A little less luster: A reflection on DM 2008
I find it funny that my first post for this blog is titled “Human after all,” because that statement rings even truer after experiencing Dance Marathon 2008 — but in a different way than that initial post promoted. After 30 hours immersed in the world of DM, a little bit of my “DM can do no wrong” attitude has faded a bit, and the event looked to me a little more vulnerable, a little more human.
Remember Livestrong bracelets? For one dollar, anybody could buy a cheap yellow band they could fit around their arm, with the funds going to charity. Usually, donating money means giving without expecting anything in return. The Livestrong bracelet encouraged people to donate money to a good cause, but also receive something that both made them feel good and could show off to the world. Immense amounts of good were done, but the idea of charity seemed cheapened a little.
Dance Marathon the event is kind of like that, but more expensive and elaborate. Couples pay $800 towards a great cause to dance for 30 hours straight, all the while being immersed in loud music, giant TVs playing old music videos and constant reminders of what an amazing thing they are doing. DM staff members get the chance to also contribute, not just monetarily but also through setting up the stage or delivering food or keeping track of all the money, jobs all vital to the pageantry of DM. Being behind-the-scenes of Northwestern’s biggest student event is even more impressive than just being on the dance floor, as I was my freshman year. Taking part in Dance Marathon is a big deal: Numerous people I talked to during the event said it “is just something you have to do,” and even, “This is why I came to NU.”
Dance Marathon, unfortunately, wouldn’t exist without the incentives. What kind of college student has $400 extra to give to charity? And, more depressingly, what kind of college students would take the time to raise $400 for charity? Sadly, college students focus heavily on the “me.” DM needs to throw in incentives, so the selling point is the experience, the coming together of people, the accomplishment of dancing for 30 hours. The charity, the good deeds? That becomes the motivation for dancers not to give up on those 30 hours. When they start complaining about aching feet and drowsiness (things they were well aware of when they signed up for DM), the people behind the event remind them of what good souls they are, how if they keep going they can see how wonderful their accomplishment is. It is hard to knock DM for having to put so much time, energy and money into making the 30 hours a spectacle when it does so much good, but it is also sad to see they have to do that, that the only way to get people to help other blindly is to go all-out on crazy lights and t-shirts.
The final block of DM 2008 helped me come to this revelation. The two girls collapsing in the middle of the dance floor put the event into perspective, and made me see how DM Weekend can be taken a little too seriously. While watching everything unfold near Starbucks in Norris, it seemed that DM staff members were just as focused on what would happen with the final block as they were with the girls. Committee members were obviously worried with the well-being of the people, carting in water and bringing medical attention quickly to the tent, but to even think about the actual block during the incident was outrageous and slightly selfish. And throw in the fact that, as revealed by a DM press release today, the amount of money going to the two beneficiaries, Bear Necessities and the Evanston Community Foundation, isn’t $933,855 but $659,711. (Part of the fundraising total includes donations of food and other items that support the event.) That’s still a ton of money that will do much good, but DM’s decision to promote the overall number, instead of the amount actually donated to charity, shows how obsessed with image they are. Twenty-four hours later, it all still bugs me.
I love Dance Marathon. No event at Northwestern does more good than it does, and I’ve been championing it for two years now. I still believe in how great it is, how impactful it can be, how much joy it can spread. During DM 2008, there were times I still wished I was back out on the floor dancing. Part of me, though, is really sad I’ve realized it does have its chinks in the armor as well. If anything, I’m sadder for my generation, who can’t seem to do anything requiring sacrifice without the allure of copious amounts of food and the ability to be translated into a Facebook photo album. Call me naive, I guess I had more hope in people than that. I’m just sad I had to realize it at DM, and discover it too is fallible. I fell in love with Dance Marathon last year because of how unreal it seemed. This year’s DM was a lot like being eight and stumbling upon your dad’s dirty magazine stash. You still love the guy, but you don’t look at him quite the same anymore.
