Nigerian dances non-stop for seven days in world record bid
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A Nigerian dancer has completed a 168-hour dance marathon in Lagos in a bid to set a new world record.
Benjamin Daniel, known as “Ben Dancer”, aimed to dance for seven days to break the Guinness World Records title for the longest dance marathon by an individual.
Cheered on by friends and supporters at Lagos’s Freedom Park, the 33-year-old reached his target time at around 03:00 local time but continued dancing for another nine hours until midday, his team says. The physically exhausted dancer has now gone to hospital for a medical check-up.
Guinness World Records has confirmed to the BBC that it has received Daniel’s application for the title. The current record stands at 127 hours.
“Benjamin’s application is active and we now eagerly await submission of his evidence, which will then go through our official review and verification process before any record can be confirmed,” a spokesperson for Guinness World Records said in the statement.
His team said they were “elated” and emotional after watching him complete the challenge, which has been live streamed on social media.
Young people gathered in recent days to cheer him on at Freedom Park in Lagos, filming his every move and dancing along from behind the barriers.
“It’s a beautiful moment. Seeing how far he has come and witnessing him achieve this feat made me incredibly proud and grateful to God,” Uche Anumudu, one of those watching, told the BBC.
The current record was set by Indian dancer Srushti Sudhir Jagtap in 2023, when she was 16. Her performance focused mainly on kathak, one of India’s major classical dance forms.
Ben Dancer, who has been dancing professionally for 18 years and began his attempt last Tuesday, drew on Nigeria’s rich dance traditions as well as its fast-changing internet culture.
Afrobeats was a constant presence during his performance, alongside genres including fuji, jazz and zouk.
At times, he swapped his dance clothes for traditional Nigerian outfits, including the flowing agbada and dashiki.
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Nigeria has more than 250 ethnic groups, with a wide range of cultural traditions.
Ben Dancer’s team says the performance was intended to reflect that diversity, rather than simply test his physical endurance.
He underwent intensive fitness <a href="https://absafricatv.com/afdb-launches-free-ai-training-for-african-officials/” title=”AfDB launches free AI training for African officials”>training before the attempt, changing his diet and focusing on carbohydrates and cardiovascular conditioning.
During the danceathon, he ate lightly and drank fluids while taking the permitted five minutes of rest for every continuous hour of activity.
He chose to dance for several hours at a time before taking an accumulated rest and a medical team was present.
The scene around him became something of a street party and videos from the event went viral across social media platforms, drawing more people to the venue.
Moronumubo Akodu, who repeatedly visited to support Ben Dancer throughout the week, said she was impressed by his determination but worried about the physical toll.
“It is actually insane, but I am so proud of him,” she told the BBC.
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Emmanuel Ulelu, who visited the performance twice, said he noticed a striking change in the dancer’s energy.
“On day two, you could see the stress,” he said.
“Even after just three hours of dancing at the location myself, I wondered how he would keep going.”
But when he returned 16 hours into day five, he said Ben Dancer appeared more energetic than before.
“It reminded me that we’re capable of doing unbelievable things when how badly we want something matches and surpasses the difficulty of achieving it,” he said.
Nigeria has also developed a strong relationship with Guinness World Records, particularly in entertainment.
In 2023, Nigerian chef Hilda Baci cooked continuously for 93 hours and 11 minutes in Lagos, which Guinness officially recognised as a new record.
Her achievement sparked a surge of interest in record attempts in Nigeria, even though others have since surpassed her.
Guinness says it received more than 1,500 new applications from the country within two months of her cook-a-thon, including events such as reading, singing, and crocheting.
“It’s been brilliant to see such strong enthusiasm for record breaking across Nigeria in recent years,” a Guinness spokesperson told the BBC.
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