Even the booming sounds of the Northwestern University Drumline couldn’t fight the fatigue overwhelming dancers inside the tent.

The Winter’s-a-Beach-themed Block 5 kicked off with breakfast and a trio of student performances from Fusion Dance Company, the Undertones and NU Drumline. The dancers’ participation with the acts ranged from high-energy to total lethargy.

“We were all so tired that when we sit down to watch a performance, everyone just wants to fall asleep, so I don’t know if it’s the best idea in the future,” Weinberg freshman Troy Xu said.

However, some dancers were more than happy to have a break in the action and enjoyed the performances.

“I really liked all three of them. They were very high energy, and that was something that we needed, especially at the halfway point when a lot of us were starting to feel the drain of DM,” Communication freshman Drew Hazen said.

Despite some droopy eyelids, performers said they were happy to do their part to pump up the dancers, who finally reached the halfway point of the marathon.

“It’s awesome because I’ve been dancing in DM, so after all that, it’s something fun to try to pump up everyone who I know is just a little bit tired when they’re eating breakfast,” Fusion member Sam Riese said. “Even though they don’t have the energy to go crazy, they’re smiling and that’s all that matters.”

Following the performances, dancers seemed to look for any way out of the tent, and the line to exit for the bathroom stretched more than 50 people long for much of the block.

However, the mood in the tent picked up when the second Hero family took the stage. David and Erica Cahill told the story of their six-year-old daughter, Grace, who lives with central nervous system vasculitis and whose life has improved significantly through Starlight Children’s Foundation.

“Starlight is determined to provide all children who suffer from critical and chronic illness the happiest life experiences possible, and my girls have never ever left an event or an NUDM event this year without big smiles on their faces,” Erica Cahill said. “So thank you all for making lives brighter.”

The Cahill family thanked the dancers for their commitment to raising money for Grace and other Heroes. Erica Cahill said DM means a lot to her family because Grace’s disease has no known cause or cure, and there is not a lot of funding going into research for it.

David Cahill told The Daily that he didn’t know he would be speaking at DM until a couple days ago. Cahill didn’t know what to expect at the event but is amazed at the number of people who are dancing, he said.

As dancers reached the halfway mark, the Finance Committee took the stage and announced that by the end of Fall Quarter, $106,759 had been raised.

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