North by Northwestern

Dancers raised $1,385,273 for Team Joseph and the Evanston Community Foundation. Team Joseph is a non-profit organization that raises money for research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common degenerative genetic muscle disease in boys. Boys with this disease lose muscle function and mobility as they grow up.

Joseph Penrod was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2008 when he was only five, according to the Team Joseph website. When his mom Marissa was told there was no cure, she began fundraising and advocating for the cause. She founded Team Joseph within a year, backed by a group of volunteers.