Circus Center

Circus center was great! "Thwan" Michael, and Nan?? were all fantastic. Came with a group of 7th and 8th graders and had a wonderful exciting time. They had three stations consisting of juggling and balancing tools, acrobatics, and the highlight of the day, the trapeze! I even got to try a few times and the crew was so encouraging! Both of my kids are already bugging me to come back and I'm sure we will. They even shared an encouraging message at the end of our time. *****!

have been coming here for a few weeks and enjoy it a ton! it's super wide open and the staff and teachers are all really nice EXCEPT ONE PERSON who I will not name but actually made the experience really awful for me and would not take classes with her again tbh. Basically criticized my form and was extremely critical and not supportive the entire time. so I guess wanted to flag that one experience here somewhere as this felt not warm and welcoming but having gone to a different instructor I've enjoyed it a lot more.

NORMALLY 4.5/5 stars, but putting this here as a flag / indication

The teachers/ circus artists who work here are the real deal. My teenaged daughter takes flying trapeze and aerial arts here. The community is kind and authentic, and the teachers are experts. My daughter would live at this place if she could. I am so inspired by everything I have seen here, that I am plucking up the courage to also do flying trapeze, and will certainly be taking a silks class. We are so grateful for the presence of Circus Center in our lives.
Massive shout out to Austin and Hurdlyn; two very amazing, inspiring young men.

Circus Center is in an old gymnasium near Kezar stadium. It's near Ashbury Heights. This center has circus and gymnastics activities for kids and adults. It's fun and they have shows for circus. Maybe it's fun to try sometimes.

I have enjoyed taking classes here over the years. They rule! The only thing i noticed is that the music degraded - it used to be instrumental and a really great vibe but now people blast destiny's child and top 40 music which doesn't go with the circus spirit. It's even hard to hear what the instructor is saying because the music is so loud and distracting! I guess it's a paid partnership ??? I'll mention it during my next class but it detracts heavily from the circus which is an art form! I'm a bit sad it got corporate like this but maybe people can pay extra to not have to strain over the top 40 music! Other than that it's great, I went midweek and expected a lot of rich stay at home moms like a yoga class which is ok but instead it was an assortment of a dancer cool male students (cord classes rule). The level is very challenging even for people who think they are physically fit and the instruction is always patient and chill

Great classes for all ages, levels, and large variety of classes. Clean, friendly, inclusive community of students, teachers, and staff. I highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn a new skill, sharpen to deepen their practice or try something new.

This is first and foremost a legit school for the performing arts. Just have a look at their main hall where they fly. Take a long, good look at the skills they demonstrate, then consider the amount of hard work and training they undertook to acquire said skills. Then fall back into wonder again.

For me. Nope--I have grown portly and lazy when once flying through the air on the trapeze might have been a thrill.

For my teen son--bliss. Could not peel him away from the Friday night taster. So, I had to buy a pack of classes to let him return. Did you know he was 1/3 monkey?

The staff are uber happy and wonderful people people. Yes, I know they are doing their job. But it was an exemplary demonstration of how to make guests feel welcome and belong.

So begins the hard work... making time in our insanely busy schedules to drive my son to yet another activity, and letting him work out so he can fly. And for that, thank you Circus Center.

I love coming here for the Stretching/Flexibility for Everybody classes. I had previously been to another Stretching class in San Carlos and the instructor was really mean to first-timers like me who had trouble following what was happening. I found Circus Center to be extremely welcoming to all levels.

So what is a Stretching class?
These classes are 90 mins and aren't just classes where you come in and get a nice, leisurely stretch and learn how to touch your toes. These classes are more like conditioning classes for people who want to do circus, so you get pushed to your max where it feels like your hamstrings are going to pop and you leave feeling very sore.

I started coming to these classes when I decided that I wanted to be able to do a split. There are beginners like me, but there are also advanced people who both make you feel lame yet inspire you to become the limber god/goddess that you are deep inside.. very deep inside.

Classes usually start with some kind of warm up and then progress into a series of leg flexibility exercises that end with (trying to) doing front and side splits. It's fine if you can't do any of those things, since the goal is to work towards that. It's also fine if you can already do those things, because the instructor will challenge you further (some people were practicing to be able to do splits upside-down in mid-air!). I would say the majority of class is focused on legs, but the remaining time is focused on chest and shoulders to be able to work into contortions.

All of the instructors I've had were great, but I think only Christine is still teaching here. The gym itself is a little older, and it's questionable when the last time the carpets were cleaned. However, the friendly and dedicated people far outweigh any of that.

I KNOW I would take a class here if I lived here. This place is so great and the people are too!

I came here to a Friday circus jam with my friend and we learned to juggle. It's free! We had Oscar and he was a great instructor! He was very encouraging and sincere even though I was pretty hopeless. He really breaks down the technique and is really helpful. Bonus: the next day, we did SF Trolley Dances and he was one of the performers! He is clearly a master of his craft.

Another bonus: when we checked in for the jam, we realized there was a show that night so we got tickets for that. They were only $15! The show was more than worth the price. Some audience fun and some really entertaining acts! Maybe more clowning than was necessary for me personally, but everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy every act. All the performers seemed to be good friends with each other and casual, and after the show, they were happy to take pictures and talk to everyone in the audience.

The whole place just felt like a fun-loving and friendly environment. If you're visiting and run out of touristy things to do, this is a really great choice!

I've been taking Acrobatics classes from Xiaohong for over five years. He is the real deal. He pushes me to my limit and spots me like a pro, so I never feel unsafe. There's really no workout quite like his Intro to Acro class, that must be experienced to appreciate. He's been teaching for over 20 years and performing his whole life. His peppy attitude and ability to make the class accessible for everyone is a rare skill to come by. He teaches advanced students but also is patient with beginners. Highly recommend!