In the heart of campus, pop-up thrift tents and people getting pied in the face for charity is a normal sight. But tucked away next to the large pine tree on Dexter Lawn, students are tossing clubs and rings through the air, a weekly gathering of the Cal Poly Juggling Club.
Juggling club president Jacob Hinshaw said what drew him in was both the people and the variety of activities.
“The people here are really great and there are also just lots of new skills to learn,” the marine sciences senior said. “I just enjoy the process of learning new things, which keeps me coming back.”
The club goes beyond traditional juggling, offering a wide range of props.
“We have clubs, you can juggle the rings, we have different kinds of balls, spinning plates,” Hinshaw said. “There are so many different things to learn, and my brain just really loves learning.”
The group typically sees about 10 to 20 members in total and meets for two hours on Thursdays
“Our club’s main priority is teaching people and making people feel welcome,” Hinshaw said. “So we are a free club… we have club props to lend out, and we teach.”
Just a few steps away, the Cal Poly Acro Yoga group balances, spins and stacks into gravity-defying poses, turning the same patch of grass into something that feels closer to a circus than a typical day on campus.
Nicole Sandrini balanced upside down.
“I’ve got to be part of this amazing community, which is so inclusive,” the environmental earth and soil sciences freshman said after returning to a standing position.
Sandrini and fellow acro club members set their gray mats up on the lawn, twisting and balancing into poses ranging from flag and bird poses to the Dirty Dancing lift.
Sandrini had been doing competitive acrobatics for nine years and thought she was leaving it behind when she came to Cal Poly.
“It has always kind of been a really big part of my identity, and who I am,” she said. “It’s always been what I’ve considered my sport. I have a lot of fond memories from when I used to compete with my team.”
However, she was able to bring that piece of home with her when she found acro-yoga.
“I’ve been attending the classes, and it’s been a lot of fun,” Sandrini said. “I’m finding some new things that aren’t necessarily a part of the competitive side of acrobatics, but they’re more on the recreational side.”
Those classes are taught on Sundays from 5:30 pm to 7 p.m. by Cal Poly yoga instructor, Liz Crosby, in the mat room at the Recreation Center on campus.
Crosby has been teaching the acro-yoga class for three years now. Crosby is the one who hauls the heavy mats across campus twice a week to turn a patch of Dexter Lawn into a makeshift stage.
Some members drift between both groups, moving from tossing clubs to forming human towers, with the two clubs often sharing space, audiences and even participants.
Whether it is juggling pins in the air or balancing teammates on their shoulders, both clubs share the same goal: making something that looks intimidating from afar feel approachable up close.