Indian teenager dances for 5 days, breaks Guinness World Record
A 16-year-old girl from Maharashtra named Srushti Sudhir Jagtap won the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest dance marathon after dancing for 127 hours straight. Now that is over five days of dancing! Jagtap broke the previous record of Nepalese dancer Bandana Nepal, who danced for 126 hours in 2018. She trained for over a year to break this record.
She performed in a packed auditorium
Jagtap did her dance marathon at her college auditorium in front of a "jam-packed" audience, according to GWR Official Adjudicator Swapnil Dangarikar. Describing the performance, Dangarikar said, "There were moments of her being too tired, but her parents were by her side all the time, spraying her face with water to keep her fresh. Very impressive performance overall."
Check out her Instagram post
The teenager slept for an entire day after the performance
Jagtap chose to perform Kathak. She started dancing on the morning of May 29 and continued till the afternoon of June 3. Reportedly, she slept for an entire day after the performance. The dancer shares the reason behind her wish to break the record. It was her "dream to represent India through dance." "I wanted to promote our Indian culture," she added.
Jagtap was trained by her grandfather
The teenager spent about 15 months getting ready for her record attempt. She received training from her grandfather, Baban Mane, who gave her lessons in yoga nidra, a type of guided meditation commonly referred to as "yogic sleep." As a preparation for the main performance, she reportedly had attempted two 126-hour dance marathons at home.
She followed a strict regime
The young girl followed a strict regime under the guidance of her grandfather. Up to four hours of guided meditation, six hours of dancing practice, and three hours of other physical activities made up Srushti's daily training schedule. Every day, she went to bed around 10:00 pm, and woke up at 3:00 am, sleeping for just five hours.
All my body parts felt frozen: Jagtap
Apparently, Jagtap did not take any energizer apart from coffee and coconut water to stay awake during the dance marathon. According to GWR, the final day of the dance marathon was hard for her. "My body was not responding," she said. "All my body parts felt frozen and in pain. But mentally I was focused towards my goal," added the determined girl.
A 5-minute break was allowed between the performance
GWR guidelines permitted a five-minute break after every hour of continuous activity, which can be accumulated if not taken. Jagtap reportedly took these rest breaks mostly at midnight. She used the time to talk to her parents or for a short nap. She shared that her practice made her familiar with the changes in her mind and body. This helped her to remain calm.
A Kerala woman has danced for 123 hours previously
Back in 2011, a woman from Kerala named Kalamandalam Hemlatha, then 37, set the Guinness record by dancing continuously for 123 hours and 15 minutes. Hemalatha chose the dance form of Mohiniyattam for the marathon. Earlier in April this year, over 11,000 dancers, drummers, and singers from Assam set a Guinness World Record for the largest dance performance at a single venue.
