Block 4: U Up?
March 10, 2018
For Block 4 dancers dressed in PJ’s – as a person should be during the early 4 a.m. hour. The theme: U up? Was appropriate as dancers began to “hit a wall.”
“There is a little bit of a dip in terms of mood. The first two blocks were energetic but people seem to be slowing,” McCormick freshman Chad Meyers told The Daily at the beginning of the block.
During this lockdown block dancers participated in a scavenger hunt called pack a kid pack. NUDM Marketing and Media Co-Chair Nicole Bankowski said Cradles to Crayons creates these personalized packs, filled with the “essentials needed to thrive” like toothpaste, school supplies and clothing.
Dancers were divided into four teams and sent on a scavenger hunt in the tent to find all the items that went into these kids packs, said Dancer and Beneficiary Relations member Sigalle Reshef, a Communication senior.
“We have a color wars thing going on in the tent in an attempt to get dancers away from their teams and more integrated with people they have never met before,” Reshef said.
She added that the dancers got really into the hunt and it was a way to get them to get an energy boost.
During the block dancers were also encouraged by videos from animal Instagram celebrities Pickles the Pig and Sprout the Brussels. James Monroe Iglehart, who stars in “Hamilton,” also greeted dancers via video.
Iglehart encouraged dancers, who he noted may “have been twerking all night long” to keep dancing.
“I hear that you guys are dancing your faces off right now,” he said. “I want you to keep on going. This is for a great cause … Because you guys are dancing your faces off, some kid gets to have something that they need”
Dancers also heard from Pauline Moll, who took the stage to deliver a spoken word performance. Moll shared stories about her own dreams when she was growing up, and said she always knew she would go to college, and she always knew she would have options after graduation.
Moll said the most important thing dancers were doing by supporting Cradles to Crayons is helping people build safety nets, and giving kids the “gift of choice.”
“We are all standing in this tent wearing merchandise having raised $400 or $1200, when there are kids at home wondering where their next meal is going to come from or whether they’ll have a winter coat that fits this season,” Moll said, “when they should be able to be dreaming about becoming a marine biologist or a doctor.”
Dancers ended the block by taking a lap around Norris as the sun rose over the Lakefill.
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Twitter: @juliaesparza10
