Dance Marathon at your school

MoonStar17 · #1 04-09-2002, 05:37 AM

Ok I just finished dance marathon this weekend at my school,
for a commuter school we have a VERY active greek community and ended up raising 86,880 dollars..
BUT it was one of the most stressful things ive ever had to do..standing up for 26 hours straight almost drove me insane...however it was VERY rewarding, and I got to spend time with my wonderful sisters....

STILL, I have heard that some schools do dance marathon for 48 hours...after 26 hours i was so cranky and so tired i was ready to shoot anyone who tried to keep me awake any longer..how excatly does 48 hour DM's work, do they let you sit down? take a break? have shifts?
Also what kind of games and stuff do you do at your DM's...

After 26 hours i am anxious to know if other schools had the same stressful tiresome yet rewarding experience's or if they did their DM differently...

THANKS!!!

IowaHawkeye · #2 04-09-2002, 12:17 PM

first off - way to go with raising so much money

(i'm dance marathon obsessive, lol)

my school used to do our DM for 36 hours - yes 1.5 days of no sitting, sleeping, or laying. that got to be way too much, people passed out, got really hostile towards each other, and it was just a mess!! so they cut it to 24 hours - which in my opinion is the prime amount of time - after a week of classes and stress - who wants to be up any more than that anyway!! Penn State University does their 'THON for 48 hours and how they do it i can't even imagine... i have heard that the same rules apply, so sitting/sleeping... but i would assume they get more opportunities for the stuff we do - like they get to sit down for a mini 5 minute footrub, or they get to get a mini back massage a few times...i have heard though that people have been known to pass out from dehydration, sleep deprivation and all that stuff at theirs.. they raise millions of dollars every year though so they must be doing something right

DM is stressful and tiresome but youre so right, it is rewarding and in the end that keeps you going. i'm a morale captain for next DM 2003 at my school and i have been involved with it for the past 2 years. the 24 hours are tough on you, its so tempting and so easy to quit or go find a secret spot and lay down... but youre giving up 24 hours of your life in hope that some precious child willl have the opportunity to live a little bit longer and expeience a little bit more. its so worth it to me...

as far as games and stuff at hours... thisyear we had 2 awesome bands, MER and the Nadas (next year we're aiming for OAR), we had a hawaiian themed hour where we limboed, had a steel drum band, hula dancers... we have a huge game room with stuff like skeeball, basketball, one of those boxing rings where youre in a giant fat suit, we of course do our morale dance on a consistent basis, we did the hokey pokey, the chiken dance, someone came in and taught swing dancing (lots of people all trying to swing dance makes for many laughs) we had an elvis impersonator, a drag queen show(once the kids went to bed, haha) oh and so much more... if you want to know pm me, lol!!

Harmony · #3 04-11-2002, 06:32 PM

Yup...Penn State THON-48 hours, no sitting, no sleeping. It's unbelievable! There are hundreds of dancers from all kinds of groups. Even though it's greek based it's an entire school thing. This year we beat our totle from last year which surprised us all because of all the other charities people have been donating to in the months since school pretty much began. I always find it amazing how people do it, but the people who run it are so thorough in the details that it always goes smoothly. No hostilities, thank goodness! It would turn into a riot!! Congratulations on dancing in your dance marathon and way to go!!

ACEOFDIAMOND · #4 04-11-2002, 10:38 PM

We had our first ever Dance Marathon at the University of Toledo about a month ago and it was so much fun. It only lasted 12 hours but it was so great and will go longer next year. I was a moraler but I was there the whole time so next year I plan on dancing!!! It's such a rewarding experience and it's so much fun getting to hang out with your friends all day.

TriDeltaGal · #5 04-12-2002, 01:49 AM

Our Dance Marathon is this WEEKEND! Wish the three very courageous TriDelts and numerous DDD moralers some luck! Lord knows they are going to need it dancing for 26 hours straight and then coming up to meet us at UCSB for the FIJI soccer tournament and crazy SB parties!

Starlet · #6 04-12-2002, 11:11 AM

I participated in dance marathon this past year, which is 24 hours. It was probably one of the hardest things to do--staying awake and keeping on my feet for the whole time. And though I was hurting afterwards, it was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. Plus, to have your sisters show throughout the day and even at 6am to show their support was amazing.

We had local bands come in and play, campus acapella groups, a morale dance, raffled off prizes, a moon bounce, video games, movies, and various other games to play. Each hour was also a theme...for instance, there was an eighties hour where they just played 80s music, which was fun. And some kickboxers came in the morning to show us some moves, but at 7am, the last thing I wanted to do was excercise!

Congratulations Moonstar for finishing the marathon!

ROWDYsister · #7 05-18-2002, 03:07 AM

UF DM is absolutely huge. We raised over $200,000 for the kids, but it was without a doubt the worst 32 hours of my life! Still, it does raise a lot of money, and if you're stronger than I am, I recommend it. The whole time my sisters and I were thinking evil things about the older sisters who had told us "It's so much fun!" but I know next year I'm gonna tell the same thing to my little sister. It's a worthy cause. Thing is, I plan on just visiting the poor dancers next year. Maybe I'll bring them drinks. (jk...sort of.)

