A new club in Cumberland County celebrates the artistic endeavors and the sense of community among those who love the circus.
Founder Ché Rippinger said Crossville was a perfect place to start The Crossville Circus Club, since it is within a reasonable distance of Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. Rippinger said the club is a primarily a Facebook, but in person meetings provide space for circus performers to practice. Rippinger said the circus community is small, but performing can be anything from a profession to a stress-reducing hobby.
“Like any artistic endeavor, whether you paint, or you ride a horse, or you do music, it’s something you can put your heart and your soul and your body into,” Rippinger said. “And it helps take you away and lift your spirit, and a lot of things like that.”
Rippinger said members of the club do not need to be experienced performers to join, and anyone interested in circus performance can get involved. Rippinger said circus performance was a hobby that later developed into a career.
Rippinger said part of the reason she started the club was to help grow the circus community. Rippinger said in recent years, the circus has used less animal performers and more humans, in areas like trapeze, juggling, and hula hoops.
Rippinger said the club has skill share sessions, where performers can try out new areas of circus performance.
“It’s where I’ll show you what I know, and you can show me what you know about your things,” Rippinger said. “You can use this hoop, and I can use this dragon staff, and we can learn new things and try different things. And make friends along the way too.”
Rippinger said some individuals from the circus club already perform in town at shows and birthday parties. Rippinger said the sometimes, Circus Club members perform together.
“It kind of depends on people’s schedules as far as what they’d like to do and what they are able to do,” Rippinger said. “So that might be an ebb and a flow thing, getting groups of performers. I’ve also gotten together and done duets with people and group numbers.”
Rippinger said group performances are a long term goal for the club, but for now, the group is meeting just for fun.
