Entertainment and music fill People’s Park Saturday night

People’s Park was alive with music and entertainment Saturday night as two different impromptu groups decided to share their skills with the town. \nSenior Alan Thompson, president of IU’s juggling club, stood in the center of the park wearing a tuxedo vest and bow tie, juggling large flaming clubs.\n“This was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing,” said junior Ashley Petty, treasurer of the club, as Thompson stood glowing in the light of the flames he was throwing. “He figured he could probably get some good tips. I’m surprised we haven’t done this before.”\nA top hat filled with money sat near the two of them and their juggling gear as they performed. In the background, a group of Bloomington teenagers had a performance of their own going on.\nNick Vangucht and Chris Abbott, 18, and Ted Gliessman, 19, danced to a boom box blasting techno band Daft Punk while the jugglers performed adjacent to them. The three have been dancing around Bloomington for awhile, and said this is the sixth time they’ve come downtown. The group arrived at the park before the jugglers, but they didn’t seem to mind the attention being diverted from them.\n“I mean fire, or mediocre dancing,” Abbott said raising his hands like scales to emphasize the difference between the two.\n“We were here first, but then he came in and made it better,” Gliessman said.\nThompson has been juggling since he was in the seventh grade, and has been a member of IU’s juggling club for two years.\n“I’ve always loved it,” Thompson said. Petty went on to say his desire to find a club on campus was another motivation behind joining the group.\n“He had a lot of free time and wanted to join a club,” Petty said. “And he already knew how to juggle.”\nThe club meets twice a week in the HPER building. The group practices with juggling rings, clubs and balls. Those wanting to risk playing with fire would have to learn on their own time. Performances like the one in People’s Park are also not usually planned group occurrences, but another impromptu session may happen once school is back in session, Petty said.