I started circus at the age of 12 and joined “Ell circo d’ell Fuego” at 15. At the age of 18, I enrolled in the Acapa Circus School in Tilburg, Netherlands. There, I graduated in 2018 with a specialization in aerial straps.
Afterward, I worked at various venues and performed at the Young Stage Festival in 2019. Following that, I began touring with my act at GOP in Germany.
In my work, I also enjoy establishing a connection with the audience and focusing on what lies beyond the technical aspect of aerial straps. I am deeply committed to exploring personality expression.
Through my work with aerial straps, I advocate for a safe and healthy training method. This not only keeps the body free from injuries but also prepares for performance work.
Aurélien OudotKim MarroAnna WardOriginally from Vancouver, Anna Ward graduated from the National Circus School of Montreal in 2000. She toured internationally with her solo swinging trapeze act with several companies, including Cirque du Soleil (Saltimbanco and “O”), before joining Cirque Éloize for the show Rain, where she began practicing the Cyr wheel. Since 2012, she has been presenting various acts combining these two disciplines in various shows and cabarets.
Anna collaborates on numerous creative projects exploring new approaches to circus performance, both as an artist and a designer. She co-founded the multidisciplinary performance company Nord Nord Est with Benoit Landry, born from their first creation, Le Voyage d’hiver, in 2013.
Currently, her time is divided between her exploration of acrobatic expressiveness, her company’s projects, and her university studies in choreography.
Since 2022, she has been teaching aerial disciplines at ESAC (École Supérieure des Arts du Cirque) and at the Académie Fratellini.
Florian VuilleMichel CerdaAs a theater director since 1986, I have found myself drawn to playing with others as well as with myself, leading me to diversify my work as a director and engage in artistic collaborations with circus, dance, contemporary magic, and puppetry companies.
I am also interested in actor training (text and improvisation with clowning) and directing, and have conducted workshops and interventions in institutions such as TNS, ENSATT, and FEMIS. I have served as a practitioner at the Department of Performing Arts at the University Paris Ouest-Nanterre La Défense and as an associate professor at Aix/Marseille University.
My recent theater productions include Synge’s “La Source des Saints” in 2017 at Studio-Théâtre de Vitry and La Commune in Aubervilliers CDN, followed by performances at T2G in Gennevilliers and La Joliette in Marseille, where I currently reside.
My most recent collaboration as a dramaturge and director in circus was “A Ciel Ouvert” with Cirque Aïtal in September 2022.
This year, I will be offering a workshop on dramaturgy and stage techniques to our first-year students.
Vincent Van TilbeurghAt the age of 14, I discovered my “calling” by attending a show, igniting a passion for live performance within me. For 17 years, I worked as a lighting technician, primarily in dance and theater. In 2000, my life took a turn when I discovered circus, first at CNAC for 4 years, then in Rosny-sous-Bois for 11 years. As someone who traverses mountains in search of verticality, serenity, and beauty, it was only natural that my encounter with circus changed my life. I found more authentic human connections there, as well as the physical engagement akin to mountaineering and rope work.
The term “technical director” has always sounded strange to me; I see myself more as a Swiss army knife, a boundary setter, a door opener, a facilitator, ready to tackle the improbable challenge of creating a show. In 2017, I chose to work as an independent contractor, collaborating with companies and organizations such as the Libertivores Company, the CABAS Company, and the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.
I enjoy the concentration, the nerves, the emotion, the human contact, the adrenaline, and the beauty, whether on a stage or on mountain cliffs. For the past five years, while working with companies, I’ve enjoyed collaborating with teams that make me believe a new world is possible!
Matthias TempetteMatthias Tempette is an artist graduated in Chinese pole and unicycle from the Carampa Circus School in Madrid and a former student of ENACR where he learned circus-related techniques. With 10 years of artistic and technical experience, he now intervenes at ESAC during the Exit sessions alongside Vincent Van Tilburg.
Sandrine JeanvoineI am originally from Brittany, France, and I have been living in Brussels since 2017.
The guiding thread of my life can be summed up in acrobatics, both in its practice and in its teaching.
At a very young age, I joined the National Center for Acrobatic Sports in Rennes, France, which supported me until I became part of the national acrobatic gymnastics team from 1992 to 2000 (participating in several World and European Championships). In parallel, I obtained a university degree in physical education teaching as well as my coaching diplomas.
In 2000, I discovered the teaching of circus arts at the National School of Châtellerault, France. Acrobatic movements became not only a foundation for practicing circus equipment but also a broader means of creative expression that nourished my sensitivity to movement. I expanded my areas of expertise to include lifts, balance, trapeze-dance, and more.
Since 2017, I have been teaching intermittently at various higher education institutions such as ESAC in Belgium, CNAC in France, and ACAPA in the Netherlands.
Today, I teach at ESAC, where I explore with all my authenticity and in collaboration with students, a unique and creative technicality.
Jesse HuyghJesse has always been athletic: competing nationally in gymnastics and judo, alongside swimming and circus, leaving him little time for other hobbies.
After graduating from ESAC in 2011, where he specialized in Chinese pole, he continued to train in straps, ground acrobatics, and partner acrobatics throughout his career as an acrobat. As an artist, he has worked for various prestigious companies worldwide, such as Cirque Eloize, NoFitState Circus, and Casus. Since 2016, he has been one of the founding members of the Collective Sous le Manteau, whose first show, “MONSTRO,” premiered in January 2019. Following health complications in the summer of 2020, Jesse was replaced in this show, allowing him to embark on a new creation: “À 2 Mètres,” supported by ADM vzw (Premiere in May 2021).
In parallel with this artistic career, since 2011, he has also developed pedagogical work. Jesse has been involved in professional training since 2011, not only at institutions such as ESAC (Brussels), Académie Fratellini (Paris), Codarts (Rotterdam), ACaPA (Tilburg), ECB (Bordeaux), but also through numerous masterclasses and workshops worldwide. In 2021, Jesse joined the teaching staff at ESAC.