Formerly known as moralers, Dancer Relations Committee Members have been busy preparing for the weekend that has finally arrived. I spoke to DCRM member Liz Karcewski and learned all the ins and outs of preparing for the coming weekend.

The role of DRCMs is to support their dancers both physically and emotionally throughout the weekend. They have learned throughout the year what different stretches to do with their dancers and how to help in case they feel dizzy, sick, or sore — although being sore is quite inevitable when you sign up to stand for 46 hours. In addition, motivation and support are the words of their weekend. DCRM members are in charge of keeping their dancers occupied, content, and full of encouragement.

DCRM is broken down into multiple, smaller committees. Karcewski’s specific committee is called, ‘Where The Kyled Things Are,’ and is lead by her captain, Kyle Azzara.

“My committee is special because of the members,” she said. “We are all very different people, from different backgrounds and interests, but our one common love for THON and ability to care about something bigger than ourselves creates an amazing dynamic. We have pretty much grown into a family through the months and are all very close.”

With so many dancers, I was curious to see how they were matched up with their perfect DRCM member. Each dancer fills out a survey on Think.THON.org about their interests and hobbies and gets paired with someone who seems to be compatible.

“It helps that our captains really get to know us as individuals so they can make the best decisions when matching us up with dancers,” Karcewski said.

She felt nervous before meeting her dancer and feared they would not get along, but that quickly changed after the two met.

“We bonded over our love of food and our lack of coordination,” she joked after getting lunch with her senior dancer representing the Reformed University Fellowship, Sarah Ghattas. All the DCRM members and dancers are encouraged to meet each other ahead of time before participating in Color Wars.

Morale was the first official committee of THON and it’s no surprise why. All of the DRCM’s have been working and preparing to keep their dancer’s full of energy and spirit. Good luck to all of the dancer’s and to all of their personal DRCM motivators who will make the 46 hours possible.

Photo: Liz Karcewski