It is with profound regret that we announce Circadium’s closure, effective June 1, 2026. We will complete our ninth year of classes and graduate our seventh cohort.
When we founded Circadium in 2017, we envisioned creating something unprecedented: a licensed, accredited institution of higher education dedicated to nurturing contemporary circus in the United States.
Against all odds, we achieved this vision. While our days were devoted to providing rigorous training in physical circus skills and artistic craft, behind the scenes we navigated the labyrinthine world of accreditation—expensive, complex, and demanding. The process transformed our systems in countless ways and earned us recognition from organizations worldwide, from FEDEC to Philadelphia’s City Council.
Yet one of our central reasons for pursuing accreditation was to secure financial aid for our students. The defunding of federal education programs has made this impossible.
The cumulative weight of pandemic losses, the steep costs of accreditation, and government policies increasingly hostile to the arts, international students, and financial aid have ultimately proven insurmountable.
Over the next five months, we will continue to work with our students on their artistic processes and their career paths. We will produce two final performances: The Benefit Show on January 17, and the Grand Finale on May 26-27. We hope that all of our supporters will come out for these special events.
A final note to our graduates — you are the living embodiment of our hopes and dreams!
Only thirty-five Circadium Diplomas of Circus Arts will ever exist in this world. We hope you treasure them. We hope you treasure each other, and continue collaborating to create the art you believe in, the art the world needs to see.