With this year’s team of Dance Marathon emcees, DM dancers might be hearing a lot more “Snap, Crackle and Pop.”
DM Executive Board announced its selection for DM 2010 emcees Sunday night – a team of three students calling themselves “Snap, Crackle and Pop” – after surprising the trio with the news. SESP junior Jerred Roggensack, Weinberg junior Chika Nwosu and Medill senior Wade Askew, a former Daily staffer, will be on stage and in the crowd this year, motivating students through 30 hours of dancing.
The three students were asked to the Big Ten Room in the Norris University Center under the pretense they would perform for the exec board in a third round of auditions, said DM Public Relations co-Chairwoman Kaitlin Vernon, a SESP senior.
After showing some of the rallying tactics they would use on stage to the exec board, the trio was told they would be emceeing this year’s event.
“We are super pumped,” said Askew, who has danced in DM every year since he was a freshman.
He added the idea to audition for the emcee positions came to the trio while they were dancing together during the final block of last year’s DM.
“We had a massive group of people dancing together,” Askew said. “And people were coming up to us and suggesting that we emcee (this) year.”
Part of the team’s audition pitch was that, as a trio, they could have two emcees on stage and another in the crowd, Nwosu said.
DM Productions co-Chairman Sam Bobb said out of the eight groups that auditioned to be emcees, these three stood out for their energy and commitment to the cause.
“Wade, Chika and Jerred had it all,” the McCormick senior said. “They had energy, they were engaged with the cause. They could talk about StandUp and articulate why we should be there dancing.”
The fact that the threesome decided to audition together while dancing last year was also a selling point, Bobb said.
“I see them as dancers who have risen up to lead DM,” he said. “They were natural leaders in the crowd last year, and now they will be taking over on stage.”
This year’s DM registration totaled more than 1,000 dancers, who were able to register online for the first time ever, said DM Finance Chair Allister Wenzel, a SESP senior.
Dancer numbers are about the same as last year, Wenzel said, but mark a significant increase from previous years.
Roggensack said he has one surefire way to inspire all 1,000 dancers.
“I am going to sweat more than any other emcee, ever,” he said.[email protected]
