Surviving Dance Marathon requires stamina, determination and the willingness to dance for 30 straight hours. But for many dancers, survival also requires what has become a DM staple: the fanny pack.
NUDM Co-Marketing Chair and Communication senior Jack Milligan helps spearhead the sale of Dance Marathon paraphernalia. He said that fanny packs have been very popular items over the past few years.
“We ordered 200 fanny packs this year, and they’re about to sell out,” said Milligan, who was wearing a fanny pack himself. “They’re so useful to put all of your stuff.”
Communication junior Catherine Zhang, a first-time dancer, was wearing one of the fanny packs sold by Milligan and NUDM. Zhang originally intended to bring a small purse to DM, but ultimately could not resist purchasing a “Too Legit To Sit” fanny pack just hours before the start of DM.
Zhang said she put her most important items in her fanny pack: a cell phone, camera, money, gum and lip balm.
Medill freshman Emily Drewry is working security for Dance Marathon, but still decided to wear a fanny pack. But unlike Zhang, she did not have much strategy for what items she included in her pack.
“I honestly just threw a bunch of random things in there,” Drewry said. “Looking back, I probably forgot a bunch of essential things.” Some items in Drewry’s pack included mints, a Kit-Kat bar, mirror and camera.
Dancers tend to put the essential items — such as food and money — in their fanny packs. Weinberg freshman Marie Donaldson’s fanny pack, for example, included her camera, phone, gum, chapstick, ibuprofen, keys and a pack of Rolos.
Fanny packs are usually associated with women, but a number of men also bring fanny packs to Dance Marathon. Milligan estimated that four out of every 10 fanny pack purchases were made by guys.
But while fanny packs are probably the most popular bag form at DM, there are alternatives. Weinberg senior John Skinner, another first-time dancer, decided to bring a gym sack rather than a fanny pack to hold his survival supplies.
“I was told to have something to carry things around in,” he said. “But maybe I’m just the noob without the fanny pack.”
Skinner planned to keep the essentials — a water bottle, his phone and deodorant (“I’m trying to keep hygiene at a max,” he said) – in his gym sack. But he decided against wearing the fanny pack because he felt it would restrict his dancing abilities.
“You’re jumping around and your fanny pack is flopping around,” he said. “I don’t need that.”
Drewry’s security job essentially entails kicking people out of the tent that are not supposed to be there. Looking for fanny packs, or a lack thereof, can help her do her job.
“If someone didn’t have a fanny pack, I’d be suspicious about it. Why wouldn’t you have one? It’s so useful,” she said. “I grabbed mine at the last second and it’s been a great decision.”