Rancing

In a college steeped with traditions of old, students are still active in creating new ones today. An example of this is the phenomenon known as “Rancing”. If you couldn’t tell by the name, it is a combination of both running and dancing that you can only really understand when you see it or actually take part.

My first encounter with it was during the Audio Adventure 3 last semester. A group of W&M students created audio or video files for students to dowload onto their ipods, and we all hit play at the exact same time on a set night. The file revealed an elaborate plot with hostages and villians that the creaters acted out. I’m sure it was a spectacle for everyone who witnessed it, because there were literally about 100 students running and dancing toward different locations on campus that the plot dictated. At one point, we were all dancing in a circle around the statue of Lord Botetourt on old campus which I’m sure looked very odd. Naturally, we ended up “beating the bad guy” through dancing.

Last night, I officially went rancing for the first time with my friends Andrew and Beth. We synced our ipods to play Girl Talk, a really sweet mash-up artist that has taken clips of so many fantastic songs. We ranced all the way from the Wren Building to the Capitol and back, which is exactly two miles. I was really getting into it when we passed by several ghost tour groups. Some people from one of the groups decided to take my picture. It was AWESOME. I wish I had that picture right now so I could put it in my blog entry…