Note: The comments below do not reflect the opinion of North by Northwestern or Dance Marathon. Comments are not approved by NBN before they are published on the site.
Nice article!
And as much as you and I want it to be, impactful isn’t a word. Damn you Merriam-Webster!
Ben R.
March 10, 2008 at 6:28 am
This is the third article in row I’ve read that has an egregious mistake/error. Please get better copy editors.
Frustrated
March 10, 2008 at 10:15 am
I don’t see how being told that you are doing an amazing thing cheapens the idea of charity. Everyone likes a little encouragement now and then, for whatever they are doing. Dancing for 30 hours is hard. Really, really hard. But at the end of the day(s), people aren’t talking about dancing for 30 hours. They are talking about how much money they raised. How raising nearly $1 million is an incredible feat. How the cute little kids on stage kept them going. And how good it feels to be part of something bigger than themselves.
I have to disagree with your statements about DM being obsessed with its image. For instance, when the two girls went down, I’m sure everyone was worried about them - especially committee members. But, unfortunately, it is their job to worry about what will happen to DM and the 748 other dancers who had been dancing for 29 1/2 hours. The two girls were taken care of, seeing as they had medical personnel helping them already, but how do you rescue the morale of the other dancers and keep them going through that final hour? As for promoting the overall number - $933,855.42 is the total amount raised. Yes, some of it has to go back to DM to cover expenses, but the people in that room raised nearly a million dollars and deserve to celebrate that number.
You say that our generation “can’t seem to do anything requiring sacrifice without the allure of copious amounts of food and the ability to be translated into a Facebook photo album.” Somehow, I don’t think anyone in their right mind would do DM for the free food. It would be rather difficult to dance for 30 hours with no food. And the Facebook photo albums are just ways of holding onto that feeling of sheer exhaustion and giddiness when the total is announced, not a motivating factor in deciding whether or not to do DM. Of course it takes some pageantry to get people to donate time and money to charity. People are inherently a little bit selfish. But DM does a great job of making people realize that helping people feels good. It encourages people to make sacrifices for the good of others. It isn’t even just about DM weekend. It’s that feeling that, after 30 hours of pain and exhaustion, it is all worth it in the end because you are helping people, not because you can brag to your friends. Dancing for 30 hours is not what drags people in…if anything, it scares people away. But it does, like you say, bring people together for a good cause and make people want to do more good in the world. Feeling good about doing something amazing for other people doesn’t make one selfish - it makes one human.
Anonymous Dancer
March 10, 2008 at 2:08 pm
“I’m sadder for my generation, who can’t seem to do anything requiring sacrifice without the allure of copious amounts of food and the ability to be translated into a Facebook photo album.”
This is the truth, and eloquently stated too.
Thanks for writing such a thoughtful article that takes a stance somewhere between the extremes of DM bashers and quixotic DM promoters.
Tracy
March 10, 2008 at 4:17 pm
“Anonymous Dancer”,
There is a veritable plethora of errors and misstatements in your commentary, but for the moment I will focus on the most glaring assumption/false observation/outright lie.
In the first paragraph of your defense of the outrageous and elaborate over-kill that is DM, you said,
“But at the end of the day(s), people aren’t talking about dancing for 30 hours. They are talking about how much money they raised.”
Total and complete bullshit. I haven’t heard 1 damn person talk at all about how much money they raised, how good they feel about helping children, or even about what is actually even going to get done with the goddamn money. Instead, I’ve heard narratives and stories of how fun/exhausting the event was and, “I just don’t see why you didn’t do DM dude”, the self-righteous and image-conscious dancer’s way of asserting their holier-than-thou attitude on me and subconsciously building up their own egos and self-images as crusaders for right and warriors who, **GASP** put in 30 hours of standing on their feet swaying side to side (lets be honest, no one was fucking doing the electric slide for 30 hours. I went during block 5 and i swear to God I only saw 3 people actually dancing.)
