A dance marathon is an event in which people stay on their feet for a given length of time. It started as a popular fad in the 1920s and 1930s, when organized dance endurance contests attracted people to compete to achieve fame or win monetary prizes. A 1969 film about the fad, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, based on the 1935 book of the same name, written by Horace McCoy who was a bouncer at several such marathons, popularised the idea, and prompted students at Pennsylvania State University and Northwestern University to create charity dance marathons.
Read more about Dance Marathon: 1920s and 1930s, Charity Dance Marathons
Famous quotes containing the words dance and/or marathon:
“The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)
“... marathon swimming is the most difficult physical, intellectual and emotional battleground I have encountered, and each time I win, each time I touch the other shore, I feel worthy of any other challenge life has to offer.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)