ROWDYsister · #8 05-18-2002, 03:09 AM

To be fair, everyone said that the 2002 DM wasn't half as fun as it was in past years. The organizers didn't keep us busy the whole time, which gave us a chance to feel sorry for ourselves. So, do it. And to all DM survivors, a huge congrats!

MoonStar17 · #9 05-18-2002, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ROWDYsister
UF DM is absolutely huge. We raised over $200,000 for the kids, but it was without a doubt the worst 32 hours of my life! Still, it does raise a lot of money, and if you're stronger than I am, I recommend it. The whole time my sisters and I were thinking evil things about the older sisters who had told us "It's so much fun!" but I know next year I'm gonna tell the same thing to my little sister. It's a worthy cause. Thing is, I plan on just visiting the poor dancers next year. Maybe I'll bring them drinks. (jk...sort of.)

OMG Flashback! The whole time the 26 other sisters and me were plotting how we were going to sooooo get back at the sisters that said "it was sooo much fun!!!" then we were like...ohhh wait til next meeting we are going to be.."oh it was a blast...you guys missed out!!" and then come next year..HA! they will be fooled...
you know standing up and staying awake can make you absolutlety DELIRIOUS!!!!
It got to the point where I wanted to tell all the morale captins to "shove it!" but it was very much worth it in the end..and looking back im glad i did it...but still very very difficult..i dont think i complained as much as i did that night ever in my life

LOL

ROWDYsister · #10 05-18-2002, 04:06 AM

LOL, I totally went into "Sorority Girl mode" during DM and whined my butt off! We were so delirious and frustrated, during hour like 26 or something, we started a game of "Bean the morale captains in the head" with huge beach balls from across the room. Security guards earned you extra points.
I took awesome pictures to commemorare "Misery Marathon," as we called it. We looked like mental patients. Think about it. You're called to eat at certain times like a bunch of cattle, you all walk around in pajamas and slippers, to keep yourself busy you toss around balls with your friends, and once an hour you perform the same choreographed line dance. It's madness.

queequek · #11 05-18-2002, 04:42 AM

http://www.dm.stuorg.iastate.edu/

MoonStar17 · #12 05-19-2002, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ROWDYsister
LOL, I totally went into "Sorority Girl mode" during DM and whined my butt off! We were so delirious and frustrated, during hour like 26 or something, we started a game of "Bean the morale captains in the head" with huge beach balls from across the room. Security guards earned you extra points.
I took awesome pictures to commemorare "Misery Marathon," as we called it. We looked like mental patients. Think about it. You're called to eat at certain times like a bunch of cattle, you all walk around in pajamas and slippers, to keep yourself busy you toss around balls with your friends, and once an hour you perform the same choreographed line dance. It's madness.

I love that!!! Misery Marathon!!! Sounds like your description describes not only DM, but a HUGE playpen for people..like hamsters, or some circus animals..like someone was having a good time throwing "toys" in and watching us suffer...
yup..thats DM!
Sometime in the real early morning hours I was sooo delirious i walked around the entire place 4 times, when one of my sisters noticed i looked like i was in outerspace i broke down hysterical crying that i wanted OUT!!!!!
the worst was seeing other sorority girls from other org's just leaving in the middle of the night getting soo fed up with it..but we stayed all 26 of us..and it was for sure painful
Oh well!! LOL crazy idea that DM was!!

TPASteph · #13 06-02-2002, 05:49 AM

I go to Penn State, and I can attest that our Dance Marathon is 48 hours. Our group (it's a sorority interest group right now, we're working to hopefully recolonize the Rho chapter of Theta Phi Alpha) participated in it even though we did not recieve formal recognition, we helped the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. I didn't get to be one of the dancers this year, but even just seeing THON was impressive. Hopefully I'll get to dance next year. Hopefully I'll stay awake! **Note to self: buy comfortable shoes before THON**

TigerGirl52 · #14 06-09-2002, 12:16 AM

OK...I'm bringing this back up. I was talking to my exec today and explaining to them just exactly what DM is. They acted like they really want to get it started up at LSU. Does anyone have any advice on how we should go about setting this up? I really really really would looooove to start something like this up because it seems like a great thing so please someone help me. Thanks y'all!!!

Allison

IowaHawkeye · #15 06-09-2002, 12:34 AM

If you wanted to bring DM to your school - which is AWESOME

- the first thing I would do is get in contact with someone at CMN (the Children's Miracle Network) and inform them that you are interested in bringing Dance Marathon to LSU. I would try emailing one or both of these addresses pr@cmn.org or help@cmn.org if neither of those get you through to the right people, try writing or calling the national office in the United States:
Children's Miracle Network
4525 South 2300 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84117
801.278.8900

You might want to see if any other Louisiana schools already host a DM - call them or email them for help/suggestions/ideas (you can find the list of participating schools here ). I know there are 4 CMN affiliated hospitals in louisiana, the closest one (i think) probably being our Lady of Lakeland? And there is the Children's Hospital - New Orleans as well. You might want to mention these, or try and contact someone from CMN at these hospitals in your quest.

If you need anything else - please ask!!!