More than 1,200 students registered online last week for Dance Marathon 2011, which organizers called an all-time high. Last year, more than 1,000 dancers registered.
It also marks another first for DM. “This is the first year we were entirely online,” said McCormick senior Catrina Miksis, one of DM’s two executive co-chairs. Students used the Internet to register, sign waivers and pay the $45 registration fee that helps cover DM’s overhead expenses.
Of the thousand students who registered last year, about 200 dropped out before the dance began. Miksis said she hoped for less attrition this time around.
“We do hope that every dancer that registered will be able to fundraise and dance with us,” she said.
Dancers registered in pairs, and they are expected to raise at least $800 together. DM 2010 donated about $461,500 to StandUp For Kids, which works with homeless youth. The Evanston Community Foundation received about $51,000.
Students will dance for 30 hours March 4-6 in a tent on east lawn of Norris to raise money for the Children’s Heart Foundation.
Zoe Fox contributed reporting to this piece.