Dance marathons are events in which people dance or walk to music for an extended period of time. Dance marathons, endurance movement contests, and derbies can be traced back to London in 1364. They started as dance contests in the 1920s and developed into entertainment events during the
Great Depression in the 1930s. Before the development of "reality shows", dance marathons blurred the line between theatre and reality. Also known as endurance contests, dance marathons attracted people to compete as a way to achieve fame or win monetary prizes. The 1969 film
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, based on the
1935 novel of the same title written by
Horace McCoy, a bouncer at several such marathons, popularized the idea and prompted students at
Northwestern University,
Pennsylvania State University,
Indiana University,
Ohio State University and the
University of Florida to create charity dance marathons. Marathons could last anywhere from a few hours to a couple days.