In this illuminating opinion piece, Shana Kennedy, the visionary founder of Circadium, delved into her personal narrative and the formidable journey of establishing America’s pioneering school for circus arts.  Kennedy’s odyssey started in 1995 when, as a 19-year-old aspiring American circus artist, she found herself compelled to venture abroad in search of professional training. Her story unfolds the inception of Circadium, its rigorous path to becoming a licensed vocational school in 2017, and the subsequent milestone of attaining full accreditation in 2024. Her account provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the meticulous process that not only validated the school’s pedagogical and administrative excellence but also affirmed its commitment to advancing circus as an art form domestically and globally. As Kennedy’s  journey expanded, Circadium has not only redefined the landscape of circus arts education in the United States but has also crafted a legacy for artistic innovation and opened doors for the art form and its future students.

In 1995, I was 19, and I wanted to become a circus performer.  Finding no pathway for this in the United States, I traveled abroad to find a professional circus school.  After years back in the US performing and teaching, I realized that the gap in contemporary circus’s breadth and quality was directly related to the lack of training opportunities here. Young artists, determined to succeed in this field, were leaving the country, and often not returning.  

While youth recreational circus programs have proliferated in the United States, very few children grow up to become professional circus performers.  American circuses and arts presenters still need to rely heavily on international circus artists.  

And so I set out to establish Circadium, America’s first school of higher education for circus arts.  The school opened to its first students in 2017 as a vocational school licensed by the Pennsylvania Board of Education.  And with the accreditation awarded in 2024 by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, Circadium has met the highest professional standards for pedagogy and administration.  We have built something to last – an institution that can grow and shape the future of circus in this country and the world over.

The school has a mission of providing students with professional training in contemporary circus, and preparing them for work in circus and related performing arts fields.  After 3 years of full-time study, graduates are awarded a Diploma of Circus Arts.  

Our curriculum includes Aerials, Acrobatics, Juggling, Conditioning, Flexibility, Physical Theatre, Dance, Circus History, Dramaturgy, and more, with a strong emphasis on artistic creation.  

Achieving accreditation has made a strong statement to the circus community about our efforts to provide the highest quality educational program.  It means that our school demonstrates positive student outcomes, such as retention, graduation, and employment.

While all of that sounds dry and bureaucratic, the result is that less time at the school now needs to be spent debating policies and procedures, giving the faculty the freedom to focus on achieving learning objectives with their students.

Clarification of policies was just one of the reasons that the accreditation journey was undertaken over many years.  Additionally, the Circadium faculty and Board of Directors wanted students to be able to access federal financial aid, and for international students to be able to access student visas.  They wanted to demonstrate to the country that careers in circus are legitimate, and that these careers can be trained for as much as any other profession in the performing arts.  Finally, they were determined to evolve the art form, by providing time and space to deeply incubate new ideas about circus.

Along the way, Circadium’s community members learned many lessons.  The administration had to adopt new standards of diligence and documentation.  The faculty had to commit to significant additional time in meetings, syllabus-creation and grading.  Students had to accept stricter policies and less customization of the program.  In exchange for these trade-offs, everyone experienced greater fairness and clarity in the way the school operates.   

In 2017, Delaney Bayles was 19, and she wanted to become a circus performer.  She joined Circadium’s first class, coming to Philadelphia from Utah, and she graduated with a Diploma of Circus Arts in 2020.  In the years since, her professional career has taken her all over the world.  

For students like Delaney and dozens of others who have trained on our Circus Campus, Circadium has become the pathway to a career in circus arts.  As a fully accredited program, Circadium is now poised to be a trailblazing institution in the United States for the next generation of circus artists.

For more information about the school, visit www.circadium.edu

Main image: Circadium interior Photo@Erin Riedel

Shana Kennedy

Executive Director at Circadium -UNITED STATES

Shana Kennedy is the Executive Director of Circadium, a 3-year, full-time, higher education program for circus artists in Philadelphia. Circadium is the first state-recognized vocational circus college in the U.S., as it grants a Diploma of Circus Arts, licensed by the Pennsylvania Board of Education and accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges. Prior to founding Circadium, Shana trained as an artist at Circomedia in the UK, and worked as a professional aerialist and juggler for many years. In 2000, she founded the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, which is currently a thriving recreational school with over 400 students per week. Shana's husband is renowned juggler Greg Kennedy, and they have three college-aged children.