The Tufts Dance Marathon will officially kick off its nearly semester-long fundraiser on Sunday. The campaign will culminate on April 4 with the marathon itself.
Sunday's event at Sound Bites Restaurant in Ball Square, Somerville, will feature an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet and free coffee from 5 to 8 p.m. Half the proceeds will benefit the Tufts Dance Marathon Committee, in preparation for April.
The marathon will be held in Cousens Gym from 6 p.m. April 4 until 6 a.m. the next morning. It will host teams of 10 to 12 dancers, and half of each team must be dancing at all times. Each team is responsible for raising $300 prior to the event.
The benefit aims to raise at least $20,000 to fund research for the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund (CTF), a statewide non-profit organization that aims to "prevent child abuse and neglect by supporting parents and strengthening family." CTF is an umbrella organization that aids over 100 local agencies.
During the Dance Marathon, dancers will move to themed music and live music by student groups, and will play games of Red Rover, tag and beach volleyball.
This year's event is not the first dance marathon to be held on campus; junior Tufts Community Union Senate President Neil DiBiase told the Daily that three years ago a smaller event was held whose sponsors included Hillel and the Leonard Carmichael Society. He promised that the 2008 Dance Marathon would be on a greater scale, saying it would be one of the largest events this year.
"We want to try to make this an annual event, like Fall Ball or Winter Bash," DiBiase said.
The concept of a dance marathon first came about at Penn State University in the 1970s. The idea of holding simple dance competitions evolved into fundraisers that have been held at nearly 100 schools across the country to raise money for local and national charities.
For attendees who are not dancing at the Tufts marathon, the event will feature massages, footbaths, arts and crafts activities, food and screenings of the movies "Grease" and "Dirty Dancing."
Originally envisioned by DiBiase when he ran for the presidency last year, the project has been organized by senior Deborah Block, the Senate's special projects chair. Block and the other members of the Dance Marathon Committee spent much of last semester preparing for the spring fundraisers.
"This semester is really about the advertising and the action," Block said. "We're trying to help a community that is very much in our backyard."
Freshman Lauren Levine, a member of the Dance Marathon Committee, interned with CTF during the summers of 2005 and 2006. She said that the organization shows parents how to deal with their children respectfully and appropriately.
"[CTF] understands that parents are staying up all night and losing sleep taking care of their kids," Levine said. "They understand the frustration, but rather than getting mad at the kids, [CTF] teaches parents that there are better ways to deal with stress."
Over the past few months, the marathon committee has worked hard with organizations around campus to make the marathon a campus-wide event.
"We were really trying to get creative in terms of fundraisers," Block said. "So we were thinking, 'Where do you go for breakfast when you wake up?' Sound Bites. So it seemed like a fun idea to host our kickoff event there."
Sound Bites owner Yasser Mirza was enthusiastic about the opportunity. "We don't really have the money to do advertising to give to charity, so why not?" he said.
Other donors to the marathon include Boloco and Groove Boston, which has also been involved with Fall Ball and Winter Bash.
As for the marathon itself, seven dancing teams had already officially signed up as of yesterday, and more are still forming.
"I know of tons of teams in the making," Levine said. "Some teams are actually cutting people."
The Inter-Greek Council (IGC) is one of the co-sponsors of the event, and it is expected that every fraternity and sorority on campus will participate.
