Singing, dancing, acrobatics, acting and martial arts are things one would normally anticipate to see at a talent show. But the Brewer House Cup (BHC) (No) Talent Show says there’s more to expect. The (No) Talent Show, a first time event organized by the BHC Committee, will take place in Aula on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. with performances from both talent and no talent categories.
The Brewer House Cup is the inter-house competition of Vassar College. Started in 2011, the Brewer House Cup is a culmination of competitions that occur between members of the nine houses at Vassar. By participating in these competitions and events, residents gain points for their affiliated houses. At the end of the second semester in May, the Brewer House Cup is awarded to the house with most points. Major competitions and events of the Cup include the Brewer Games, the BHC Scavenger Hunt and Brewer House Cup Trivia Night.
This year, however, the various House Teams on campus have been trying to expand the visibility of the BHC on campus. In order to do so, the BHC Committee was established last semester. Jewett House President Calvin Lamothe ’17, a member on the committee, talked about how the committee came into place.
“Last semester, members of various House Teams joined the BHC Committee, which has been working to brainstorm different events for the Cup, as well as define the BHC’s role on campus a little better, as it tends to fade out of the public eye after major events like the Brewer Games and Serenading,” Lamothe wrote in an emailed statement.
Another member on the committee, former member of Lathrop House Team Margaret Ginoza ’16, suggested that the committee hopes to encourage student involvement and boost spirit in the residential system throughout the year.
“The Brewer House Cup in the past has been run mostly by one of the House Advisors, and the majority of the events have typically been towards the start of the year/during orientation. The goal of the BHC committee is to get more student involvement and input on Brewer House Cup events in order to develop the program and create more programming, encourage involvement and spirit within the residential system,” wrote Ginoza in an emailed statement.
For this year, the committee decided to hold an event for the first time at Vassar. “The (No) Talent Show is an event that is being put on for the first time this year by the Brewer House Cup… You can either enter in the Talent category, with an act that one might consider a ‘traditional’ Talent Show talent (singing, dancing, stand up comedy, etc.), or in the No Talent category, which can include any strange or uncommon talents that wouldn’t be considered ‘traditional,’ or it can be a traditional talent that you just can’t do well,” Lamothe wrote.
He continued, “Anyone can participate and do whatever they want; the idea is to have fun with it and get as much participation from each of the houses as possible.”
As part of the effort to better establish an agenda for the BHC, the (No) Talent Show, as the committee believes, may help promote friendly competition among houses.
“The (No) Talent show seeks to be a fun way to bring a lot of students together in a very casual environment…Essentially, we are trying to come up with a more concrete plan for the BHC moving forward, so that it can establish more relevance and promote more friendly competition between the houses even after the major events at the beginning of the year are over.”
Ginoza, who was mainly involved in the brainstorming process of the event, says that the event can also provide the campus with an alternative option. “We were looking for a fun event to help kick off the semester and get people involved in the BHC. We also hope that it can provide an alternative option to some of the more typical events on campus, as well as an opportunity for students to show off their talents (or lack thereof).”
Resident of Jewett House Daniel Espino ’18 plans to attend the event as an audience member after hearing about it from his house president. “Calvin [Lamothe], our house president, told me that it’s the first year that they’re doing this and I’m interested in seeing how it goes. It’ll be great to see the ‘with talent’ performances and get to see the brave ‘no talent’ performances,” Espino said.
He continued, “I hope to see some great performances from talented students while also getting to see and support the students that have a good enough sense of humor to share their lack of talent.”
Miranda Kay ’17 is also intrigued by the concept of a (No) Talent Show. “Well, when I saw it pop up on my newsfeed, I was like, ‘a no talent show? That sounds fun.’ I’ve never really seen a real talent show, and this seems like an interesting first time. I’m really excited to see what Vassar has (and doesn’t have) to offer,” said Kay.
Given past experiences, the organizers expect that the event this year will receive positive feedback as well. “We had success with an all-campus Jeopardy event last semester, and hopefully the (No) Talent Show will receive positive feedback as well…We hope to get good attendance from all of the houses both in talent and audience participation!” Lamothe said in an emailed statement.
The organization of this event took place mostly at the end of last semester. On a final note, Lamothe commented, “Now all that we need is enthusiastic participants and audience members.”