The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown's Dance Ensemble student club is planning a 12-hour dance marathon between February 1st and March 20th at the Pitt-Johnstown Wellness Center as a fundraising event. Dance Ensemble President Amanda Mudgett stated they are not copying Penn State's THON but want to create an interactive event for students and organizations to fundraise for charities. As the largest campus organization, Dance Ensemble hopes to attract a large crowd. They plan to advertise through social media, posters, and asking members to share information to achieve their goal of advertising early and often for the largest possible group.

1. University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
450 Schoolhouse Road
Johnstown, PA 15904
www.upj.pitt.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Kathleen Blough, Dance Ensemble Representative, kmb195@pitt.edu
Dance Ensemble Prepares for Spring Dance Marathon
(Johnstown) The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s student run club, Dance Ensemble, has decided
to host a twelve hour dance marathon in the Spring 2015 semester. The marathon, awaiting official title
selection, will take place between February 1st
and March 20th
. An official day will be selected shortly
based off the venue’s availability. The venue in question will be the Pitt-Johnstown Wellness Center.
Dance Ensemble President, Amanda Mudgett, stated that “The organization is excited to plan and
participate in the upcoming marathon. We would like to make it clear that we are not copying THON
[The Penn State Dance Marathon] but simply creating an event that would not only provide an
interactive, fun environment for our peers but another outlet for the other campus organizations to
fundraise for their respective charities.” As the largest organization on campus, Dance Ensemble is
hoping to draw a large crowd for the event.
As mentioned above, Dance Ensemble is the largest organization on campus and is reaching out to their
members to advertise the event. The marathon is still in the early days of planning, however the current
plan in place includes creating a Facebook event page, tweets will be sent out on a schedule from the
official Dance Ensemble twitter while the members will be asked to retweet and share everything
posted. Large posters will be commissioned from the campus Print Shop and they will be distributed
around the campus a few weeks before the event. The goal Dance Ensemble has established is to
advertise early and often to attain the largest group possible.
Dance Ensemble was founded at Pitt-Johnstown in 1992 and is currently advised by Dr. Natalie Barnyak.
The organization’s members choreograph, audition, and perform dances of all styles every spring
semester at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center on the Pitt-Johnstown campus. The organization
welcomes student dancers of all levels and serves as a creative outlet for the student body. You can
learn more about the organization on the campus’s office website www.upj.pitt.edu.
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