By Madison Watkins, A&E Editor
arts.inkwell@gmail.com
File Photo by: Drew Heimlich
To get students excited for spring break in the wake of midterms, the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) held its annual Dance-A-Thon on Friday Mar. 2. It has been held annually for the past six years as a way to raise money for students going on summer mission trips. Campus Minister Tony Branham explained the Missions Chairperson at the time started the event because she wanted to think of a “fun way to raise money for summer missions.”
He went on to say that it is generally a successful event, “We usually have around 30-40 people show up and we raise about $150-250.”
When students came to the event, they had the options to dance, watch, or do both and many of them optioned for the latter. There was a good turnout with an even amount of students dancing or watching depending on the category of music. The event was split up into four rounds. Each round was a different category of music: throwback songs, theme songs, line dancing, and today’s hits.
In previous years, the contest was like most Dance-A-Thons where students began dancing when the event started and the last person left standing was the winner.
Branham commented that these rules caused problems the last few years. “The first year was rough because we would still have people dancing until 1 am. Those guidelines would also discourage some people from attending. The different rounds of music allow people to come in and out.”
The theme for this year was “Dance-A-Thon Extra” and the inside of the building was creatively decorated with black lights, streamers, and balloons. Students were encouraged to wear white and other bright colors so they could appear neon under the black lights. Special paint was also provided for students to put on their faces and arms along with glow sticks, as a fun way to dress-up and stand out while dancing.
After each round was a finished, the judges picked the best dancer, and at the end of the night, the four finalists had a dance-off so the winner could be chosen. The winner received a $10 Chick-fil-A gift card and each finalist received a calendar card with a new coupon for every month. The four finalists were Jacob Ivester, Katrina Yaneza, Colin Crawford, and Raigan Turner and Ivester was chosen as the winner.
Ivester admitted that the Chick-fil-A prizes were great encouragement to win. “I paid to dance so I was going to dance! I wanted to do it because I wanted to win the Chick-fil-A coupons and gift card. I wanted to get those dank chicky nuggies.”
He also commented that it was a great way to spend a Friday night, “It was fun to just see everybody dance and enjoying themselves.”
The BCM offers free lunch every Wednesday at noon and a weekly Bible study and worship night called Lunge every Monday at 7 pm.
