Despite fewer volunteers, event exceeds $160k mark
More than 600 USC students danced for 24 straight hours this weekend at the 13th annual Dance Marathon, raising approximately $160,000 “for the kids.”
Though the event didn’t meet its goal of raising $175,000 this year, it greatly exceeded the $147,425 it raised last year and broke a record for money raised.
Since its inception in 1998, Dance Marathon has raised financial and emotional support for the patients of the Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital, a member of the non-profit Children’s Miracle Network.
This year, the leaders of Dance Marathon upped the ante by eliminating shifts. Dancers were encouraged not to sit or sleep for a full day, from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Saturday.
“We had to do shifts in the past in order to have more participation,” said Ray Curbelo, the director of Dance Marathon. “Now that it’s happening faster than we expected, we’re going back to the full 24 hours.”
Participants were also required to raise $150 this year, a criteria that may have contributed to the decrease from 1135 dancers last year to 605 this year. The students and many student organizations involved were divided into four color teams for the Miracle Cup competition. The four teams were created in order to give smaller organizations a chance to compete evenly with larger ones, according to Dance Marathon Miracle Cup Coordinator Lauren Nottoli.
“I split up the teams as evenly as possible so that Miracle Cup would be 100 percent inclusive to everyone who participated in the main event,” said Nottoli, a second-year public relations student.
In order to get the most points to get the Miracle Cup, teams Red, Yellow, Green and Orange would participate in a number of fundraising events prior to Dance Marathon.
Team Green raised the most at $28,000. Team Purple came in second, followed by Team Red and then Team Orange.
Still, the only real competition was to break last year’s record, and everyone was filled with enthusiasm as the dancing started after 7 p.m. Friday.
“For me this is really cool,” said Morgan Guyonneau, a first-year business student. Guyonneau said one of her friend’s sisters passed a year ago, and that her 17th birthday would have been Friday. Guyonneau said she does this as a way to honor her and give back to such a cause.
“I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” she said, right after the marathon had started. As soon as it began, the dancers learned a dance routine that they would perform throughout the 24 hours.
Morale, the organization that led the dancers, instructed the dance routine that included a number of songs such as “Teach Me How to Dougie,” “Thriller,” “Bye Bye Bye” and “Get Jiggy With It.” The dancers stumbled at first, but by midnight they were on point with all the moves and doing them every hour on the hour.
Fun and popular songs and some classics were selected to get people interested, according to Nottoli. “There are a couple repeats from previous years in the line dance selection.”
Besides learning the dance routine, the students went through several themes like “Nineties & Neon” from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. Saturday, “When I Grow Up” from 6 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., “Ninja Turtles” 11 a.m. to noon and recess from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The students played games and had time for meals and snacks. USC’s male a capella group Soundcheck and local band Mighty McFly came in and performed as well.
Fourteen hours after it started, many students were weary, but they were still on their feet.
“I feel really tired, but it’s accomplishing,” said Alex Gacos, a second-year finance student. “It’s rewarding to tire yourself for something that’s bigger than you because these kids don’t get a day off from being sick. The least we can do is go 24 hours without sitting.”
Several hours later, close to 7 p.m. Saturday, the students did the routine one last time performing every move with precision while being just as energetic as they were one night earlier.
“The last few hours were really tough,” Guyonneau said. This having been her first Dance Marathon, she said she is glad she did it. “It was a large test but it was worth it. It would be something cool to do again.”