Daily Bruin

Performer Kelly Gluckman, who has been living with HIV for more than eight years, said she feels healthier than ever before.

Gluckman first took the stage in Pauley Pavilion around 3:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. She explained in her set that storytelling is the art form she uses to heal. Despite the diagnosis, Gluckman said she promised herself she would fight the virus by trying to change the stigma around it.

“Being diagnosed with HIV is like something is being taken away from you,” Gluckman said. “We are not going to let this beat us.”

Gluckman said she personally connects to this year’s Dance Marathon theme, embrace, because she feels the HIV community has embraced her by being welcoming and compassionate. After being diagnosed, Gluckman said she used online forums to connect with others diagnosed with the virus. The online community provided her guidance and helped her come to terms with her HIV, she said.

“The theme of this Dance Marathon resonates super deeply with me because something I did to heal was to embrace the HIV community,” Gluckman said. “You will not find a group of people who’s more resilient.”

Gluckman then began a spoken-word performance, which focused on how stigmas around HIV can be harmful to those living with it. Her performance focused on a university student who disclosed her HIV diagnosis to a romantic partner. Although first interested and flirtatious with the student, the partner then began to distance himself from her.

During Dance Marathon, guest presenters shared their stores of living with and being impacted by the virus during a vigil. The speakers discussed how perceptions surrounding the virus are often incorrect and can cause individuals living with HIV to feel bad about themselves.

Emelly Villa, a first-year international development studies student, said the vigil provided an opportunity for individuals with HIV to disclose their experiences. She said the vigil addressed how stereotypes surrounding HIV/AIDS can form from people’s word choices. Statements such as “Are you clean?” cause others to develop the stereotype that individuals with HIV/AIDS are dirty, she said.

Gluckman said pity is unnecessary when individuals with HIV disclose their diagnosis to others. Stigmas surrounding HIV can cause hopelessness and despair shown in diagnosed individuals, she said.

Michaela Boster, an alumna, said the vigil was the most moving aspect of Dance Marathon for her. Gluckman is inspiring for sharing her story with others in order to provide educational context for the audience, Boster said.

“It’s an opportunity for people that are … either infected or affected by HIV … to share their stories,” Boster said. “It really is quintessential to connect to the cause and learn about the cause through storytelling.”

“Remember, don’t sit down,” instructed Lostboycrow 12 hours into the 18th annual Dance Marathon.

The second headliner took the stage Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion along with his band members, fusing in his relaxed, indie genre into the otherwise more energetic music scene at the event. His 45-minute set emphasized the band’s instrumentation while performing some of his newer songs for the crowd. Fourth-year sociology student Kelsi Barbata said she enjoyed the diversity in genre that Lostboycrow brought to Dance Marathon because it added a different style of music for participants to dance to.

“I felt like (DaniLeigh’s performance) before with the backup dancers was fun, and then I felt like it was fun to have (Lostboycrow) afterwards as a different genre,” Barbata said.

[RELATED: DaniLeigh delivers Dance Marathon’s first headlining performance at 10-hour mark]

Lostboycrow garnered a group of dancers who surrounded the stage when he stepped onto it, who primarily swayed and waved their hands for the duration of his performance. His set list opened with his original track “Waste of Time,” followed by “Thursday,” which immediately highlighted his focus on his band’s instruments – the sounds from his guitar riffs and his ensemble’s drummer were the sole melodies at intermittent parts of the song. He performed “Suburban Girl,” a slower, more balladlike track later in his set, before “Santa Fe,” a song from his recently released album of the same name.

Barbata said Dance Marathon DJs sometimes focus on playing more upbeat, EDM music throughout the night to keep participants on their feet, as well as portions of the night being dedicated to Disney and throwback music. However, she said she enjoys how live bands, in this case Lostboycrow’s, can diverge from other styles that take up the other hours of Dance Marathon.

“I feel like if we didn’t have breaking up of the music in between, it would kind of be just monotonous,” Barbata said. “I know all of my friends and I love the different theme shifts, and the music that accompanies the theme shifts, so it definitely helps morale.”

She appreciates live performances during the event because they provide people a chance to talk to each other in the midst of dancing, she said. Barbata enjoyed dancing to his music in the background, she said, rather than to something more overpowering.

Conversely, Kira Liss, a second-year geography and environmental science student, said while she enjoyed Lostboycrow’s performance, she would have preferred something that hyped her up more. She said it was important to keep things exciting over the 26 hours, especially during the time slot of Lostboycrow’s performance, as it took place during the 12th hour, when dancers begin to feel more tired.

While some participants were unfamiliar with Lostboycrow’s work, others had listened to his music before. Isaac Chan, a fourth-year political science student, said he has been listening to Lostboycrow’s music for about a year after discovering his songs on Spotify. He was drawn to Lostboycrow’s work because it was upbeat and part of the electric-indie music scene, which he said he enjoys. Chan said he wished the musician performed some of his personal favorites; instead, he focused more on his recent tracks. He still enjoyed the performance, he said, and appreciated Lostboycrow’s genre in the midst of throwback music and other styles.

“I think it’s good to change it up. Don’t get me wrong, I love a throwback, I love hip-hop to keep you amped, but also sometimes, you can’t always be going,” Chan said. “To slow things down a bit, it was nice.”

DaniLeigh played unreleased tracks to keep her audience on their feet at Dance Marathon.

Going into the tenth hour of UCLA’s Dance Marathon, the event’s first headliner maintained students’ energies along with her four backup dancers. They got the crowd jumping while hip-hop artist DaniLeigh opened with her fast-paced song “No Limits.”

