Tucked away in a row of warehouses, the South Florida Circus Arts School may not look like much from the outside, but stepping through the front doors can be a transformative experience.

Lengths of aerial silk hang from the 25-foot ceiling, suspending women who are practicing acrobatic moves that mimic a mid-air ballet. A 9-year-old girl with clown face paint ambles by on three-foot stilts. A man who looks like he should be the starting tailback for the Miami Dolphins contorts into impossible shapes while a class makes game efforts at matching him.

Welcome to the circus.

``It's a total-body thing,'' says Ebon Grayman, an instructor at the school who spent more than a decade with Cirque du Soleil. ``When you're doing circus, it's about controlling your own body, not just a couple of weights. There's nothing like it.''

The school offers a variety of training programs, and teachers like Grayman focus primarily on core strength, running students through a warm-up battery of poses that look like extreme yoga.

The crux of a circus workout is working with one's own body weight -- a high-impact series of movements and motions that test and increase dexterity.

The school is unique to South Florida.

``We're the only game in town,'' boasts owner Laurie Allen, whose daughter Elisa -- the one with the stilts -- has taken to the big-top game.

Asked how long she has been on stilts, Elisa replied, ``I just learned yesterday.''

Classes range in size from busier sessions Wednesday and Thursday nights -- when about a dozen pupils of mixed experience levels pack the sweltering classroom -- to one-on-one workouts during the days and weekends tailored to the individual. The workout looks fun but is actually quite grueling.

``The sweat really pours in here,'' Allen says.

After warm-ups, students split into groups to scale silks and climbing ropes. Advanced acrobats walk novices through swinging trapeze routines, launching themselves from a wide wooden ring and onto mats that cover the floor.

Tina Reine, a striking blond whose tall, thin frame floats between the draped silks as if she was born there, points out that every fluid movement is difficult.

``It's harder than it looks,'' said Reine, who makes the weekly trip to the class from Palm Beach Gardens. Before her current career in carbon commodities trading, Reine was a Las Vegas showgirl who also auditioned for Broadway shows. Circus gives her an exhibitionist outlet while also keeping her in shape.

``It just brought me right back to what I'm passionate about and what I love,'' she said. ``I look forward to this night all week long.''

Big-time shows like Cirque du Soleil have scouted the school, and recently the Las Vegas-based La Réve signed circus veteran Grayman. But while he waits for the call to action, he plans to continue to train for Allen.

``My philosophy is to work hard but to have fun doing it,'' he said. ``And nothing is more fun than this.''

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