Circus school gets new national status

It is the only place in Britain where students can earn a degree in circus.

Formerly known as Circus Space, the London venue has now been officially recognised as the UK centre of excellence by the government and is being renamed the National Centre for Circus Arts.

A registered charity, the organisation is aiming to bring circus into the mainstream and hopes it will be recognised as a legitimate art form alongside other more traditional physical arts.

So what is it like to study circus? And do students manage to find enough work at the end of the course?

BBC News visited the newly named centre to meet some of the people studying there.

Video Journalist: John Galliver

Stop/Start is a series of video features for the BBC News website which follows both new trends that are beginning and old traditions that are coming to an end.