A new training centre for circus performers has just been earmarked for an empty site by Nyugati station. The school for future clowns, acrobats and jugglers will be part of the new Capital Circus complex, ensuring the continuation of a centuries-long Hungarian tradition.
Due to move from its long-term home opposite the Széchenyi Baths, the Capital Circus will be augmented by a new national training centre alongside, at an abandoned site behind Nyugati station.
Some 170 artists currently receive tuition from 35 instructors at the old school on Városligeti fasor, opened in 1950 and named after its first director, Imre Baross. This ensures a constant flow of talent in a genre considered of special importance to the local economy, not to mention prestige – in terms of circus arts, Hungary is among the top five countries in the world.
Construction will soon begin on an former locomotive hangar at the Nyugati site. This will be the first step in creating a future National Circus Arts Centre. This will not only prepare future performers, but also teach the complementary professions of lighting and sound technology, as well as training ringmasters.
