Dance Marathon dances into night

While many runners spent last Saturday afternoon taking advantage of the short-lived sunshine and training for the upcoming Boston Marathon, a far different kind of marathon was taking place right inside the Plex. The fifth annual Dance Marathon was held Saturday from noon to midnight. There was much more to this marathon, however, than 12 straight hours of dancing.

The goal of Dance Marathon, as stated in its mission statement, is "to unite the campus in support of a worthy cause through a highly visible event that will raise a large amount of money in an incredibly fun way." The money is donated to an organization that benefits children; this year and last, the money has gone to the Franciscan Hospital for Children, located in Boston. The hospital provides a number of services for the children in areas including behavior a health, rehabilitation, education, research, outpatient services, and more.

Steven Snyder, chief development officer of Franciscan Hospital, said that the money donated from Dance Marathon makes a huge difference. He explained how Franciscan Hospital is a relatively small hospital and the services they provide are very costly: thus, they have come to rely on outside support. "Because we're so small, something like this where you can raise $30,000 or $40,000 can really have a huge impact," said Snyder.

But this year's Dance Marathon participants hoped to raise a far greater sum. They set an incredibly ambitious goal to raise $100,000 for 2007. As of Saturday, they did not yet know how close they had come to meeting that goal. Aside from donations made by businesses in the surrounding area, raffles, and visitors to the Dance Marathon, each of the 200 to 250 staff members, volunteers, moralers, and dancers was asked to raise money for the cause.

While the turnout of BC students at Dance Marathon may seem small, the organization and the popularity of the event is growing. Since 2003 the number of participants has increased and Dance Marathon is able to donate even more money to organizations like Franciscan Hospital. Dan Guyton, executive director of Dance Marathon and CSOM '07, commented that this year the event was "much more accessible," since, for the first time, the marathon was being held throughout the afternoon and evening instead of through the night and lasted 12 hours rather than 16.

One of the major advantages to having Dance Marathon from noon to midnight is that many more people are able to come and visit, including children from the Franciscan Hospital. Snyder said that about 12 children would be visiting throughout the afternoon and evening. He discussed how the kids were excited to be able to come. The kids "don't get a lot of opportunity to get out of the hospital, so getting out is great for them. Plus, they've got all the activities for them," said Snyder.

Because Dance Marathon is still a relatively new event on campus, it's undergoing a lot of changes. "For the last five years we've been trying to figure out what works for the BC Dance Marathon," said Wojnar. "We're starting to really build the identity of Dance Marathon."

Wojnar hopes that the event becomes more of a tradition and that Dance Marathon has an increasingly prominent place on BC's campus in the years to come.

Guyton mentioned that BU just had its first Dance Marathon this year, an idea that it adopted from BC. "We'd like to see BC beat out BU," said Guyton.

Unfortunately, Dance Marathon has yet to provoke the kind of campus-wide involvement that it really desires. "The idea is great, but getting people here is definitely an issue," said Maddie Franzreb, A&S '09.

Commenting on the problem with getting people involved, Wojnar said, "I think it sounds like an overwhelming commitment, which intimidates people."

But she says that while the staff prepares for the event all year, other volunteers are only asked to give up 12 hours of one day.

Additionally, Wojnar thinks the experience is more than worth it. She discussed how Dance Marathon gives people the "opportunity to meet people, see performance groups on campus, and see the kids who they donate the money to." All of these things help to make Dance Marathon, "unlike any other event on campus," said Wojnar.

Not only does Dance Marathon support a much greater cause, but, throughout the evening, there's a lot more than dancing that takes place. At the event, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served. Participants can busy themselves with video games, basketball, line dancing, swing dancing, Dance, Dance Revolution, and even a "kids' playground" with crafts, jump rope, hula-hoops, and more. Performances from groups such as Synergy, DOBC, Fuego, and Sexual Chocolate are given to help keep the dancers energized and to bring visitors to the event.

Additionally, there are morale-themed half-hours organized by the moralers, with themes such as middle school, summer, the '90s, and Christmas.

There are also free promotional products and a raffle with prizes such as sports memorabilia signed by Doug Flutie, gift certificates to local restaurants, and the grand prize - an all-expenses-paid trip for two to San Francisco donated by American Airlines.

"I feel like Dance Marathon is something that you don't really know what it's about until you come here. A lot of people think it's just straight dancing for 12 hours, but there are a lot of other activities like video games and basketball," said Marissa Ross, a staff member at Dance Marathon and CSOM '09. "I think that the 12-hour time period shouldn't be intimidating to people because there's always something going on and Dance Marathon is always exciting."

Exciting indeed, and while the number of participants in Dance Marathon may have been small, the size of their hearts, and the strength of the spirit that they brought to the dance floor was anything but.

As Steven Snyder of Franciscan Hospital said, "The energy level of the kids here and their willingness to give up a sunny Saturday and not stop moving for 12 hours is just incredible … We extremely appreciate it." n