Actually, I take it back. I’ve heard plenty of people talk about how much money their overall group raised, but solely in the context of, “Well I’m just glad we beat (insert other frat-sorority team here)” That isn’t what we need.
And don’t even get me started on Club DM, the DM exec’s solution to the fact that they forgot to fucking count as they were accepting Dancers. The extra however-many-dancer’s donations probably just had to go towards covering that goddamn thing.
I have no problem with dancing for charity, I just have a problem with the way it is executed. The dancers really did do something great in raising that much money. $933,855 is a lot of fucking money. $659,711 is also a lot of money, but only 70% of what was actually brought in. The fact that 30% (think about that for a second. Almost 1 third!) of the proceeds from DM go to covering the expenses is ridiculous. What the fuck are you spending $274,144 dollars on? You had food and water donated for god sakes! What else do dancers need to FUCKING DANCE besides maybe some music and glowsticks? Next year, I would love to see them strip down DM and see how many people do it. Announce before registration that, “This year it’s going to be a DJ, big screen TV, free (donated) food and 750 dancers in the Louis Room.” Lets see if you can raise almost $1 million then. In fact, I would bet that you would STILL raise more money from the smaller dancer pool in the new frill-less format than what they managed to actually donate to charity this year after covering their elaborate and self-indulgent expenses. What if you just did a charity drive? “Sign up here, and then in 4 months we expect you back here with $800 each. There will be some balloons and cake when you show up to drop off the money.” Unimaginable, right?
It’s sad that the idea of doing it in a stripped down, spartan and, dare I say, charity-focused, format seems so outrageous. “DM without the lights and tables and headsets and banks of video production equipment? HOW could that ever happen?” Well, it could, but sadly it won’t. Go ahead, keep WASTING (that’s right, I said wasting) the dancers hard-earned donations on all the extras, but just remember who you are doing this for. The cute kids suffering from cancer. Not you, not the sponsors, not the university. And CERTAINLY not the fucking DM committee.
Anonymous Grinder
March 10, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Anonymous grinder,
Right on dude. You stole the words from my mouth.
I still heart charity, don't get me wrong
March 10, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Anonymous Grinder - I’m sorry you feel that way. That has not been my experience at all, but I’m sure it is different for everyone. I definitely understand that DM has its flaws, but I, personally, do it for the charitable aspect - not the bragging rights. Maybe you’re right. Maybe some people do it for the wrong reasons. But, they are still raising the money, so good for them. I’m not trying to say I’m perfect or DM is perfect. I just think that the people behind DM have the right intentions and do a great job of promoting philanthropy on campus. That is all. I don’t even disagree with Patrick on most of his points, and I know that he still supports DM. I’ve just heard a lot of negative publicity regarding DM recently and wanted to throw my opinion out there. I do think DM could spend less money on the frills and make it more about the charity than the dance. I just think that, overall, it is still a great organization that does great things. The end.
Anonymous Dancer
March 10, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Hey all,
The grand total of $933K+ includes product donations. For examples, if the food committee got $60K of donated food, that number is included. It is by no means all overhead. Thanks to the hard work of the exec board and committee members, tons of products and services are donated, all of which help make DM as awesome as it is. People chose to donate to Dance Marathon in all sorts of ways and all are very worthwhile. Tons of people worked very hard on creating such an amazing event. I wish you could have all seen the exec board standing next to the stage tearing up during the Bear Necessities speeches.
Please get your facts straight and talk to some of the people involved before you start dropping the F bomb. And seriously, use your names.
Mindy Zacharjasz
March 10, 2008 at 5:18 pm
As one of the Public and Community Relations Co-Chairs for Dance Marathon, I would like to clear up the confusion regarding our fundraising total. The anonymous post above has completely misunderstood DM’s financial workings, and it is important to explain the real situation.
