And now for something completely different... I had a good friend visiting from out of town who has always been a bit of a daredevil. Recently she's gotten into trapeze lessons. Apparently us Montrealers don't know how lucky we are to have three trapeze schools in one city. In Calgary, where she lives, there is only one and its seasonal. So upon her insistence we signed up for a 2 hour afternoon lesson at Chateau du Cirque. It's in an old movie theatre on St Denis near the Jean Talon market. The people were super friendly and welcoming and the instructors were very patient. Our class was a mix of newbies and more experienced people. The class felt very safe as you were always connected to a safety line. By the end of a two hour class I was able to complete a basic trick of hanging by my knees from the bar and catching the wrists of the catcher on another bar. This is a really fun and non intimidating place to try out a circus class, I definitely recommend it for a unique outing with family or friends. Just FYI two days after the class my shoulders are killing me... but totally worth it. read more

So here's the thing: I'm afraid of heights. I'm not talking regular afraid of heights- I'm talking my knees give out while I'm in line for roller coasters and I occasionally I may go blind if my heart begins to race too quickly. That being said, it was a hell of a Saturday fun-tivity for me to attend my friend's flying trapeze class birthday party (it's good to challenge yourself, no?). First of all, the space is really interesting; appended to a large gospel church, the hall offers a large trapeze area and ample space for all other circus practices, as well as a large bleacher/seating area. Throughout our visit they had chill beats going with a giant projector screening old Cirque du Soleil videos. Imma just say it- I felt really cool being there. Speaking to the price, you really get what you pay for here. For two hours it's $300 which isn't half bad because you can really bring a sizeable group, making it quite affordable. The one suggestion I would have however is perhaps if they had a staff member who took photos during the party- it's pretty impressive stuff for the average person so I feel like they would up their marketing game with more in-house done photos. The first hour of the class was main-à-main activities (basic circus mounts) which I LOVED. Everything was explained well and the instructors assisted us all individually in getting the mounts right. In this spirit, I have to say the staff is fantastic. If I counted correctly we had at least five different staff members who were available for us during the two-hour period, all to ourselves. All of them were bilingual and incredibly talented, friendly and helpful. With this, after I finally got the gumption to climb the tall tall ladder up to the trapeze platform I had two very sweet circus performers to talk me down from a doozie of a panic attack. As luck would have it, I did manage to jump off the platform and successfully trapezed (high up in the air, I am proud to say!). I didn't muster the courage to go up again, but there's always next time! read more

This was honestly incredible. My girlfriend and I called them earlier today and asked if they had any availability, and they told us we could come in pretty much straight away for an hour lesson with 3 instructors. All total it cost us $135CAD. Let me start by saying that I have *never* done something like this. The closest I've come is rock climbing a little bit. But they had me up flying on the trapeze literally within 15 minutes of walking in the door. By the time we'd left, we'd each down backflips off the trapeze, and been caught by another acrobat mid-air. The staff was incredibly friendly. I was scared the first couple tries (which must have been very obvious) but everyone was so professional and you're strapped in to safety harnesses, so I just said screw it and went for it. So glad I did, we had an incredible time. Absolutely well worth the price, if you have any doubts just go for it, you will not regret it. Thank you again to the whole staff! read more

Le Château de Cirque - Specialty Schools Near Me - Montreal, Quebec

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