Rocking Around the Clock : Dance Marathon Part of UCI’s 25th Anniversary Celebration

Stephanie St. John should not have been feeling so well.

Bouncing on her heels and toes, the junior college student thrust her hips and bobbed her head so that her long ponytail swung from side to side.

Normal gyrations for any college student dancing to M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” until you consider that she and 11 other students were in the 14th hour of a 25-hour marathon dance as part of the UC Irvine’s 25th anniversary celebration.

“You know how when runners talk about hitting the wall and then they can keep running? That’s how we feel,” St. John’s partner, Becky Baer, said. “We hit the wall at about 10 this morning. We can do anything now.”

St. John and Baer were one of 10 couples who had pledged to rock around the clock, till broad daylight--and into the next night--as part of the student center’s weekend-long activities to celebrate UCI’s birthday and also to help raise money for a new truck for the campus recycling program.

Other weekend activities included a dinner Friday evening honoring the college’s founders, including heiress Joan Irvine Smith, former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr., and former UC President Clark Kerr.

Chancellor Jack W. Peltason, who attended the marathon dance Friday and Saturday, said Smith promised she would soon be making a large financial contribution to the school. However, she did not state how much she would be donating, Peltason said.

The student center festival included a casino game room, a centerfold contest and a Hula-Hoop contest.

But the big attraction was the marathon dance with a grand prize package that included free tuition, course books and a parking permit for one semester quarter.

But most of the dancers said they entered the contest for the fun and the challenge.

“There were points where we thought our feet were going to fall off,” said Loyd Calomay, a junior electrical engineering student.

Still, no matter how they were feeling, the dancers said that the faster the music, the more energized they became.

Marathon organizers had planned to play music from each year the campus has been open--beginning with 1965 and ending Saturday evening with current hits.

But the low point for many dancers began three hours into the dance, which started at 10 p.m. Friday, when the disc jockeys began playing music of the 1970s.

“It was OK until they got to Neil Diamond. I guess some people didn’t like those songs because they really aren’t very good dance songs,” said Craig Stockwell, a student who volunteered as a judge.

“We can’t dance disco,” said dancer Gale Goneroso, a sophomore electrical engineering student.

“It was hell,” Baer added.

From that point on, current recordings were mixed in with the oldies, satisfying most of the crowd.

Gustavo Molina, one of the more animated dancers on the floor, said he protested after a rap song with explicit lyrics was played twice.

Because contest rules require dancers to keep moving to the beat of the music, Molina said he demonstrated his protest by slowing down his pace and swaying from side to side.

“I do all things for my Lord, Jesus Christ, who strengthens me,” he said as he tirelessly bounced from one end of the dance floor to the other.

Not having raised too many pledge donations before the dance, the senior physics student said he was not in it to win--only to have fun.

“I asked about six girls before I found her,” Molina said, pointing to partner Susan Bradford. “She doesn’t want to say anything because she knows I don’t want to stop.”

Nine hours after the marathon began, three couples dropped out of the contest. An hour later, another couple left the dance floor, leaving six couples promising to rock until they dropped.

Couples were required to take seven 10-minute recesses throughout the marathon and were allowed three additional five-minute breaks. Any extra breaks cost the dancers five points each, and no breaks were allowed during the final hour.

They were given opportunities to earn bonus points prior to the event by making publicity posters and raising money through pledges.