The main circus hall of Arc En Cirque resembles the hull of a boat turned upside down – it’s ceiling curved, with wood and steel panels arcing overhead. One Sunday morning in April, I entered this room with 25 other perspective students to audition for their preparatory program, the second group to audition that weekend. Lo and behold, I was accepted by email a few days after.

This, however, is not an article about how to get in to circus school. I could write a listicle with hot tips, telling you what to wear and what kind of number to prepare. Those articles already exist and there is truth therein – go and read them. But as someone who spent three years trying to get into school in four different countries, let me share the advice given to me by the current director of my school: There really is no goo...