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Over 400 students signed up to dance at the UCLA Dance Marathon last year, raising over $197,000.

If there is ever a good enough reason for guys to wear briefs, it may be found in the official 13-page “Dance Marathon Dancer Survival Guide.”

“Gentlemen” participating in the event should do so if they “want to walk properly in the week following the event.”

Now in its fifth year, the UCLA Dance Marathon, an annual event that raised $197,000 last year to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, has shown that it is not just your average “one, two step.”

From 11 a.m. Saturday until 1 p.m. Sunday and to the theme “World Tour 2006, Destination: Cure,” 700 students are expected to dance – or at least stay on their feet – for 26 hours in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom.

This year’s event marks several years of steady growth for Dance Marathon, which was first held in 2002 in Bradley International Hall with 180 dancers. The event has almost doubled the amount of money it raised each year since and moved to Ackerman after outgrowing both Bradley Hall and the Covel Grand Horizon Ballroom.

Registered dancers for this year’s Dance Marathon were required to gather at least $225 in donations in order to participate, and organizers hope to raise more than $200,000.

Jennie Herriot, public relations chair for the Dance Marathon committee, said the money donated to the foundation will go toward research, prevention, service and counseling programs for children infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

The fun of the event is in “being surrounded by friends and meeting new people, and even when it’s not fun, just knowing that you’re doing something worthwhile,” she said.

Herriot said this year’s Dance Marathon will be divided into eight three-hour themed shifts spanning several places around the world, including “New York, New Year, Same Fight,” Rio De Janeiro’s “Carnival MasquerAIDS: Celebrate Life” and the Great Wall of China’s “2006: The Year of the DM Dancer.”

Previously a dancer herself, Herriot knows that the event is a physical challenge.

“The most difficult part is staying on your feet,” she said. “It starts to hurt, but when that happens you have to keep in mind you’re doing it for a really important cause.”

Moralers, people who sign up for specific shifts to cheer on dancers and keep them motivated during the 26 hours, are to accompany the dancers. Moralers are encouraged to dress up to match their themed shifts and do whatever they can to support the dancers, Herriot said.

“By 6 or 9 a.m., it really helps for dancers to have their friends or anybody with a lot of energy to be there to cheer them on,” Herriot said.

The 87-member committee that began planning last October had to overcome logistical challenges such as providing food for hundreds of people, organizing fundraising, and planning entertainment to last the entire duration.

Coordinating the event was not easy, Herriot said regarding the expected celebrity appearances, including Camryn Manheim from the television show “The Practice”; speaker appearances; and performances by myriad campus cultural groups.

The committee scheduled the event for Presidents’ Day weekend, Herriot said, because “we wanted to give the dancers an extra day to recover.”

This weekend’s event is a big commitment on the part of moralers, dancers, committee members and UCLA, but what draws so many people to Dance Marathon is the underlying cause to fight HIV and AIDS, Herriot said.

“It’s my last quarter, and I wanted to make the most of my experience here,” said Amy Sargious, a fifth-year psychobiology student who will be dancing for the first time this weekend.

“It’s supposed to be really fun,” she said. “It’s a long time, but it’s worth it.”

She and people who have been previously involved in Dance Marathon see how far it has come with the help of student participation.

“Since it started (being held) in Covel, the scope of the Dance Marathon has gotten bigger and bigger,” said Thanh Mai, a fourth-year biology student who is planning to be a moraler for the third time.

Other events held by the Dance Marathon Committee earlier this year focused on ways for participating dancers to raise money to reach their required pledge totals. The largest was a poker tournament held last month, which raised $850.