It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
While the traditional dance for this song has varied over the years, the currently observed one is that all students run around the circle quad in counter-clockwise direction. If a student becomes tired or runs out of breath, it is customary to grab hands with another student and spin in a small stationary circle or simply dance on his or her own in a circular way until energy is regained. At that point the student should return to running. Everyone should also note that the words "LEONARD BERNSTEIN" should be shouted, even if you know no other words to the song or you are in the middle of a sentence when the lyrics are shouted. There are usually 4 or 5 kids who have memorized the entire song, and feel like they should sing along, and do. Those kids are looked at by many with shock, awe, and/or revulsion.
Campus Variations
At UGA, the staff will stand on the outer edge of on part of the circle and high-five passing TIPsters. It's pretty awesome, and is recommended to be part of the high-five line at least once, although this area will occasionally slow down.
At Trinity, the staff stands in a semi-circle at the edge of the fishbowl, whilst TIPsters run/skip/dance/walk/crab in a counter-clockwise circle in the middle. The staff and the occasional edgy/bored/out of breath TIPster offer high-fives to the children in the center. This dance is mandatory, and all TIPsters must come downstairs for this and American Pie.
At Texas A&M, the dance varies. There, if you choose to be running, you're in a Congo line, like it or not. If you choose not to be running, you're either on the outside of the circle jumping around like an idiot or on the inside of the circle jumping around like an idiot. The good majority are in the Congo line. Only they who are out of breath are on the inside or outside.
At Davidson, the Staff runs around on the balcony of the 900 Room, randomly switching directions, while students tend to jump up and down while shouting the words. Congo lines are also common. Note: At 2013 Term II, we ran around the edges of the room forming a giant circle. There wasn't really any actual dancing, just running.
At West, TIPsters run around the quad that the dance is being held in a counter-clockwise circle. In Kilgo Quad, the circle is around the edge of the lower section, with the magnolia tree and Sigma NU bench in the middle. In Class Quad, it is run around the dance boundaries and the raised wall. The RCs will stand on the stairs to high five TIPsters in Kilgo Quad, and they will stand on the raised wall on Class Quad. When the music sinks to the part near the end where the lead singer sings the chorus over the least instrumentation, the circle reverses directions and goes clockwise. This tradition has continued, even though TIPsters now have dances in Few Quad.
At East, it is tradition for TiPsters to run(not walk, or sprint)around the circle quad. No dance required. The staff forms a line in front of the union and offer high fives to the out of breath TiPsters. Some mischevious TiPsters have taken up the habit of offering high fives to the Tipletes, but they may not join the staff line.
At Tech, everyone runs counterclockwise while some people who think they are edgy sit down in the center. Most of the staff and some tipsters that don't want to run sit or stand on the outside of the circle for high fives and fist bumps. On the last verse, everyone stops and starts to run in the opposite direction for the remainder of the song. Fourth years and some relationtips hold hands and this is usually around the time people start to move towards the people they want to stand next to for American Pie. On the last dance, much crying ensues.
Due to the fact that the dance was moved inside after it started raining and lightning, End of the World was not played at the last dance of East II 2005, probably because the RCs were certain The TiPsters would kill themselves trying to run around in the tiny Union lobby.
This song was also the cause of an epic battle at the last dance of Duke East Term II 2006 between Kris A. (the TiPster) and Annie S. (the TA for Greatest Generations), in which they both learned the words (ALL OF THEM, even the really unknown last verse) and proceeded to scream them at the top of their lungs, each of them attempting to prove that they knew it better than the other. Needless to say, Kris, being the awesome and godly TiPster she is, kicked Annie's butt. Kris continues to prove her awesomeness by repeating the battle every year, even when she has no opponent.
Because of the infamous poop quad / sh!t field at East I 2019, the dances were held in front of Baldwin. This lead to the run being around Main Quad instead of Circle Quad. Additionally, during the last dance, there was a movement to get all the boys to run without shirts on. Unfortunately, the RCs got involved and announced that you were not alowed to take your shirts off before they played the song.