Block 5: Pop it, Block it, Polka Dot it
March 9, 2019
After a morning jog around the tent, beleaguered dancers got to rest their legs, enjoying a quick breakfast, color wars, and student performances throughout Block 5 of Northwestern University Dance Marathon.
The theme, “Pop it, Block it, Polka Dot it,” featured student performances from NSTV, .WAV, Afrothunda and NU band Honey Butter. Dancers also competed for perks during color wars events that threw it back to grade school with “Telephone” and “Ships and Sailors.”
Communication junior Nico Fernandez, the president of .WAV, performed two songs during the performance, an original and “Ho Hey,” by The Lumineers — a duet with his friend Stephanie Farish. Fernandez said he didn’t expect everybody to get “super lit,” but that the performance was a good time.
“If you can kinda brighten their day, just for a little bit, get them to sing along, forget about how tired they are for a quick second, it’s great,” Fernandez said.
Following Fernandez, Afrothunda Dance Troupe performed a routine showcasing traditional and modern African-themed music and dance.
SESP junior Demi Oluyemi, co-captain of Afrothunda, said the experience was fun but interesting because the group wanted to share African culture and improve its representation, but noted the lack of diversity within NUDM.
“I don’t really feel represented sometimes on campus and we’re coming over here to show ourselves and show our culture but that’s not something that’s shown by this campus,” Oluyemi said. “DM isn’t something that’s always accessible for people of color or lower-class people.”
The block also featured Lip Sync battles and a speech from Communities In Schools representative Mimi Macbeth, which focused on the benefits of the fundraiser and CIS’s impact.
Student jazz, funk and soul band Honey Butter closed out the block, featuring classics like “Crazy,” by Gnarls Barkley and “Superstition,” by Stevie Wonder, with some original music and a saxophone battle sprinkled into the set.
Students noted the lack of dancing throughout the block, but that was not going to stop Honey Butter guitarist Jacob Galdes from trying to energize the crowd, going on 15 hours of dancing.
“(We’re) tryna get people up, tryna get people dancing,” Galdes said.
Weinberg senior Libby Sondheimer, who is a member of the Marketing and Media committee in her third year at DM, said she was enjoying the band but that she thought there needed to be more dancing throughout the block.
“The morning’s hard, and I think it needed to hype people up but the games brought them down,” she said.
Read more of The Daily’s coverage of Dance Marathon here.
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