THON dancer Q&A with Erin Prager

Erin Prager, a senior business administration major, danced at this year's THON.

What motivated you to become a dancer?

Being involved last year really opened my eyes to how big THON really is.

This was my last THON, so I wanted to go big and be a dancer.

There is a lot of anticipation leading up to the finale. What was it like walking through the human tunnel and onto the BJC?

When I saw the human tunnel, it kind of hit me a little bit. But, when I got to top of the steps to walk down onto the BJC it really hit me.

It was awesome to have PSNK so close to us in the front rows. Seeing them dance picked us up a lot during the weekend. Having THON alumni there was cool, too.

Elaine Tanella takes the stage and talks a little about herself and THON. Then, she starts a countdown for dancers to stand. What’s it like to finally stand?

While we sitting we met our first Four Diamonds child who had been cancer free for 5 years. That was a great way to start it.

Whenever I stood up I was like, ‘Holy cow, I’m dancing for 46 hrs and its going to be awesome.’ It was hard to believe it started

Every dancer goes through some challenges be it a headache, sore feet, dehydration, or general tiredness. How were you able to push through those challenges?

The only time I felt tired was Friday night when I normally go to bed.

I was like, ‘Oh no, it’s only Friday.’

So, I just had a positive attitude the rest of the time. Having new Kensington dancing so close really helped, too.

My New Kensington moraler was Tanzee, I couldn’t ask for anything more from her. A lot of my smiles came from her, and I’m so happy I picked her.

What’s your favorite moment with a child from that weekend?

I liked the boy that was a dancer, [Vinny Carrano], whose sister died from cancer, and he was on stage with his other sister. I became friends with him at the dancers' retreat. I had a jar of pickles that I shared with his little cousin who was one or two years old.

I also got to meet Tucker Haas and his sister Taylor, and I’m their biggest fans.

What was it like to have your parents there?

They came late Saturday evening, and they were on the floor for a little bit.

They went back into the stands, but my dad decided to come back down. I had no idea he was coming back down, so I was really excited to see him again.

He picked me up and spun me around. I could see it in his face that he was really proud. That made me really happy.

I think he said ‘PMA’  to me. He was my gymnastics coach, and he always said positive mental attitude. He just told me to keep it up. My mom was there and my best friend, too.

What were some of your favorite THON moments:

Playing with all of the kids. Kids want you to hold them. It hurts so much to hold them, but it means a lot to them.

I also feel like me and Keslie Nury were really close the whole time. It was always refreshing to see Andy and Joe. We all like just wanted to help each other out.

I think a really defining moment was whenever Joe wasn’t doing well, and all of New Kensington was cheering his name. Then, people not from New Kensington were cheering him on, too. It really defined a real THON family.