Getting down to the wire

With less than five hours to go, the 24-hour dancers are starting to drag their feet and feeling the pain, but there have been morale boosters along the way.

A midnight dip in the pool was rejuvenating for the 24-hour dancers, and the third and final shift dancers came in at 6 a.m. and morale was boosted once again with their arrival.

Final steps of the morale dance were taught and 24-hour dancers have now learned the entire dance.

The Spartones, UNC Greensboro’s all male a cappella group performed and they were a lot of fun for the crowd.

Coming up later this morning are more miracle children and a performance by Twisted Measure.

Elonthon photos: first 12 hours

The arrival of new dancers

The 24-hour dancers formed two lines down the middle of the gym for the second shift of dancers to run through when they arrived at 10 p.m.

Morale dancing is certainly keeping morale up – the dance was taught to the new group for the first time and it’s getting better and better.

Abron Kelly, a miracle child, is a natural born perfomer who charmed the crowd with her miraculous story and her music. Abron experienced kidney failure, but received a transplant from her mother. Unfortunately, the kidney didn’t work. A miracle happened and a total stranger donated a kidney to her. She went through acute rejection a few years ago, but the doctors were able to fix it.

Abron sang a beautiful song about a caterpillar becoming a butterly, which is similar to her own story of wanting to be a normal kid again. She also sang “Dancing Queen,” another immediate morale booster.

One little rockstar and 14 big ones

Musical talent is becoming a theme this evening as the crowd was recently entertained by miracle child and up-and-coming rock star, Landen Ryan, and later by Rip_Chord.

Landen took the stage with his mother to tell his courageous story and then performed two rock songs for the crowd. His voice and guitar skills weren’t the only impressive talents he showcased. His energy and dance moves swept the crowd away as everyone erupted into applause. Several dancers even approached him after his performance to request an autograph and photo.

After a dinner donated by Panda Express, Elon’s all male a cappella group, Rip_Chord sang a handful of songs for its usual screaming crowd of fans. Rip_Chord has performed at every Elonthon since the group formed three years ago.

Elonthon morale team member, Melanie Binder, was one of the many screaming fans and commented that every girl at Elonthon had to be crowded around the stage at that moment.

Right left, right left, turn!

The Flight of the Phoenix, who are members of the Club Dance: Elon’s Ballroom Dance Club, performed the salsa, rumba and East Coast swing during Elonthon. After their own spectacular performances, they gave the crowd its own ballroom dancing lessons. The ballroom group has grown a lot even since their performance at Elonthon last year, so they were able to incorporate some multiple partner dancing with all the dancers onstage at once.

Part two of the morale dance is being taught to the group right now to break up the down time shooting hoops, playing video games, tossing around balloons and other games.

24-hour dancers are having their “wishes” granted throughout the marathon and a couple have already been granted. The first was to have three members of Elonthon exec team dance to the Macarena with Kristen Clements in a bunny suit, and the second was to embarrass a friend by making her dance alone to Soulja Boy.

Rip_Chord is performing next!

Elonthon is officially underway!

Elonthon 2009 began at 2 p.m. today. The theme this year is the “Ultimate Miracle Machine” and everyone is wearing a rainbow of colorful T-shirts, as is tradition with Elonthon. The 24-hour dance marathon began with the introduction of everyone on executive staff who have been planning this event since last spring.

Dancers have already shown their support for the kids by competing in a dance-off, raving and getting their first taste of the morale dance.

Group X is even taking part in this year’s Elonthon, and dancers are getting a chance to lie on the ground and stretch.

Mason Lindley, the miracle child to whom Elonthon is dedicated, was represented by his mom and sister, who shared his story. This is the first year that a group of students would not remember Mason since he passed away in May 2005, which makes this Elonthon an especially emotional time for Mrs. Lindley.

Getting ready for Elonthon

How do you prepare for 24 hours of dancing?

How do you survive 24 hours of dancing?

How many hours goes into planning one 24-hour event?

What does it take to be a miracle child?

All these questions and more will be answered from 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday as the Pendulum follows Elonthon 2009! Stay tuned!