Professionalization experiences in an artistic training context: The case of the circus arts
This article suggests a better understanding of the professionalization experiences in two higher education contexts in the performing arts: the National Circus School (Canada) and the National Circus Arts Center (France). This qualitative-interpretive research (2018-2020) is based on the concept of experience, on the Theory of activity, and on a large dataset of annotated observations, individual interviews, and focus groups. This paper invites readers to consider existing literature as well as the experiences and testimonials of participants to shed light on the diversity of forms professionalization experiences may take in this particular training context.