The University of Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum is undergoing its annual transformation into a giant dance floor. Dance Blue – one of the largest student-run philanthropic events in the country – is about to enter its tenth year.
Starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, the rules go into effect: No sitting. No sleeping. For 24 hours. Roughly a thousand students from more than 120 university groups will stay on their feet in solidarity with victims of cancer as they dance into the wee hours.
"The energy in this place is absolutely palpable. You can feel it in the stands. You can feel it on the floor. It's really is the spirit of uniting for one cause which is very, very special," 2015 event chair Jonathan York says.
That cause is the Kentucky Children’s Hospital Pediatric Oncology Clinic, which has received more than $6.5 million dollars in donations through Dance Blue since it began in 2006. Every year the marathon culminates in a big reveal of the new total.
"The moment in Memorial Coliseum, I can't even put it into words," event PR chair Michael Danahy says.
He recalls watching the number first top one million.
"I was hugging people I didn't even know. I was crying and looking at tears of joy in other people's eyes."
Organizers say some special surprises are planned this year to commemorate the tenth anniversary, but they’re keeping those under wraps until the party gets started.
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