The Davis Dance Marathon will be held on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the ARC Ballroom. It costs $1 to register, and all the proceeds go to the UC Davis Children’s Hospital in Sacramento.
Alagu Chidambaram, a committee member for the Davis Dance Marathon, said registration is only a dollar, but participants are encouraged to do more fundraising,
“It’s called DonorDrive, and it’s essentially an online fundraising page that sends fundraising request emails out to friends and family,” Chidambaram said. “All that money also goes directly to the hospital.”
The money the hospital receives goes toward equipment for the children and toward creating a more homey atmosphere, said Caroline Balagot, a Davis Dance Marathon committee member.
“The proceeds are also used for child life, such as having playrooms and things that make the children feel like they’re not in a hospital,” Balagot said. “It helps the children recover faster.”
There is an incentive program to encourage people to fundraise so the more they donate the more they get, according to committee member Hannah Guletz.
“$10 will get you a Panda Express meal, $25 will get you 3 raffle tickets and a meal, and $50 will get you a dancer survival package, 5 raffle tickets and a meal,” Guletz said in an email interview.
According to Chidambaram, there will be a yoga instructor, a salsa instructor and other student clubs performing throughout the night.
“We have performers coming in throughout the night,” Chidambaram said. “The a cappella teams are coming, we have a couple of the dance organizations on campus coming. We try to involve more of the campus community by including a lot of other clubs on campus.”
The Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan club will be the opening performance at 6 p.m.
“We will be performing for 15 or 20 minutes, so about two or three songs,” said Henry Knight, president of the Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan club. “Taiko drumming is an old art form so it’s very difficult to drum modern, but we do have a few songs that have fun beats. We’re trying to incorporate more dancing.”
According to Guletz, the Golden Turtle Lion Dance Association, Jadoo and the Liquid Hotplates will also be performing during the event.
Balagot said the theme this year is “dancing through the decades.”
The Dj will play two hours of ‘70s music, then two hours of ‘80s music and so on throughout the night,” Balagot said.
The committee members said they hope to raise $10,000 this year for the Children’s Hospital.
Registration is online at helpmakemiracles.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1655 or at the door the night of the event.
— JORDYN MAY