$933,855 is the total number of cash raised plus the value of all in-kind donations. In-kind donations are things like food and other products that make Dance Marathon function. If $10,000 of food is donated, we add that $10,000 to the cash total.
The vast majority of cash raised is given to the beneficiaries. DM is by no means spending 30% of the cash. To reiterate, the $274,144 difference between the total and the cash given to the beneficiaries is not money that was brought in, but rather is the value of products and services that were donated.
Regarding dancer registration, it is false to say that Dance Marathon registered too many dancers by accident. This year’s Executive Board thought it was extremely important to allow all students who wanted to participate the opportunity to do so, and deliberately reached out to register as many dancers as possible. In order to accommodate all the dancers, DM needed to find more space, and any costs associated with that extra space were extremely worthwhile given the amount of money those added dancers raised for Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the Evanston Community Foundation.
Dance Marathon was able to give 40% more cash to our beneficiaries than last year. This is a tremendous increase, which we are very proud of, and we attribute a large part of this achievement to our record-breaking number of participants. I hope that this post has clarified the situation, and please feel free to contact us at pcr@nudm.org if anything remains unclear.
Marshall Miller, Public and Community Relations Co-Chair
March 10, 2008 at 7:39 pm
So I was pretty harsh. I still stand by what I said, but Mindy I apologize if my profanity insulted you in any way.
1) I now understand how DM’s cash total works
2) I would still be interested to hear how announcing a number as large as you did as the fundraising total which includes donations of food for dancers is accurate as far as the charity is concerned. You should publicize the amount given to the charity, not that plus Famous Amos cookie boxes.
I guess what I was trying to say is, why are the frills and such so necessary? Why do we have to spend this much money (which comes out of the $40 SA fee that we all pay every quarter) just to get people to dance for charity.
I would still like to see a far stripped down DM, and I stand by my earlier statements.
Whoo, got through that one with no excessive “fuck”s.
Anonymous Grinder returns
March 10, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Anonymous Grinder-
Your comment is misinformed and lacks logic. For the past 3 years, I have had a somewhat negative perception of DM- as a student group that eats up all the campus’ resources, that NU lavishes unfair praises on, and that students talk up when in reality putting little time into it.
This year, I danced in DM 2008, and my mind was completely changed. The fundraising is only a part of the DM experience. Yes - a ’stripped down’ version of the event might cost less, but no one would do it again. For the success of DM, it is important that dancers have a positive experience and that requires lights and sound. And, it is important to credit those who worked for a year on DM obtaining those perks (lights, sound, tent, food, etc.) as they are donated by including them in the final total. Raising money without having a way to connect with the philanthropy it is benefiting would not give anyone involved with the organization a sense of connection to the philanthropy or a sense of the scope of the program. The Bear Necessities’ stories throughout DM are not only meant to energize dancers, but also to connect them to what DM means. Raising money is great- but knowing what it will benefit is just as important.
DM isn’t about a total amount of money or a second tent or any of the extraneous things- it was about the sense of community I experienced from March 7th to 9th, the people I got to reconnect with, and the excitement I got from knowing that I was able to help out in some way.
I think you should rethink your comment and perhaps get involved in DM next year. I’d like to hear you say you don’t need the music and lights and excitement at 6 am on Saturday morning.
Mike
March 10, 2008 at 8:18 pm
And I love charity. I just feel we could go about it different. Thank you.
Anonymous Grinder returns
March 10, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Let’s face it. Dance Marathon isn’t PERFECT. Humans run it, humans dance in it, and humans are affected by it.
But just like you, Mr. St. Michel, Dance Marathon is something I am deeply committed to at Northwestern because so many people come together for a common cause that affects so many people in our community.
