The Hopkins community is brimming with talent — from the harmonious voices that emerge from the many a capella groups to the agility of the many athletes to the researchers who spend hours experimenting in the lab. Then there are a handful of other students who can add more talents to this diverse list: juggling, staff and unicycling. And the list does not end here.
Every Monday night in the Mattin Center, the Hopkins Entertainers Club combines the theatrics of the stage, the coordination needed on the athletic field and the experimentation of a scientist to bring a diverse set of quirky skill sets to their shows. Members practice juggling, staff (twirling of big sticks with lights or fire on both ends), poi (the twirling of tethered weights into different geometric patterns), magic, yo-yo and unicycling among many others, but the group is particularly renowned for their performances with fire.
The Entertainers Club puts on one main show each semester. They also do small performances in multi-group collaborative shows, such as the O-show during freshman orientation and other cultural and performing arts projects throughout the year.
For the fall show, the performance begins indoors with strobe light performance then heads outdoors for the group's signature fire spectacle. In the spring, the show is entirely outdoors and entirely about fire.
"The best part of working with fire is that everyone who walks by our performances feels compelled to stop and watch because the fire is just so captivating!" sophomore Sara Popham, Vice President of the Entertainers Club, wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter. "Honestly though, it was absolutely terrifying the first time I ever tried spinning with fire, but you get used to it. The one thing that you never get used to though is just how LOUD it is when the fire's right by your head. I totally didn't expect that."
However, fire is not the only thing the club plays with. Colorful lights, a dizzying amount of twirling, juggling, unicycling and juggling while unicycling are all part of their repertoire. Sophomore member Sierra Costanza has juggled everything from balls to clubs to knives.
"It's just awesome. It's something that not a lot of people can do or take the time to learn so it's a cool and unique skill to have. It's fun to learn new tricks and stuff," said Costanza when asked why she juggles.
The nearly 20 members of the Entertainers Club come from different backgrounds and levels of experience. The group fosters an environment of growing and learning, with everyone learning from each other.
"Our club is basically just a unique place for people who either had these skills to start with or want to learn them because we have lots of people who are willing to teach," Popham said. "A majority of our members come to the first meeting with little experience and almost none have experience with fire. We spend the first few months of the year teaching new members all the basic tricks so that they can be in our first show."
Costanza had no prior experience with fire before joining the Entertainers Club and now regularly practices with it. Even as a veteran juggler, she still finds fire an entirely new and challenging experience.
"I've also tried to [juggle] fire, which is really terrifying." Costanza said. "Just because it's different than just juggling normal stuff, like the weight is different. The fire part is heavy and scary and it's coming at your face."
Popham first saw the Entertainers Club perform during her freshman orientation. Starting with minimal experience, she has learned a lot since her freshman year but still feels like there is a lot more to know.
"I was so lucky to run into them during my orientation, and I thought it would be a really cool skill to learn," Popham wrote, "I did color guard in high school, so I had some experience doing things like staff, but there are so many other skills that I'm still trying to work on."
Popham's main events are staff and poi. Both requiring a lot of twirling, which is something she is well-versed in as a former member of color guard. However, Popham is eager to try a little bit of everything.
"My personal favorite is definitely long staff because of the looks I get when I toss it really high. I still really want to learn everything, but unicycling is incredibly difficult. All the skills seem to work really well together though," Popham wrote.
In contrast, Costanza started juggling in sixth grade, where her school had an after school circus program. Coming to Homewood, she was instantly on the search for a place on campus to juggle.
"I was interested in joining the club because I was looking for it on purpose. I wanted to keep a hold on my juggling skills...I went to the [student activities] fair and signed it up," Costanza said.
Despite Costanza's history with juggling, she still works hard to improve her skills. She works hard at every meeting to perfect and maintain grace on her regular routines while constantly learning new ones.
"Learning a trick takes a really long time," Costanza said. "The ones that look really cool take a really long time. So it is kind of frustrating...[when] you keep dropping it. But once you have it, you probably won't forget it so it's pretty cool."
Fostering a thriving learning environment, the Entertainers Club also allows its members to explore an array of different tricks to their hearts' contents. People of different specialties are able to give input on different performances and spark innovation.
"There's a ton of different equipment so it's just fun to try everything out all the time and you just have freedom to do it in the club," Costanza said.
The open and creative environment also instills a sense of family within the group that is ready to help and welcome any new members. "My favorite aspect of this group is that we're really like a family." Popham wrote. "We act really silly around each other most of the time, but we also help each other all the time because there's always a new trick that you want to learn, and chances are there's someone there to teach you."
Costanza also agrees and sees the group as a refuge from the hectic happenings in classes and work.
"Everyone's really friendly and it is just a fun place to be on Monday nights," Costanza said.
The Entertainers Club will be hosting its fall semester show, Disney — Your Childhood Remixed, on Friday, Nov. 18. at 8 p.m. in the Mattin Center SDS Room.
"We've come up with the most amazing theme this year, and the music to go with it is just incredible," Popham said. "Hopefully the audience will start singing along. We also came up with some new props to work with, but I don't think I'm supposed to give away that secret, so you'll just have to come to the show to find out what I'm talking about!"
