Paris Soir - Nigerian dancer eyes world record after seven-day marathon

The 32-year-old dancer, popularly known as Ben Dancer, has set out to achieve a new record for the longest individual dance marathon.

By Tuesday, Gabriel, a dancer with the musician Made Kuti, grandson of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, had danced non-stop for 176 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.

The current record of 127 hours was set by Indian dancer Srushti Sudhir Jagtap in 2023, when she was 16 years old.

Gabriel is the latest in a long list of Nigerians who have either broken world records or attempted to.

Days after he began his quest, about 51,000 people gathered at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos -- the site of Nigeria's official independence ceremony near Freedom Park where Gabriel was dancing -- to break the record for the largest attendance at a movie premiere.

As Fela's jazzy songs faded, energetic Makossa songs by Congolese singer and drummer Awilo Longomba came on and Gabriel switched to a frenetic dance routine to match the tempo.

Dozens of people sang and danced along with him.

At one point, the small crowd synced with his movements as Afrobeats songs featuring popular dance steps filled the venue.

"Dance is spiritual to him," his assistant Mercy Idisi told AFP, while he danced away.

"The only challenge we have is mentally, especially with sleep deprivation."

Gabriel's preparation for the record attempt began in 2022, with gym routines to build muscle, pain and endurance training, and sleep deprivation exercises to get him in shape.

Three weeks before he began his attempt, Gabriel developed a problem with his knees, leaving organisers concerned about how it could affect his ambition.

But he did not suffer any major health complaints over the seven days of his dancing challenge, Chika Anagoba, a doctor who attended to him, said.

On the edge of where the small crowd danced, people from Gabriel's home village in northern Bauchi state sat around on plastic chairs, eating Nigeria's staple -- jollof rice and coleslaw.

"We've always been here since the first day," Ibrahim told AFP. "We are so proud of him."

"This means I can achieve great things from small places, and that I can change the world with dance," Gabriel told AFP after rounding up his quest.

- 'Nigerians don't come last' -

Nigerians have developed an appetite for attempting new world records since 2023, when jollof chef Hilda Baci set the record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.

Guinness World Records said it received about 1,500 applications from the country in the months following Baci's record.

"Nigerians don't come last in anything," Tunde Onakoya, who holds the record for the longest chess marathon, told AFP, as Gabriel danced in the background.

"By nature, Nigerians are also very daring and competitive," Onakoya added.

"We like to test ourselves against the world that we are capable of all forms of greatness," he said.

Other Nigerians to have set records include Helen Williams, who crafted the longest handmade wig at 351.28 metres (over 1,152 feet) in 2023, and Munachimso Brian Nwana, who visited 150 fast food restaurants in 24 hours, the most by anyone, according to Guinness.

Gabriel applied three times to Guinness World Records before he was given the go-ahead for his bid in February.

He said he started dancing at the age of 12 as a means of escaping peer pressure and family crisis and had to teach himself techniques and routines until he could be formally trained.

During the marathon, he ate lightly and drank coconut water, while taking the permitted five minutes of rest for every continuous hour of activity, though he chose to accumulate the rest time and dance for several hours at a time before taking his break.

"I'm so proud of him," said Onakoya, who clocked 60 hours of chess marathon in 2024.

Still waiting for the official validation of his record, Gabriel is already itching to take on a bigger role in promoting African culture and dances.

"The idea of the Guinness World Record was never for the record itself," he said.

"It was to get the global attention for people to look more towards African indigenous dances."

J.Seguin--PS