Northwestern University: Dance Marathon is back under the tent

Nearly 1,000 Northwestern undergraduate students will trade a weekend of studying for 30 hours of dancing at Dance Marathon 2022. Sidelined by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and forced to transition to an all-virtual format in 2021, Dance Marathon is back, in-person and kicking off at 7 p.m. Friday, March 4, and continuing until 7 a.m. on Sunday, March 6. in a tent on the Norris lawn.

Watch a livestream of the event at www.nudm.org starting Friday, March 4, and running through Sunday, March 6.

Northwestern University Dance Marathon (NUDM), one of the largest student-run philanthropic efforts in the country, raises money for two local nonprofit organizations. NUDM selected Chicago Youth Programs (CYP) as its primary beneficiary in the spring of 2021. CYP strives to improve the life opportunities and health of youth in low-income neighborhoods, primarily on the south and west sides of Chicago, through long-term academic, emotional and mental support. The Evanston Community Foundation (ECF) will serve as the secondary beneficiary for the 25th consecutive year. ECF invests in the community through grant making, leadership development and capacity building. NUDM caps a yearlong philanthropic effort by students to raise much-needed funds for these two charities.

Make donations now at www.nudm.org.

The NUDM community, along with risk management teams from Northwestern, are working to ensure the safest in-person experience possible for dancers. Executive co-chair and Northwestern senior, Cady DeCamara, said the protocols were a must to bring DM back in-person once again.

“We couldn’t be more excited to be able to bring our NUDM community back together to dance safely,” said DeCamara. “We won’t take this opportunity to celebrate our year of fundraising for granted and cannot wait to introduce three years of Northwestern students to the best 30 hours of the year.”

All dancers must present a negative COVID-19 test 24 hours prior to entering the tent, regardless of vaccination status, as well as a green badge on symptom tracker. Masks and hand sanitizing stations will be provided. And visitors will not be allowed inside the tent during the event.

NUDM has raised more than $20 million for nearly three-dozen charities. The final total is presented to the beneficiaries via an oversized, eye-popping check at the end of DM.