In college, it can be difficult to find an activity that is fun, keeps you physically active and helps you unwind–WSU has a new club with all three melded into one. From balancing, juggling and using props, WSU’s Flow and Circus Club has a variety of interactive exercises and performances for all club members.
Circus Club meets at 7 p.m. every Tuesday to practice flow skills, such as juggling, unicycling and bar manipulation. They currently meet outside but will be moving inside the gym for the colder and darker months.
Inan Harsh, president of Flow and Circus Club, is a transfer student studying data analytics with a quad minor. Harsh has been juggling and using contact staff for 10 years. He defined flow as a mixture of dance, art and movement.
Harsh said he has multiple reasons for starting WSU’s circus club.
“To lift up the community and provide space for people to come and flow because I noticed that it was one of the few clubs WSU didn’t have,” Harsh said. “It’s a really unknown realm for a lot of people. I really want to also spread awareness so people can see what it is and maybe connect to it and bring that magic into their life.”
The club is not just for students, with staff and faculty members involved too. Daria Winterer works for the physics department at WSU and is a contact staff and club juggling flow artist in the group.
“I think people need a healthier way to unwind. It’s really fun to zone out and just play with something,” Winterer said. “I feel like as we grew up we stopped playing with things. Everyone’s watching TV or on the computer, so it’s nice to get outside and do some stuff with your body and have fun.”
Whether you have years of experience or have never touched a prop before, there are professionals there to teach you what they know.
Raymond Hallett is a student at WSU studying applied mathematics. Hallett recently started attending the club meetings and wants to learn how to juggle.
“It’s more athletics that are not the big sports,” Hallett said. “It’s more skills that you don’t really see anywhere. And there are people who can teach you.”
The club has a mixture of people who have been doing flow for a long time, who have just started and everyone in between. Everyone is doing solo activities, but they are doing it together.
“Just bring yourself,” Harsh said. “It’s a really open community for all skill levels. We’re all at our own skill level, trying to learn our own things and sharing that with each other. Just be prepared to share what you know and be open and ready to learn other things.”
The club’s weekly meetings are for anyone to participate and experiment with different props with other flow artists and circus fans.
