, musician and writer. He co-founded the Company ‘Tour de Babel’ in 1989, aged sixteen. The company worked for twenty- five years across disciplines and cultures, through a combination of visual arts, dance, theatre and music, and touring internationally with more than twenty shows, including in France, the Mediterranean (Tunisia, Lebanon) and Central America (Guatemala, Panama, Cuba). Alain specialized over this time in mask acting and the connection between acting, movements and music. He also has extensive experience working with different groups through theatre, including young people, people with disabilities and work in prisons.
He is now an independent artist, based between France and Dublin, where he has been developing his work as a director in the areas of circus and dance, and songwriter and performer (duo with John Linnane). He is also artistic director of ‘La Devignñre’, an artist residency in south-west France.
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Simone O'Toole
DANCE
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Simone is a contemporary dance artist whose work fuses bold physicality with evocative storytelling. Trained at Fontys Dance Academy in the Netherlands, she began her career collaborating with Dutch-Brazilian choreographer Guilhermo Miotto before returning to Ireland to work with leading creatives including Catherine Young, John Scott, Fibín Teo, Pan Pan Theatre, and various film companies.
In 2022, Simone was Associate Artist with Irish Modern Dance Theatre, receiving the IRIS Award in partnership with the Merce Cunningham Trust and Irish Arts Centre, New York. She is Contemporary Dance Coordinator at Dublin’s full-time training hub Taaffe Training. Her choreography has appeared at Dancer from the Dance Festival, The Samuel Beckett Theatre with Mespil in the Dark, and Fibín’s Waltsáil Abhaile at An Taibhdhearc, Galway.
Recent highlights include co-creating Terra with Brazilian dancer Alessandra Azevedo(Dublin Fringe Festival 2024), receiving the Arts Council Bursary Award for her visual work Terra Femina, and touring with Catherine Young Dance Company’s Ciseach and Floating on a Dead Sea. In 2025, she begins a new work with her own SOTO Dance Company under Backstage Theatre Longford’s Activate Residency, She is choreographer for CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s broad reach program called Performing Memory (Dublin Fringe Festival 2025), and becomes part of the faculty for University of Limerick’s BA in Irish Dance.
Simone is a contemporary dance artist whose work blends bold physicality with evocative storytelling. Trained at Fontys Dance Academy in the Netherlands, she began her career in The Netherlands with choreographer Guilhermo Miotto before returning to Ireland to collaborate with Catherine Young, John Scott, Fibín Teo, Pan Pan Theatre, and various film companies.
Simone was Associate Artist with Irish Modern Dance Theatre, received the IRIS Award in partnership with the Merce Cunningham Trust and Irish Arts Centre, New York. She is faculty at Dublin’s full-time training hub Taaffe Training. Her choreography has featured at Dancer from the Dance Festival, The Samuel Beckett Theatre (Mespil in the Dark), and Fibín’s Waltsáil Abhaile at An Taibhdhearc, Galway.
Recent highlights include co-creating Terra with Brazilian dancer Alessandra Azevedo (Dublin Fringe Festival 2024), receiving the Arts Council Bursary Award for her visual work Terra Femina, and touring with Catherine Young Dance Company’s Ciseach and Floating on a Dead Sea. In 2025, she begins a new work with her own SOTO Dance Company under Backstage Theatre Longford’s Activate Residency, choreographs CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s Performing Memory (Dublin Fringe Festival 2025), and joins the faculty for University of Limerick’s BA in Irish Dance.
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![Tony Mahon]()
Tony Mahon
OBJECT MANIPULATION / EQUILIBRISTICS
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ACROBATICS
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Tony is a multi disciplinary circus artist and tutor based in Mullingar with 19 years experience in the sector.
A profficent object manipulator, skilled eqilibrist and Gymnastics Ireland Level 1 coach he has also studied all things acrobatics including trampoline and teeter board at Escola De Circ Rogelio Rivel in Barcelona and later served as a teaching assisnt there.Tony has a passion for raising the bar in Ireland having delivered countless manipulation classes and workshops throughout Ireland and was head tutor for Galway Community Circus ambitious funabulism programs WiresCrossed/Lifeline from 2016-2022.
As a tutor Tony draws on extensive professional performacne and facilitation experience to support other artists in development of their skills, expression and embodied awareness. -
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Jonah Mc Greevy
ACROBATICS / AERIAL
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Jonah is a multi-award winning producer, director, choreographer, rigger and performer with over 15 years of experience working in circus and spectacle, as well as theatre and dance. In his own work with Loosysmokes and elsewhere, Jonah specializes in large site-specific spectacles, immersive aerial acrobatics shows, design and fabrication of aerial structures and apparatuses, and original rigging and stunt techniques. He’s devised, performed and toured numerous productions throughout Ireland and abroad. He works as an outside eye and creative consultant on projects throughout the country.
As a performer, Jonah trained extensively in Paris, Barcelona and Buenos Aires in hand to hand and partner acrobatics, singles and doubles trapeze, Chinese pole, and more recently has focused on experimental doubles and group movement incorporating dance acrobatics from numerous disciplines.
Jonah has taught aerial, handstands, and partner acrobatics for over a decade and works hard with students to develop the stability, stamina and power to steadily progress to advanced tricks. He focuses heavily on approaches to body maintenance, rehabilitation and recovery techniques, and injury prevention.
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Chloe Commins
AERIAL
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An aerial performance artist, who has performed regionally and internationally, her performance work is inspired by generational stories and personal experience.
Chloe has produced and curated a number of cabaret events, such as ISL Fest and Wild Roots.
In 2023 she presented RESONANCE. An aerial theatre piece with takes inspiration from her experience growing up CODA (child of Deaf Adult)and includes ISL (Irish sign language) physical theatre and aerial hoop. She has had the opportunity to show this at the Scene & Heard festival Dublin, Festival of Fools Belfast and as a full length solo show at Dublin Fringe festival.
In 2024, she travelled to Vienna, Berlin and Italy as part of research and development for JANAS company. She was invited to partake in the judging panel for Dublin Fringe Festival. She also worked with companies such as Dead Centre, Amanda Coogan and the Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, and acted as an aerial advisor the show 'The Race' at the Ark theatre Dublin.
In 2025, She performed for Lunar New Year festival and Teelings Whiskey, and taught on a physical theatre course 'The Physical Stage' in Porto Portugal.
She frequents the Dublin Drag scene as a resident artist with Haus of Wig.
She is fluent in Irish Sign Language and holds a degree in Chinese and Business from DIT.
“We believe the world is a better place with more circus in it.”
Founders Aoife Raleigh and Tony Mahon
“We recognise that there is a lack of multidisciplinary, specialised training opportunities for circus artists to develop their practice in Ireland. Both of us had to leave the country at different stages in our careers in order to grow our skill sets. While it's absolutely fine to go abroad, we believe you shouldn't have to.
Circus has changed our lives for the better, and we want to share that experience with others, helping to strengthen and enrich Ireland's homegrown circus community. We believe the world is a better place with more circus in it.”