Tumble Circus
On the 1 st of April 1995 at about 2pm ish on Grafton Street Tina Segner and Ken Fanning met and juggled with each other for the first time. That was how Tumble Circus started and it is now an international award winning circus company based in Belfast. The company has toured extensively throughout Ireland, Europe and the world and is run from caravans, hotel rooms and a Ford Transit van.
Tumble Circus is Ireland’s only non-traditional Big Top touring circus. They want to smash what we think Irish circus can be, they are pioneers and trailblazers in the evolution of Irish Circus.
When they were both in our early 20’s in the mid 1990’s they stumbled upon an exciting secret world of circus. A world that did not adhere to the normal rules, it was full of diverse wild, crazy people doing extraordinary things and it has never stopped being exciting. It was a world of street performers, acrobats, jugglers, clowns and aerialists, touring Europe and the world, appearing at art, music and street theatre festivals. The type of circus they did was not traditional circus, it was an alternative kind of circus. It was a new type of circus that reached out to other art forms, they shared their skills and use circus as not just entertainment, but as a force of radical change in the world.
After a few years of busking and street performing they both went to circus school in Bristol. They immersed themselves fully into the imaginative world of circus, and began to see and understand the full potential of the art form. Inspired by the circus shows that they have seen and the companies they have toured with they began to dream of their circus. When they returned to Ireland there was no circus that they wanted to run away with so they made their own.
They have performed at arts and street festivals around Ireland and Europe. They have headlined Glastonbury Festival’s Circus Big Top. Played at Edinburgh Fringe, Perth Fringe World and Adelaide Fringe Festival. They been seen in Norway, Iceland, Canada, Australia and many other countries. They have toured their big top shows all over Ireland. Their Winter Circus season in Belfast has become a yearly fixture and sell out. Their unique circus films are watched by thousands worldwide and they have won awards for our circus shows, films, and directing.
Ken Fanning
Senior artist and co-founder of Tumble Circus. Ken has written and directed circus work and acts for the company and for many other artists and companies. He trained and qualified from Circomedia circus school in Bristol. He has performed all over the world in group shows and in solo projects as an artist, acrobat, clown and film maker. His award winning work has appeared under big tops, on the street and on the screen, all over the world.
Tina Segner
Senior artist and co-founder of Tumble Circus. In 1995 Tina came to Ireland and got involved with a street theatre company. It was here that she was first introduced to circus. Tina was immediately hooked, and this passion for physical skills was to take her to Circomedia in Bristol. Since then she has performed nationally and internationally from fields in Sligo to deserts of Australia.
