DM shatters dancer registration record

By Alex Campbell

3:49 p.m. Oct. 21 2008

First posted: 8:15 p.m.
Latest update: 11:17 p.m.

More than 1000 dancers — “more than ever before” — have signed up to participate in Dance Marathon 2009 in the past two days, Dance Marathon announced Tuesday night.

More than 35 groups and hundreds of unaffiliated individuals signed up in the basement of Norris on Monday and Tuesday.

Executive Co-Chair Phil Reich said he was “very excited,” although he was quick to note that 1,000 registrants “doesn’t necessarily mean 1,000 dancers.” A DM statement noted that it is common for the numbers to drop somewhat by the time the dancing starts on March 6.

DM members await new registrants. Photo by Emery Mathieson / North by Northwestern

Reich credits a new rules change that now allows student groups to register as many people as possible. Until this year, groups could register no more than 10 couples.

Without a limit, officials at Shepard Hall signed up 68 of its 170 residents on behalf of the dorm, according to Amy Jia, Weinberg sophomore and Dance Marathon co-chair at Shepard. The change could have paved the way for people hesitant to sign up on an individual basis, Reich said.

“All the freshmen are really excited about getting involved,” Jia said.

Allison Hall also saw a record number of prospective dancers, Reich said. Meanwhile, the Society of Women Engineers signed up a dancers group for the first time, and Northwestern’s marching band returned to the registration table after a hiatus, he added.

“We have a much more diverse offering of groups this year,” said Peter Koelsch, finance co-chair, in a statement. “We saw our normal dorms and Greek chapters coming out, but there were also a number of academic, performance and cultural groups we don’t normally see.”

Reich said he hadn’t yet considered how a swell in dancers would change DM’s use of Norris as a venue. Last year DM set up a tent outside Norris to accommodate more than 750 dancers — a record for the event.