Nigerian dancer Benjamin Daniel Gabriel, popularly known as BenDancer, has completed a seven day dance marathon in Lagos as he seeks to set a new Guinness World Records title for the longest dance marathon by an individual.
Daniel ended the challenge at about noon on Tuesday at Freedom Park, Lagos, after continuing for more than nine hours beyond the seven day mark he reached at about 3am. His team said the final timer recorded seven days, eight hours, thirty two minutes and fifty nine seconds, exceeding his original target of 168 hours.
The 33 year old had set out to surpass the existing record of 127 hours held by Indian dancer Srushti Sudhir Jagtap who set the mark in 2023. He began the attempt on September 21 and incorporated various Nigerian dance styles and musical genres into the performance including Afrobeats, fuji, jazz and zouk, at times wearing traditional outfits such as agbada and dashiki to showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity.
However, Guinness World Records is yet to recognise Daniel as the new record holder. The organisation confirmed that his application is active and said evidence from the attempt would go through its official review and verification process before any record can be confirmed.
In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson said Benjamin’s application is active and they now eagerly await submission of his evidence which will then go through the official review and verification process before any record can be confirmed.
Daniel, who has 18 years of professional dancing experience, was taken to hospital for a medical check up after completing the physically demanding challenge which drew crowds of supporters to Freedom Park throughout the week.
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