In a way, Mr. St. Michel, I feel bad for you, that you can’t look beyond the freckles that DM has and see the overall grand picture. So the dancers aren’t sacrificing 30 hours of their lives, living in pain and abandoning sleep for absolutely nothing. But why can’t Dance Marathon make all parties involved winners? Do dancers really have to be in pain, tired, and depressed for 30 hours in order to truly make a difference? I understand that you don’t perceive buying a livestrong bracelet for the bragging rights as noble as buying a wriststrong bracelet for the cause, but is this a better world with DM here? People’s bragging rights last for such a short time compared to the impact DM has on the charities they support. You can’t put a price on giving hope to a child.
Blood drives give out cookies to people who donate blood, does that cheapen the blood to the person whose life it saves in a transfusion?
We all want to make a difference in the world to somebody in our careers someday. Is it selfish to try to make a difference in somebody else’s life now with DM, even though I got a t-shirt?
DR Committee Member
March 10, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I liked (well, maybe not ‘liked’ per se) what one of the speakers for Bear Necessities said during DM. Himself a cancer survivor, he said something to the effect of “Although your feet are hurting and you’re very tired, know that this is how many of these cancer patients feel every day.” Dance Marathon is more than the money and the lights and the other tent and the committees and the free food. Sure, even if I had dropped out at the last minute Bear Necessities still would have gotten the money I raised, but the physical (and let’s be honest - mental) sacrifice I made represented a struggle toward something bigger than myself. Yeah, there were lights and upbeat music but none of it was appealing at all after the third block. All I could think of was “when is this thing going to be done? I don’t think I can make it all the way through”. Despite that, I did stick it out and I’m so glad I did. And I didn’t stay because of the lights. I didn’t stay because of the music. I didn’t stay because of all the ‘perks’ (honestly, who cares about having free food when all you want to do is sleep?). I didn’t even stay because they wouldn’t let us leave. I stayed because this meant more to me than all of that. It was about helping those little kids I saw dancing on the stage that may not survive the cancer they have right now and it was about being a part of something more important than myself.
Amanda
March 10, 2008 at 11:39 pm
But again the question remains, would people donate such a large amount of money, without the event? No. DM’s understandably a celebration of the money and cause. But the problem comes from people putting the dancing before the cause. It’s why many (not all) raise the necessary $800. As sad as it is, they just want to dance.
Anonymous
March 10, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I want to respond to two things regarding post 13
1. Nowhere do I state that people need to be in pain, be suffering or anything of the like to make a difference. Actually, that’s almost the opposite of what I wrote above.
2. You get a cookie after a blood donation because you just gave blood and the cookie helps you regain yourself. There is a big difference between that and what I’m talking about.
Patrick St. Michel
March 11, 2008 at 3:26 am
How is DM different than any other fund-raising event? Special O volunteers raise money to jump into Lake Michigan. Sororities and fraternities hold sometimes silly events to raise money for their philanthropies. People can donate to cancer research on their own, but how often do they do that? DM puts the spotlight on an important cause and then raises money for that cause because dancing for 30 hours is crazy. People will support a concrete event more than an abstract cause, no matter how worthwhile. That’s just people and the way we work. DM is a truly amazing experience, and a crazy way to raise money. Which is precisely why it raises so much. Sure, Anonymous, people wouldn’t donate that much money without the event. But the same goes for every fundraising event out there, from your high school band’s bake sale to DM. If you condemn DM, you have to condemn every fund raising event ever created. And unless you have lived your life in a box up until now, involved in absolutely nothing, you have probably participated in one. What makes a DM dancer different?
Do DM ‘09, and THEN I give you permission to talk shit. If you haven’t experienced it, hold your peace.