Sarah Hinton, a third-year physiological science student, said the presence of well-known artists like DaniLeigh at Dance Marathon helps to draw a larger audience. The singer’s backup dancers stood out most and made the set more enticing and enjoyable, Hinton said.

“(DaniLeigh) had this spunk and this style that I don’t think anyone could match. It was quite exceptional,” Hinton said. “She has a very intrinsic swagger and style that felt so natural – like nothing forced at all.”

[RELATED: Dance Marathon features speakers’ experiences with HIV, empowering drag queen show]

DaniLeigh impressed listeners who had never heard her music before the Dance Marathon performance. Jacky Miller, a first-year business economics student, said the singer’s set left her feeling mind-blown. Although she and her friends had been dancing for hours, the headliners gave them the energy to keep moving.

“(DaniLeigh) was an amazing dancer, a great singer and her songs were just so hype,” Miller said. “I was pretty close up at the front, and her interactions with the crowd were just amazing and really just great.”

The inclusion of unreleased track “Pleasure” added to the excitement of fans in the audience, said first-year political science student Collin Shore. The unexpected turn in the set list ensured that all the participants had a great time dancing, even though they were attending the later 9 p.m. to midnight shift, Shore said.

“It’s been a really long day for us on our feet, but she was really successful getting us to join the dance and move our feet,” Shore said.

Despite students’ enjoyment of the set, the goal of raising money for pediatric AIDS and HIV was not lost. DaniLeigh took a break from her upbeat set to recognize the cause the fundraiser was working toward.

“It’s really dope to see people here for a cause; that’s incredible,” DaniLeigh said. “You guys are out here standing for it, that’s amazing.”

This post was updated April 7 at 12:17 a.m.

Black men comprise the demographic group most impacted by HIV. Awareness advocate Dontá Morrison specifically focused on this statistic at Dance Marathon, speaking with five other men about their experiences with the disease.

“As someone living with HIV, I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your empathy, your compassion, your love and your efforts to get the message out,” Morrison said to the audience. “HIV stops with you. If you don’t contract it, guess what? Nobody else will contract it; guess what? Your generation can rid it.”

Lauren Solouki, a second-year psychology student, said she was impressed with the speakers’ courage in sharing their stories with the audience.

“They’re okay with telling hundreds of people here, and I think they were all very enthused which made it really easy to listen,” Solouki said. “(HIV) affects a lot of people and people still view it as a joke, but it’s not a joke.”

Morrison also spoke about consent and a woman’s right to deny a man’s sexual advances. However, first-year undeclared student Kavya Atluri didn’t think his speech hit all the right notes. She was happy that he was initiating this conversation, since not everyone has a complete sex education, but felt that Morrison’s bit did not reflect the nuances of reality.

“Sometimes it’s not always the men who are pressuring the girl, and he made it seem like that,” Atluri said. “He villainized guys a little bit.”

Lorelei’s performance, however, impressed Atluri. The campus drag queen danced and lip-synced to a number of songs on stage.

“That was the biggest crowd I’ve seen come up to the stage for any performance so far,” Atluri said. “(Lorelei) really empowered everyone.”

A choreographed dance to “Burnin’ Up” by the Jonas Brothers kicked off UCLA’s 18th annual Dance Marathon.

The fundraiser’s first hour also featured an address by Pediatric AIDS Coalition President Melissa Miller, a fourth-year political science and Russian Studies student, who explained the theme of this year’s Dance Marathon: embrace. She said theme refers to both the physical act of holding and supporting those with the disease as well as embracing the work that still needs to be done to fight against HIV and AIDS.

Jake Rich, a first-year economics student, said he was looking forward to staying awake and on his feet for the entire duration of 26 hours.

“I want to learn more specifically about pediatric AIDS and the causes that I donated to. … You got to keep a positive mentality and know you’re doing it for the right reasons,” Rich said. “That will keep me on my feet.”

[RELATED: LGBTQ dance group to raise awareness for AIDS in 26-hour Dance Marathon]

Awaken A Cappella established a positive tone early on in the event with a harmony-laced rendition of the national anthem and an upbeat mashup of “Isn’t She Lovely” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.” Following the a cappella performance, the Morale Committee, comprising students whose job is to keep people enthusiastic throughout the event, taught the participants a step-by-step dance to “Burnin’ Up.” After perfecting each move, everyone performed the full dance together, keeping the energy in Pauley Pavilion high.

Isabella Ross, a first-year sociology student, said the fundraiser is an enjoyable charity event in the form of giant dance party. Additionally, she said AIDS is a life-threatening illness that seriously impacts many people’s lives, and the important cause makes the 26 hours on her feet worth it.

“I hope to learn the value of sticking things out even when you’re tired and you want to just go to sleep and quit,” Ross said.

[RELATED: YOUTHphonics sets Dance Marathon in motion with a cappella performance]

Emma Stern, a fourth-year business economics student, said she was initially unsure of whether she would participate in Dance Marathon because as of one week prior to the fundraiser, she had not raised the $260 minimum. After talking to her friend in PAC, however, she said she better understood the cause and felt motivated to raise the money. He told her about the vigil, where children with HIV/AIDS speak about their experiences to Dance Marathon participants. Stern said she learned that in 1988 there were over 2,000 children born daily with pediatric AIDS, and as of 2015 there are only around 400 child cases a day.

“Having him sit down with me and tell me all about the true cause of dance marathon, not just dancing for 26 hours but why we’re dancing for 26 hours is what really convinced me to raise the money and participate today,” Stern said.