In the performing arts, employers are not directly responsible for organizing continuing professional development (CPD) activities for employees, as is the case in the vast majority of fields. The implementation of all training is the responsibility of the Assurance Formation des Activités du Spectacle, a third-party operator in the employer-employee relationship whose actions in terms of advice, validation or financing, can influence professional trajectories. Combining approaches from the study of street level bureaucracy, social rights and legal consciousness, the aim of this article is to document the link between CPD and individual professional trajectories in the performing arts, based on an empirical study of choreographic performers and circus artists. Showing how actors use their rights and manage to do “with the law”, this article draws on an array of data on professional trajectories to illustrates how CPD works in a flexible employment system.