UK Circus Club brings circus acts to campus

Kylee+Pipgrass+teaches+MJ+Camarato+a+new+technique+called+%E2%80%9CThe+Muduring+Practice%E2%80%9D+at+the+Circus+Club+on+Friday%2C+March+24%2C+2023%2C+in+Barker+Hall+in+Lexington%2C+Kentucky.+Photo+by+Stephanie+Foster+%7C+Staff

Stephanie Foster

Kylee Pipgrass teaches MJ Camarato a new technique called “The Muduring Practice” at the Circus Club on Friday, March 24, 2023, in Barker Hall in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Stephanie Foster | Staff

Stephanie Foster, Reporter

The University of Kentucky’s Circus Club will host its first public performance on Friday, April 28.

The club, founded in 2021, offers students opportunities to learn or practice circus arts, such as juggling and aerial arts. 

They will have showcases at 5 p.m. at 7 p.m. in Barker Hall room 104. Admission will be $1.

“We have a whole bunch of talents that will be there,” MJ Camarato, a UK junior and member of the circus club, said. “Acro balancing, aerial skills, definitely juggling … We are going to do routines that are done and ready and play music too in the background.”

Jess Farace, founder and first president of the club, said a class that merged circus arts and philosophy inspired her to create the club. She wanted other students at the University of Kentucky to have the opportunity to experience circus arts too.

Kylee Pipgrass, a second year graduate student at UK, is the current club president.

“My favorite thing about Circus Club is the supportive community,” Pipgrass said. “I am a very competitive person … Circus (Club) is the first experience that I have had with something physical that wasn’t just to be competitive or to do something better than someone else beside me. We’re all working to build skills together, and (Circus Club) is a skill-sharing club.”

The Circus Club meets every Friday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Barker Hall room 104.

Students don’t need prior knowledge or experience in circus arts to attend club meetings, but signed waivers are required at the beginning of each session. 

More information about the Circus Club can be found on their website and their Instagram.