In a sea of neon pinnies and plastic wayfarers, Dance Marathon 2012 kicked off promptly at 7 p.m. Dancers flooded the tent around 6:40 p.m. before emcees Ned Baker and Ashley Thompson came out on stage to pump up the dancers.
Both decked out in blindingly bright outfits, Baker and Thompson introduced the DM executive co-chairs Scott Ritter and Kunal Joshi to the riled up crowd.
Joe McDonough, the founder of The B+ Foundation, DM's primary beneficiary this year, then took the stage. McDonough told a brief story of his son, Andrew McDonough, for whom the foundation was created. Sara Schastok , the president and CEO of the Evanston Community Foundation also talked to the crowd.
Before the official start, both emcees walked to the edge of the stage and looked intently at their watches. "It is exactly six…. 58!" they shouted in unison. Dancers formed circles and started tirelessly jumping to the beat. As the emcees counted down from 10 seconds, the cheering exponentially increased as the Black Eyed Peas got the party started.