Emily
March 11, 2008 at 3:31 am
As someone who almost dropped out of DM about 2 hours before the event began, I definitely understand where all this cynicism is coming from. I was feeling the same way–I raised the money, so what’s the point of making myself suffer for 30 hours? It’s just a stunt. I ended up doing it and am extremely happy with my decision. I think dance marathon itself is a great event, raises tons of money, is an amazing experience and should continue. that said, I agree with Patrick’s main point (and I think his article was really more about this than about specifically bashing dm) that students, at least on this campus, need too many incentives to make a difference. I feel like everything here–from dance marathon to sorority/fraternity fundraisers–is completely focused on philanthropy, not service. People here are constantly raising money for some cause or another, but how many of them are actually going out and volunteering and getting personally involved with the causes they’re supporting? I mean, I’m sure many of them are, but they never get publicity. We celebrate fundraising totals but we don’t give nearly enough credit to those people who are actually immersing themselves in these causes. And seriously, THAT is what makes a difference. If you think seeing a six-digit number on the fundraising board is powerful, that’s nothing compared to the feeling of actually spending quality time with someone who needs you. there’s nothing in the world more powerful than human interaction and in the end that’s what everyone needs, more than anything.
money is great and obviously makes a difference. but you can be a rich asshole who gives millions of dollars away to good causes every year and you’ll still be an asshole.
claire
March 11, 2008 at 9:47 am
all i have to say is that if I remember correctly, the donation that DM gave to Bear Necessities was the biggest amount they have EVER received! something has to be said about the fact that we are helping out charities that aren’t always in the public eye.
and i agree - don’t bash DM until you have done it.
and following Mindy’s example - i will use my real name
~René Jovel
El Luchador
March 11, 2008 at 9:59 am
I agree with a lot of Patrick’s points, but I’m sort of surprised that this is the second article I’ve read in as many days whose conclusion is essentially: I’m sad to learn that people aren’t altruistic.
Of course we need incentives to do good things. That’s not depressing. It’s human. I haven’t donated $400 to charity this year, and I’m guessing most of the people unassociated with DM haven’t either. It’s not because we’re bad people, it’s because we weren’t properly motivated by a cause to spend the incredible amount of time it would take to raise that kind of money. I’m sure DM could cut some expenditures, but it’s undeniable that the glitz of the event draws more supporters and more money and that eventually changes more lives.
Let’s stop bemoaning our “fallibility,” as though every critic on this page were born on the 30th hour of Dance Marathon and suddenly came to this mind-boggling discovery of human selfishness. We’re all motivated by personal reasons. Live with it. And hats off to DM for channeling those motivations to create change on a truly massive scale. They should be applauded.
Derek T
March 11, 2008 at 10:00 am
Congratulations on reaching the conclusion that humanity isn’t comprised of saints. If something is so well produced that it inspires people to bring their friends next year, what’s so bad about that? Dance Marathon is so wonderful because despite all the hardship, everyone sticks together and makes it through the 30 hours, even mustering up enough strength to end it on the highest energy levels of the whole event.
It’s that reaching inside yourself and finding strength you didn’t know you had that serves as both the main theme and central metaphor of DM. Dancing for 30 hours is something that sucks for everyone– equally. No matter how much money you have access to, it gives everyone the task of putting their feet (and knees) where their money is (to bastardize a cliché). We’re doing it for the kids– and at the end of the event we get to see first-hand a little of what we accomplished. There’s nothing wrong with that… and this holier-than-thou attitude isn’t going to change anything. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Look, it’s as simple as this. We donated $659,711 in CASH to charity. What did you do this weekend?
-Daniel Iden
Daniel
March 11, 2008 at 10:45 am
In fairness to both sides in this banter, I don’t think anyone was saying that donating all that money was bad. Of course charity is good. Of course DM is a positive thing. But at the same time, it’s critics do have a point. It is overblown. It is sad that it has to be like that for people to care, and it could be managed much better in some respects.
I think it’s great that they raised that much money, but I still think that a lot of DM is done just for DM’s sake.
That’s all.
Barry McCardel
March 11, 2008 at 11:47 am
Does it matter why I spent hours in the freezing cold holding a can, begging people for change to give to kids with AIDS two years ago?
Does it matter why I asked friends and relatives for money last year to help kids with epilepsy live a normal life?
Does it matter that I donated a hard-earned paycheck when I’m in thousands of dollars of debt again this year to help kids with cancer?
