Counting down from 10, a sea of dancers in blue T-shirts prepared for the 11 a.m. start of UCLA’s eighth annual Dance Marathon, the largest student philanthropic event on the west coast.
When they reached zero, the crowd in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom erupted in cheers, excited to get on their feet for 26 hours of dancing for the cause of pediatric AIDS.
“You can’t get a better cause,” said fourth-year engineering student and dancer Nate Miller, who said that the cause has motivated him to participate in the event for the past three years.
In the event’s opening hour, individual dancers met with their assigned team captains for the first time, and the room filled with chants of team names such as “Hot Pink” or “Light Blue Dancers.”
At noon, the first costume shift began, and dancers changed into pirate outfits to fit the theme “Pirates of the Dormitories.” During this shift, representatives from Make Art/Stop Aids invited dancers to create colorful earrings and bracelets made of condoms in an effort to promote sexual education.
Dance Marathon’s morale committee is in charge of many of the presentations and activities meant to motivate dancers throughout the event. The committee also taught participants a “Morale Dance” set to Haddaway’s “What is Love.” The routine, complete with shoulder pumps and pelvic thrusts, was performed throughout the event.
Singer David Archuleta and actor Jonathan Bennett made videos with encouraging messages for students, and the celebrities thanked participants for their effort and dedication to the cause.
A presentation from a group of dancers from the Brentwood Dance Academy also served to entertain participants and to boost crowd morale.
Perhaps the loudest cheer of the event’s opening hours, however, came when children from Project Kindle, one of the event’s beneficiaries, took the stage to share stories of how they have been affected by HIV/AIDS.
One 13-year-old boy spoke of having HIV since birth and hiding his disease from his friends.
Another 12-year-old girl came forward to explain how she keeps her father’s infection with HIV secret from everyone but her family.
Fourth-years Vicky Sinnett-Smith and Christine Kim, among others, went to a Project Kindle information booth at the back of the room after to learn about volunteering opportunities immediately after the presentation ended.
“It really helps you to understand what you’re dancing for,” Kim said.