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I found lindy hop about two years ago. Now I can’t imagine my life without it.

Every day I am amazed by all that lindy hop has given me — friends, heroes, a welcome escape, a means of expression, a sense of community, discipline, fulfillment, accomplishment, even a new outlook on life. But alas, despite all the happiness in the world I am still a neurotic at heart, and as my weekly dance count crept up to 5, 6, 7 nights a week, and the smile on my face grew bigger, I couldn’t help but feel a bit GUILTY deep inside.

Who was I to have all this fun? Wasn’t this dancing thing frivolous and… selfish? Dancing had done me a lot of good, but how was I helping anyone else?

Then I found the 24 Hour Dance-a-thon. Like a marathon, but dancing. Friends and family sponsor participants who pledge to dance with their team for 24 hours. The proceeds go to City of Hope hospital, a leader in cancer research and treatment.

I had to go. I scrambled to get a team together. We called ourselves the Hot Bloods in honor of the man, David Blood, who had taught most of us to dance. I’m certain we were the first team from San Francisco to attend this Southern California-based event. We were proud. We danced (a lot), slept (an hour), ate (although none of us remember that part), and made merry. I saw hundreds of people who were as happy as me, hundreds of people who loved dance so much that they were going to trap themselves in a gym, dammit, and dance for 24 hours.

At the end of the day, I saw all that joy and happiness translated into a tangible gift to our fellow humans: $127,000 to City of Hope.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am not athletic. I will probably never run a marathon. I think it’s a little late for me to become a doctor. But I can dance. And on March 13th, I am going to dance my little @#% off for a fantastic cause.

Filed under: Team Members by Christine Nguyen