Thank you to everyone who helped me fundraise for Dance Marathon this year! I surpassed my goal of $250 and reached $288 thanks to you guys! Here is a rundown on how my 26 hours went:
Background Information:
Dance Marathon is a 26-hour event starting at 11AM on Saturday 2/16 and ending at 1PM Sunday 2/17. During the 26-hour span, participants physically stand up for Pediatric AIDS and do not sit down or sleep until the event has ended. All of the donations go towards Pediatric AIDS. 70% go towards the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation which seeks to treat and find a cure for Pediatric AIDS. 20% goes towards Camp Kindle, a summer camp for families affected by HIV and AIDS. Finally, 10% of the proceeds go towards the UCLA AIDS Institute.
During Dance Marathon, we are assigned to different color teams and throughout the event we battle other teams for "points" through costume competitions and other games. The top color team wins pride and bragging rights. This year I was on Team White! So that is why my teammates and I are wearing white tank tops and white bandanas.
Also, to break the monotony of 26 hours of dancing there are different shifts every 3 hours. These themed shifts all fall under the theme of the event that year. This year's theme was Illuminate, so all the themes worked in "light' into their titles. So every 3 hours, the theme is changed and everyone can change their clothes and put on different costumes. It really helps break up the time and also makes it super fun!
Here are my 26+ hours:
T-Minus 3 Hours
Woke up at 8 AM to walk down to campus and check in by 9:30 at the John Wooden Center (school gym)! My teammates and I are rocking our Team White tank tops!
Then we made our way over to Ackerman Grand Ballroom (in the Student Union) where the event takes place. The whole room is decked out in lights and decorations and would be our home for the next day.
Here's me and some friends in front of the ILLUMINATE sign, our theme for this year.
Here are some other decorations about the all the different theme shifts:
HOUR 1 (11AM 2/16): DANCE MARATHON BEGINS
We began! Said goodbye to the ground and hello to non-stop dancing!
HOUR 2 (12PM 2/16): BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY
First Theme Shift! It was an international theme, so we all dressed up from different countries around the world! I dressed up as Hawaiian because it was honestly the only thing I had in my closet that would fit the theme! Here's me and my friend Klancy, who dug up a random Estonia shirt from somewhere:
HOUR 5 (3PM 2/16): SPOTLIGHT
Next theme shift was Spotlight! Dress up like famous celebrities! I pulled out my Taylor Swift concert shirt. At this point, we were still pretty energized and down to dance! Note: Klancy is not Harry Potter. She wanted to make that clear. She is Waldo.
HOUR 8 (6PM 2/16): FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
My favorite theme shift! Sports theme! I put on all of my SF Giants gear and loaned some out to some friends.
Can you pick out the real Giants fan?
Next was the Halloween theme! At this point we were getting tired, and it was starting to show.
Our reactions after 8 Hours of Dancing:
We came bouncing back though...
HOUR 13 (12AM 2/17): LET THERE BE BRIGHT
We made it past midnight! Now for the infamous Neon theme! They have this theme every year and the Neon theme is always the craziest loudest but also most fun theme of the night!
The bright lights may have been getting to us...
HOUR 16 (3AM 2/17): NIGHT LIGHT
This was probably the hardest shift of the night. At this point we'd been dancing and standing for 16 hours and had been awake for 19. It was time to change into Pajamas and dream about the sleep we could have been getting.
However, this didn't stop us from dancing!
HOUR 19 (6AM 2/17): RED, LIGHT AND BLUE
The America theme shift! Everyone dressed up in American themed clothing! My favorite costume was some guy dressed like Abraham Lincoln. This was also probably the most tired we were throughout the marathon. However, somehow we managed to keep dancing!
The fatigue of 20 hours was definitely getting to us....
At this point, I have no idea where all the extra energy was coming from.
HOURS 22-25 (9AM-11:59PM 2/17): LUMOS and BRUIN PRIDE
Unfortunately we got too tired to keep taking pictures and were pretty dead at this point in time. We were dancing though, just not at the magnitude which we were before.
HOUR 26 (12 PM 2/17) POWER HOUR
The home stretch! Definitely the best part of Dance Marathon! Non-Stop upbeat dancing music and everyone coming together and giving all they have left! Everyone gets a mysterious burst of energy and manages to finish strong!
I was having a lot of fun here:
HOUR 26 (1 PM 2/17): END OF DANCE MARATHON
WE FINISHED! We were finally able to sit down for the first time in 26 hours! It was the best feeling in the world! They then revealed how much money we had raised!
WE RAISED $475,422.57! In the 11 years Dance Marathon has been at UCLA, we've raised over $3 million dollars and this year, we surpassed what we made last year!
I then proceeded to drag myself back to my dorm room and have the best nap of my life!
and that was my Dance Marathon experience.
Thank you to everyone who donated, I couldn't have done it without you! Hopefully this gave you a good taste of my experience and I look forward to keep dancing until I graduate!
THANK YOU EVERYONE AND CARPE DM!
Love,
Allyson
For more information about Dance Marathon: http://www.bruindancemarathon.org/
PHOTOS BY: Joann Kweon and Laura Orozco! Thanks Guys!
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