No. All that matters is that I did those things. In three years of dancing, I’ve raised more than $1500 - and I’ve done so for many reasons. To dance in DM and have a good time, certainly. To support my friends on DM Exec and committees who spend countless hours building one of the largest student-run philanthropy events in the country. And, most importantly, to help kids who are less fortunate than I am.
I’ve had a pretty good life. I go to a great university. I have great parents. I’ve only been to the hospital once for a minor injury. Doing DM is one way for me to give something to those who haven’t been as lucky as I have and to show gratitude for how fortunate I’ve been in life thus far.
Who knows? Maybe my luck will change. Maybe I or someone close to me will come down with cancer and need money to pay for chemotherapy. Maybe they’ll need help buying a video game or DVD player to take their mind off of the pain. Or maybe they just need hope - that a cure to this disease may come someday, that they can keep fighting for their lives.
If that happens, I can only hope that someone will be around to donate their time to raise awareness and money to help me or someone close to me out.
And I guarantee you, I won’t give a damn why they did it.
bake1234
March 11, 2008 at 12:01 pm
About making a DM with less frills:
All this will accomplish is the change of the overall publicized number. Thus, this publicized figure would’ve been X where $933,855 > X < $659,711. The final total donated to charity, or 659,711 would still be the same. So, what’s the point of making DM less flashy, if the flashiness attracts more people? It’s not like the places that donated food said: “We’ll either donate this food to your dancers OR we’ll donate the cash value to Bear Necessities.”
So, really, making DM less flashy would in NO WAY “cut down on costs” or give more money to the beneficiaries.
And the reason the overall figure is publicized is because that is how much the DM committees have raised. They went out there and asked for those donations and got them and they should be given credit.
And, Patrick, about our generation’s inability “to do anything requiring sacrifice without the allure of copious amounts of food and the ability to be translated into a Facebook photo album” — I don’t think the picture is as hopeless as you paint it. I sure hope not. I mean, without the Facebook album, how would you ever know if one did something? On the contrary, there might be lots of people doing and working and raising and sacrificing who are too busy to upload the pictures, so we never hear about them. The only way to really know is to be that person and keep hope alive.
Maybe I’m naive, though. Maybe we’re all a bunch of over-privileged assholes. Either way, I liked the article.
Tatiana
March 11, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Apparently, I’m not good with inequalities. Let me redo that.
$933,855 > X > $659,711.
My apologies.
Also: I believe all of DM’s overhead costs comes from the registration fee that dancers pay.
Tatiana
March 11, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I’ll preface this with saying that I did DM 2006, so I get the experience of dancing (or, yes, sometimes just standing) for charity. And I will admit that I am very proud of myself and of everyone for raising money for a good cause for so many years.
However, that doesn’t mean that DM doesn’t have its faults. What makes the pomp and circumstance of the dancing so over the top is that, when you come down to it, there is no purpose. Every single person could not show up and the money would still be in and go to a good cause. The dancing therefore becomes a superfluous event celebrating one’s ability to raise $800, but people still treat it as a personal sacrifice to dance for 30 hours. It is a sacrifice to donate your own money or spend your time soliticing money. And if you enjoy dancing for 30 hours then by all means, have the experience; I don’t regret mine at all.
But if you are not raising any money by physically dancing. And “suffering” from sleep deprivation and tired feet doesn’t make you a martyr for pediatric cancer. Has DM ever considered that a real motivation would be if you solicited people to donate on a per-hour basis. If I knew that every hour I danced meant $5 more for the charity that not only would give me more motivation to keep going than speeches and people demanding that I stand up, but also a purpose for spending a weekend locked in Norris.
And, there is nothing wrong with people deconstructing the glitz and glamour of DM. That doesn’t diminish the good it has done. So stop “feeling bad” for people who have doubts about DM’s perfection.
Emily Vaughan
March 13, 2008 at 12:41 pm