Dancing for 30 hours is exhausting for all, but the end of this year’s Dance Marathon will be bittersweet for those in the 120-hour club.

Members of the club, including Communication senior Lindsay Barranco, co-chair of the DM food committee, have participated in DM for all four years of their Northwestern experience.

“For a lot of people, including myself, this is the last capstone in our senior year besides, obviously, graduation,” Barranco said. “To have this wrap up not only your senior year but also your entire Northwestern career with an organization that can pervade everything else you do here, it definitely means a lot.”

Often, students like Barranco dance early in their NU careers and get involved with the organization later on.

“My freshman and sophomore years after dancing, I realized, wow, if this weekend can mean so much to me, imagine what it’s like to work for a whole year towards it,” Barranco said.

Barranco said she has seen DM bring the campus together more over the past four years. Last year, DM had more than 1,000 dancers for the first time. This year saw more than 1,500 registrations.

“It’s definitely become an organization that is more focused on unity,” Barranco said. “Dance Marathon has become so much more than just an event for a lot of people.”

Communication senior Patrick Metcalf, another member of the club, said in his experience, every DM has been different.

“It has its continuities, but you still get a different flavor every year,” Metcalf said. “It’s always so different, because really the emcees bring their own personality to the event every year.

Metcalf added over the years, he found ways to organize his fundraising efforts.

“Fundraising for DM is never easy,” Metcalf said. “Everyone here will tell you that. Being in the 120-hour club, you know how to streamline your process, where not to bother, where the hidden gems for fundraising are.”

Barranco said her advice for newer dancers is to support friends while in the tent and keep up a positive attitude.

“Really keep in mind how much your attitude and behavior affects others. You can have such a huge positive or negative influence and impact on the whole energy of the tent,” she said. “Notice that friend who needs a shoulder to lean on, or a joke, or a funny dance move.”

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