The Pediatric AIDS Coalition at UCLA is moving the location of its annual Dance Marathon from Ackerman Grand Ballroom to Pauley Pavilion and pushing the event to spring quarter.
Dance Marathon is an annual event during which students pledge to stay on their feet for 26 hours straight to raise money to support children with HIV around the world, according to the event’s website.
The date of Dance Marathon will also be changed from Presidents’ Day weekend to the first week of spring quarter, on April 5 and 6, because Pauley Pavilion was not available on Presidents’ Day, said Sam Haney, director of public relations for the Pediatric AIDS Coalition.
The change in venue allows the event to be larger and also better reflects the goals of the Pediatric AIDS Coalition, Haney said.
“(Pauley Pavilion) represents a lot more than a cool venue, it represents what UCLA stands for and what John Wooden stood for,” Haney said.
She said she thinks John Wooden represents what it means to be a good person and to give back to one’s community.
“John Wooden’s legacy is not just that he’s a great basketball coach, it was also that he was an inspiration,” she said.
Haney said more people can fit inside Pauley Pavilion than in Ackerman Ballroom, so the event can be larger. She also added that the new venue has better technical features for the event, which will allow the coalition to experiment more with lighting and videos on the venue’s television screens.
The coalition has put on Dance Marathon in Ackerman Grand Ballroom since 2005. Before that, it took place in Tom Bradley International Hall in 2002 and the Covel Commons Grand Horizon Ballroom in 2003.
The coalition will have to pay significantly more to hold the event in Pauley Pavillion than it did to have it in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom, but Haney said she could not provide an estimate of the projected extra cost because the total cost is contingent on the number of dancers who register, the number of vendors and the space usage.
All funds raised by participants will still go directly to children with HIV, however, and will not be affected by the extra facilities costs.
Haney said the coalition plans to focus more on educating students about AIDS this Dance Marathon than in past events.
“We don’t want to just educate, we want to inspire action,” she said. “It’s important to know what you are fighting for.”
Compiled by Amanda Schallert, Bruin senior staff.