There's showers in Norris?

Diana Samuels

Dancers clutching towels and toiletry bags gather in small groups at around 3:00 a.m. to take a quick break from dancing and rinse off some of the sweat.

The guys head downstairs to the basement of Norris, the girls dash through the cold to the Theatre and Interpretation Center (more commonly known as TI). The elevator ride down is packed and sweaty, but the dancers seem happy and excited for their showers.

“It feels really good to take a shower,” says DM Executive Outreach Chair Ruby Sheikh, a Weinberg junior. “You get a second wind.”

“All right, we’re going to have to run ‘cause it’s cold,” a volunteer tells a group of girls she is leading over to TI. The girls don’t run though, maybe because the cold felt good after hours in the Louis Room, or because they simply don’t have the energy. Their flip-flops clack as they walked through storage areas in Norris and across the street to TI.

The hallway of TI is humid and smells of shampoo like a woman’s gym locker room. The girls split into groups waiting for showers, and rumors circulate about which showers are cold. In one room girls lie on the hard floor of the locker room, heads on towels and flip-flop clad feet up on benches.

“Why are there showers in Norris?” one girl asks. “It’s kind of sketchy if you ask me.”

Back by the dance floor, DM committee members are giving foot massages. A dozen volunteers sit cross-legged against the wall dancers lying on plastic sheets on the floor in front of them. The sweet smell of the lotion and baby powder permeates the hallway where a couple dozen more dancers wait in line.