If you’ve mastered the Mashed Potato, the Moonwalk, the Macarena or if you’ve come up with a dance style that’s all your own, Barrington High School is THE place to be this weekend! Students are hosting the school’s first ever 24-hour dance marathon and almost 100 dancers of all ages have already signed up to participate. If you’re in the mood to do a little dancing, they’re looking for more contestants. Or you can come just to spectate and all the money raised will go to local charities.
The BHS Dance Marathon is the brain-child of the Barrington Area Community Foundation’s brand new Youth Advisory Council.
The BACF decided to create the council to help teach children and students about philanthropy. J and Julian from the B96 morning show will be at the Barrington High School cafeteria tonight to kick off the marathon at 6PM and dancers will be busting a move straight through until 6PM tomorrow night. The goal is to raise up to $10,000 or more and that money will pay for unmet needs within the Barrington community.
There are three ways to get involved:
- You can sign up to participate in the Dance Marathon as an individual, a couple or a team of up to five people. The cost is $50 per dancer.
- You can drop by to watch the event. Admission is $5 for children and students and $10 for adults.
- Or you can sponsor particular dancers or offer monetary pledges for each hour danced.
You are welcome to participate in the marathon, even if you just feel like dancing for part of it. Event organizer, Kristin Frazier says, “A lot of people are saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I can not dance at all,’ but as long as you’re moving your feet the whole time, that’s considered dancing and you’re good to go.” It’s also a great opportunity to test out the latest dance craze, the “Moving Like Berney” dance. It’s a new fad popping up on dance floors around the country based on the 1989 motion picture comedy, Weekend at Bernie’s.
Frazier says two couples in their seventies have already signed up to participate and she says all spectators are encouraged to mingle and dance with marathon participants to help keep them motivated. Marathon dancers will be allowed five minute breaks each hour and there will be “Morale Volunteers” on hand to keep dancers on their feet and avoid this type of dancer burnout…
But there are some sweet rewards for those who dance without dropping and make it through to tomorrow night at 6PM. Prizes include an Apple iPad, iPods, a Chicago Cubs Dream Day plus, the best prize of all, an ‘I survived the dance marathon” t-shirt. Cool! Visit BarringtonAreaCommunityFoundation.org or click HERE to learn more about the dance marathon. Or you can just show up at the Barrington High School cafeteria tonight. Barrington High School is at 616 West Main Street and the cafeteria entrance is just to the right of the Main High School entrance. Registration starts at 4PM and lasts until the dancing starts at 6PM and comfortable shoes are highly recommended :).
