Hour by hour, the DM 7 Big Event was a whirlwind of emotions almost impossible to describe! However, if you were unable to make it to this life-changing day, here are 13.1 emotions that you would have felt during SAU’s DM 7 (and a corresponding morale dance lyric!):
11am – Pumped – “Ladies and Gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for!”
When everyone first gathered in the Rogalski Center Ballroom at 11 am on Saturday, March 30th, anyone could feel the electricity buzzing through the air. Soon enough, the opening ceremonies kicked off and we got to meet all of the miracle families that were able to come to the Big Event! Also, the morale dance was revealed!
12pm – Overwhelmed – “Everything you want and more”
As the first hour ended, the excitement in the air soon spread throughout the whole ballroom as each dancer raced off to participate in all of the activities that were going on including, petting therapy dogs, grabbing Chik-fil-a or Pancheros for lunch, or purchasing some DM swag. All while still trying to figure out all those moves in the morale dance!
1pm – Excitement – “If it’s alright, I wanna kick with you all night”
At 1 o’clock, a lot of the activities around the Rogalski center opened up and the dancers were able to visit the Dancing in Our Hearts Room to honor the kiddos who have passed. Dancers could also enjoy laser tag during this barnyard themed hour.
2pm – Inspired – “I’ve got your back, if you’ve got mine”
We were challenged by the Illinithon to raise $10,000 dollars in ONE HOUR! Not only was SAU DM able to do so, we also beat the Illinithon’s total! These fundraising pushes help make a big difference towards our goal of $270,000 all FTK. This hour also happened to be retirement home themed.
3pm – Impressed – “Well what are you waiting for? I don’t know something amazing, I guess…”
One of my favorite DM activities happened during this hour: the kiddo talent show! This year we had many of our kiddos and their siblings express themselves through dancing, singing, and playing instruments! We have some seriously talented kiddos!!
4pm – Exhausted – “Don’t stop me now”
This hour is usually the one when each dancer starts to feel the tiredness in their feet. But, we have to remember to continue our fight because our kiddos are fighting even more challenging battles each and every day. As we say in the DM world, “Can’t stop, won’t stop!”
5pm – Relaxed – “Everything, everything will be alright”
During this hour, everyone got to take a deep breath in and join in on some relaxing yoga and get some dinner during this hour. Also, if dancers raised over $250, they received a massage during this hour. Plus, the Disney theme this hour also really brought out the enjoyment in all of our kiddos!
6pm – Classic- “Baby, you’re so Classic”
In this hour, we reflected back on all of the previous miracles we made by turning to our Alumni team. During Alumni Hour, we did all of the old morale dances for some extra DM Spirit!
7pm – Empowerment – “We can do this together, I bet you feel better when you’re dancing”
In this hour, the Mini-Reveal occurred. The mini-reveal is when the kids from the neighboring high and middle schools reveal to us how much money they were able to raise all FTK! This year our mini DMs were able to raise $51,473!! This hour was also an 80s themed, power half hour, where we turn off the lights and everyone dances like crazy for half an hour!
8pm – Proud (and a little bit lighter) – “I am a champion”
Many dancers and family members took a leap of faith and donated their hair through Capri College. Thus, feeling a lot lighter! Several brave souls even shaved their heads, all FTK!
9pm – Compassion – “It starts with you and me”
As we approached the end of the night, every dancer could feel the care and compassion for each of the kiddos in that ballroom. The compassion was of course fueled by our delicious late-night snacks of pizza and Texas Roadhouse Rolls, not to mention the hilarious vine theme.
10pm – Power – “We gotta get loud, making that change, you gotta believe”
This hour was the power hour every dancer has been waiting for! As the morale captains threw glow sticks out to the dancers, the wild dance moves ensued! Despite being anxious about the reveal of the total amount of money we had worked to raise all year! Each person in the ballroom danced their heart out all FTK!
11pm – Anxious – “Had to have high, high hopes for a living”
As the dancers sat down for the first time all day, an audible sigh was let out across the crowd, but we knew that it wasn’t over yet. All of the dancers sat anxiously as they watched the recap video and listened to the final family talk of the evening.
12am – Passion – “These are the moments we live for”
This was it. This was quite literally the moment we had lived all day for. As the committee members turned around to reveal the numbers, they were wearing that represented the total we had raised, cries broke out across the crowd. Not only had we made our goal, but we had beat it! $270,654.07, what a lot of miracles we made! To finish off the night, we formed a circle of hope in which each dancer got their hospital bracelet removed.
1 am – Love – “Guess what? I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU”
If you were still there at 1 am (still just soaking in the magnitude of that incredible number), you would have felt the pure love that radiated out of every person in that room. Suddenly all of the tiredness melted away and all that was left was the love for our kiddos and love for Dance Marathon.
Forever and always FTK,
Kelsey
*Photos by: Brandon Albrecht, Jordan Rowe, and Justin Boer