A 16-year-old student Srushti Sudhir Jagtap (India), has broken the record for the longest dance marathon by an individual, with a time of 127 hours.
The previous record of 126 hours was set by Nepalese dancer Bandana Nepal in 2018.
Srushti’s dance marathon took place in her college’s auditorium, which was “jam packed with supporters,” as described by GWR Official Adjudicator Swapnil Dangarikar.
“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,” Swapnil said. “Very impressive performance overall.”
Srushti’s attempt began on the morning of 29 May and continued until the afternoon of 3 June.
Srushti performed the Kathak dance style, which is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance.
She decided to break this record because it was her “dream to represent India through dance.”
“I wanted to promote our Indian culture,” she explained.
The teenage girl prepared for her record attempt for 15 months. She was trained by her grandfather, Baban Mane, who taught her Yoga Nidra, a form of guided meditation also known as ‘yogic sleep’.
The goal of Yoga Nidra is to activate delta brainwaves – associated with healing and restoring the body during deep sleep – while awake. Srushti said this gave her “control over sleep.”
Srushti’s daily training regimen involved up to four hours of guided meditation, six hours of dance practise, and three hours of other exercise. She slept at 10 p.m. and woke up at 3 a.m. every day, getting around five hours of sleep per night.
Remarkably, Srushti performed two 126-hour dance marathons at home as part of her preparation. Because of this, she said that her official attempt was “not very difficult.”
Besides coffee, Srushti did not take any stimulants to aid her wakefulness during the record attempt. She drank coconut water and ate chocolate to “stay fresh.”
The final day of Srushti’s record attempt was particularly 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.
“Due to strong practise, I was familiar with all the changes in my mind and body, so I was calm and composed until the end.”
The guidelines for ‘longest marathon’ records, the participant is permitted a five-minute rest break for every continuous hour of activity. These rest breaks can be accumulated if not taken. They were the only times Srushti could sleep or use the bathroom during the attempt.
Srushti took her rest breaks “mostly at midnight,” using the time to nap or talk to her parents “for brain refreshment.”
Without the strong support of her parents, Sudhir and Sanjivani Jagptap, Srushti said she might not have made it to the end.
