Dancing Pallbearers

Dancing Pallbearers, also known by a variety of names, including Dancing Coffin, Coffin Dancers, Coffin Dance Meme, or simply Coffin Dance, is the informal name given to a group of pallbearers from Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service who are based in the coastal town of Prampram in the Greater Accra Region of southern Ghana, although they perform across the country as well as outside Ghana.[1] The founder and leader of the group is Benjamin Aidoo.[2] Locally, they are referred to as Dada awu (meaning "Daddy's dead").[3]

This article is about the internet meme. For the song associated with it, see Astronomia (Vicetone remix).
Dancing Pallbearers
Screenshot of the video clip showing pallbearers dancing with the casket, which is originally taken from BBC News
Screenshot of the video clip showing pallbearers dancing with the casket, which is originally taken from BBC News
Background information
OriginPrampram, Ghana
Years active1989–present
Members
  • Benjamin Aidoo with 4 others

The group initially gained worldwide attention through a BBC feature story in 2017.[4] In March 2020, the group became an internet meme when the videos were paired with EDM song "Astronomia" by Tony Igy,[5] and gained popularity in video edits.[6]

Origin

The Dancing Pallbearers are led by Benjamin Aidoo, who started the group as a regular pallbearer service in 2003.[2][7] He later had the idea of adding choreography to their pallbearing work. Extra fees are charged for dancing with the coffin during a funeral.[8]

The oldest of the reused clips is from YouTube by Travelin Sister from January 22, 2015,[9] though the Dancing Pallbearers first rose to wider prominence in 2017 when they were featured in a BBC News report.[10] The third video, which depicted pallbearers accidentally dropping a coffin during their dance, was first posted by Facebook user Bigscout Nana Prempeth on May 2, 2019, and gained over 2,900 reactions, 4,600 shares and 350,000 views in one year.[11]

Rise

The video and with similar material gained significant popularity on TikTok as a punchline for fail clips in a manner similar to To Be Continued and We'll Be Right Back memes, implying that the person in the fail video has died. For example, on March 6, 2020, TikTok account Trickshots posted a version of the meme that received over 2.9 million views and 237,000 likes.[6]

On March 30, 2020, a YouTuber named DigiNeko uploaded a video to YouTube elevating the trend on the Internet, through mainly being associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which was ongoing when the meme became popular, receiving over 400 million views.[12][13] Since the trend, it has been popular on social media, widely uploaded to platforms such as Reddit, YouTube and TikTok.[14][15] furthering its use for darkly comedic internet memes, videos of people suffering various mishaps, followed by clips of the pallbearers dancing with coffins (implicitly the victims of the preceding clips). The clips are generally paired up at least since February 26, 2020 with the song "Astronomia" by Russian musical artist Tony Igy and remixed by Dutch duo Vicetone,[9] although others use either "You Know I'll Go Get" by Indonesian DJ Haning and Rizky Ayuba (a remixed version of Enrique Iglesias's song "Finally Found You") or Lenka's "Trouble Is a Friend".[16]

In May 2020 BBC revisited the pallbearers interviewing them about their rise to fame.[9]

Other appearances in media
Pallbearers in Nigeria displaying different dancing skills with a casket on their way to a burial site

The Dancing Pallbearers made appearance in internet memes. For example, an easter egg in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War references the meme.[17] In addition, the meme experienced a revival on social media following the White House COVID-19 outbreak, in Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 in early October 2020.[18]

The Pallbearers was also used for campaigning for COVID-19 prevention. For instance, in Brazil, in May 2020, the city government of Caldas Novas, in the state of Goiás, installed two billboards showing the coffin dancers and the caption "stay at home or dance with us", to encourage social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.[19][20] Soon after, the group released a video where they capitalized on the phrase, encouraging viewers to 'stay home or dance with us'.[21] In Colombia and Peru, policemen imitated the group's dance carrying a coffin on their shoulders, encouraging the community to stay home to stem the spread of the Coronavirus.[22][23] The group also have seen use in politics, when the leaders of the libertarian party in Georgia "Girchi" dressed up in traditional Georgian clothes, Chokha, and made their own version of the video.[24]

See also

References
  1. "How Prampram pallbearers became an international sensation – and a meme". April 17, 2020.
  2. "Viral Coffin Dancers (internet meme legends)" – via www.youtube.com.
  3. "Funeral dancers for hire". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  4. "Africa Live: Def Jam comes to Africa to 'invest in talent'". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  5. Amter, Charlie (April 30, 2020). "Tracing the 'Coffin Dance' Meme Music's Path From Russia to Ghana to the World".
  6. "Ghana Pallbearers Funny Coffin Song Is Still in a Trend for a Meme". XdigitalNews. April 12, 2020.
  7. "A Peep Into Ghana Dancing Pallbearers". Gistvic. 2020-04-02. Archived from the original on 2020-06-26. Retrieved 2020-05-23.
  8. "Ghanaians really know how to celebrate when someone dies". Metro. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  9. "Coffin Dance / Dancing Pallbearers". Know Your Meme. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  10. "Ghana's dancing pallbearers bring funeral joy". BBC. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
  11. "Here's the story behind the 'coffin dance crew' we see on the internet every day". InqPOP!. April 13, 2020.
  12. Paquette, Danielle (April 25, 2020). "The sudden rise of the coronavirus grim reaper: Ghana's dancing pallbearers". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  13. "Ghana's dancing pallbearers are being used to send a message around the world: 'Stay home or dance with us'". Business Insider.
  14. Kaur, Loveleen (2020-04-04). "Ghana's Dancing Pallbearers Inspire Memes & Jokes Online". Storypick. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
  15. Lorenz, Taylor (May 7, 2020). "Memers are Taking Over TikTok". The New York Times.
  16. Amter, Charlie (April 30, 2020). "Tracing the 'Coffin Dance' Meme Music's Path From Russia to Ghana to the World". Variety. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  17. "How to Complete Zombies Coffin Dance Easter Egg in COD: Black Ops Cold War". ScreenRant. 2020-11-23. Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  18. "The Ghanaian Pallbearers Have Come For Trump". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  19. Túlio, Sílvio; Ferreira, Emerson (13 May 2020). "Prefeitura instala outdoors com dançarinos do meme do caixão para alertar sobre Covid-19: 'Fique em casa ou dance com a gente'". G1. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  20. Nunoo, Favour (17 April 2020). "'Stay home or dance plus us' – How dancing Ghana pallbearers turn Covid-19 sensation". BBC News Pidgin.
  21. Scribner, Herb (7 May 2020). "In new video, viral Ghana coffin dancers warn everyone to 'stay home or dance with us'". Deseret News.
  22. "Viral Video: TN police imitate Ghana dancing pallbearers to urge people to stay indoors". May 4, 2020.
  23. "'I'm stranded in Peru and can't leave my hostel'". BBC News.
  24. ""გირჩის ცეკვა კუბოთი" (ვიდეო)" ["Dance of Girchi with a coffin" (video)] (in Georgian).
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