By VANESSA LANGDON
News Editor
The Golden Knights Dance Club is revamping their annual dance-a-thon this year and partnering with the Saint Rose chapter of Colleges Against Cancer for the first time.
The group has been brainstorming the rebranding of the event since last spring, but official planning began in August.
“One of the girls on dance was the former president of Geology Club, and we always joked about doing a collaborative event with them and because I knew I wanted to run for president I was trying to come up with some selling points for my campaign,” said Lizzie Fitzpatrick, current Golden Knights president.
“The one event that I knew that I really wanted to re-vamp and make my own was our annual fall dance-a-thon. So I was thinking of catchy new names for the event right after having joked about collaborating with Geology Club, and the name ‘Rock out for a Cure’ came to fruition.”
The heavy lifting of the planning for the event was done by a committee of about 15 girls, but the entire club gave input and helped in some way, according to Fitzpatrick.
The event is slated for Saturday, Nov. 14 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Saint Joseph’s Hall. This is the first year that the dance-a-thon will be in Saint Joe’s; previously it has been in Standish Hall on campus.
“We knew we wanted to have performances and for that we need a stage, so we fought tooth and nail to get Saint Joe’s and we were lucky enough to find a date that it was open and that worked for the club,” said Erica Traver, club secretary.
The group needed the stage for their bevy of performances.
“In the past we have had the occasional drop-in by one or two of the a capella groups, but this year we are having performances by the Girls Next Door, the Other Guys, Knightz in Motion and GK Dance, as well as a secret special guest,” Fitzpatrick said. “This is also the first year we will be performing at our own event.”
Those performances are hoped to bring in the crowds to raise money for cancer research. The name change more accurately represents the format of the event.
“When people hear dance-a-thon, they assume it’s like Penn State’s THON, which is a 48-hour-straight dance-marathon where people pledge you money and you have to remain dancing for the whole event,” Fitzpatrick said. “That isn’t what our event is, it’s more like a giant dance party. It’s just a fun event that happens to include dancing that raises money and awareness for a cause.”
Twenty percent of the proceeds from the event will go towards the cause, and the rest will help plan and fund more events and fundraisers throughout the year. The group hopes to raise $1,000 through entrance fees. The event costs three dollars with a Saint Rose ID and five dollars without. That cost can be bypassed if you stop by the EAC today, Tuesday, where they will be selling T-shirts in the dining hall or outside Camelot on Wednesday and Thursday. If you buy a T-shirt and wear it to the event, then admission is free. The shirts can be purchased for three dollars.
The group practices twice a week and has been working on their performances for the event.
“The first is a fan-favorite routine choreographed by Meagan Corbett, a GK member and Saint Rose Grad Student, to the Death Cab for Cutie song “What Sarah Said.” We first performed the routine two years ago, at our 2014 spring showcase. Then last year when we were invited to perform at Relay for Life, we figured what better routine than one about helping a loved one through cancer recovery? So we performed it again last year, and since we all love the routine so much we figured we would bring it back one more time for Rock Out,” Fitzpatrick said.
The group’s second performance is upbeat and was choreographed by Fitzpatrick.
“I have decided to dedicate the routine to a teacher I had in high school who passed away from lung cancer in September,” she said. “He was one of the most influential people in my life and was a total rock n’ roll junkie, so I figured, what better a way to honor him by this dance?”
Colleges Against Cancer will be at the event to help educate about cancer prevention. They will be tabling with bra pong and selling lollipops. The group will be using facts from Pink Week, which was held in October.
“We love how involved with CAC they are, and look forward to working with them in the future,” said Caitlin Connelly, Colleges Against Cancer president.
Through changing venue and name the group is hoping to grow the event and the amount raised to help fight cancer.
“In the past, the event wasn’t all that big, and we wanted it to be huge this year. The last time I checked the stats on our Facebook event, it had reached over 2,000 people, so I’d say we accomplished that,” Fitzpatrick said. “Last year GK was the number two fundraising team at Saint Rose for Relay with over $1000, and this year we want to double that, so hopefully a lot of people come out on Saturday!”
