What’s New With DanceBlue?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2014) — When thinking of DanceBlue, most assume the most difficult parts to be mastering the line dance, fundraising or staying awake and energized for 24 hours.  For the organizers of the marathon, however, the biggest challenge is making the marathon bigger and better each year for the dancers, spectators and the children and families of the clinic.  For the 2014 marathon, DanceBlue has some new and improved features that are sure to make this marathon the best yet. 

The first and most obvious change to this year’s marathon is the date change. The ninth annual DanceBlue marathon will be held from 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, until 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23. This is the first year that DanceBlue will span the entirety of a weekend, from Saturday to Sunday rather than Friday to Saturday scheduling as it has been in previous years. 

The main entrance in previous marathon years has been the front entrance of Memorial Coliseum facing Avenue of Champions, however this year the new location will be located next to the Joe Craft ticket office on Lexington Avenue. There will be no entry from Avenue of Champions for 2014; all guests and spectators must enter through the newly designated entrance on Lexington Avenue. This puts the entry point closer to parking behind Memorial Coliseum and puts spectators on the same level as the seats available for viewing.

"There will also be some surprise improvements that are going to take place that will greatly enhance the audience experience,” John Graeber, 2014 operations chair, hinted, “however that’s all I can really say for now.” 

DanceBlue is the University of Kentucky’s 24-hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon that benefits the Golden Matrix Fund and the DanceBlue Kentucky Children’s Hospital Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic. Now in its ninth year, DanceBlue has raised more than $5.1 million for cancer research and DanceBlue Clinic patients and families.

Give to DanceBlue here and connect with DanceBlue on Facebook at www.facebook.com/danceblue and on Twitter at twitter.com/UKDanceBlue.

DanceBlue is a program housed in the UK Center for Community Outreach. The CCO seeks to serve, connect and unite the University of Kentucky with the surrounding community in collaborative efforts to promote life-long community service. For more information about the CCO, visit getinvolved.uky.edu/cco.