Eric Semmel / Contributing photographer
Last Saturday night, the Strong Jugglers performed their 18th Annual Spring Show,“A Strong Suspicion: The Case of the Missing Juggler” in the May Room.
The show was murder mystery themed and literally started off with a bang, showing an unlucky fellow getting murdered. The club used well known detective characters, such as Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Velma and Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo,” and Ms. Scarlet and Professor Plum from “Clue” to help solve this riveting mystery.
Throughout the performance, the audience followed the characters as they searched for clues. The night’s routine involved club juggling, ball juggling, a unicycle solo, a club juggling duet, a ring juggling solo, an acrobatic solo, and other smaller routines. Through it all, the audience remained engrossed by the central storyline.
The Strong Jugglers wanted to make sure the audience was involved in their performance. Three audience members were each given an envelope when they first entered the room. During the show, the three lucky participants were called onto the stage to read aloud the clues within the envelopes as well as to act them out.
The performance also included a stretch break in the middle. The audience was encouraged to stand up after sitting on the ground so long, which was a welcome relief. They were then asked to interrogate the suspects in the murder. This added another interactive element to the show and helped keep the audience comfortable through the performance.
At the end of the show, there was a confusing twist. No one had actually gotten murdered at the beginning, though the butler had revealed a random person as the murderer. The Strong Jugglers laughed as the audience slowly figured it out. On cue, the alumni who were sitting in the front row of the audience yelled, “Encore! Encore!” The Strong Jugglers did what they were told: they juggled for the audience one last time in crazy formations on the stage. To top it all off, the jugglers showed off their dance skills with moves to the Scooby-Doo themed dance.
The show last Saturday night was just a glimpse of what the Strong Jugglers is all about. The group also performs during orientation, Meliora Weekend, at Bohr’s Head dinner during the fall semester, in addition to their big spring performance every year.
“Juggling is a really good de-stressor, it really relaxes me; It’s a good study break,” said current president of the club Stephanie Milner. She went on to describe the Strong Jugglers as a “great group of people. They are a really fun and inclusive group who are always willing to teach you new things.”
There are thirty-five members in the club, and about twenty-one of them performed in this years spring show. Performing is definitely not a requirement of membership to the club, but anyone that is available for rehearsals and performances are welcome. The club receives many new members each year, and their numbers have grown significantly in recent years.
The individual members of the Strong Jugglers all choreograph their own routines, and anyone wanting to choreograph a solo or duet is entitled to do so. Often, the group pairs experienced choreographers with the newer routine writers to try to give them more experience so once the experienced writers graduate, the club will still have writers to choreograph new routines.
One does not necessarily need any experience in order to join. Anyone can join, and the club is always eager for new members. If you are interested in joining the Strong Jugglers, and are willing to learn something new, give it a try! There is absolutely nothing to lose.
Komar is a member of the class of 2016.
