The Ghana coffin dancers — who have gone viral amid the coronavirus pandemic — have now issued a warning to everyone watching: stay home or dance with them.
The coffin dancers made a video recently in which they thank doctors and health service workers for how they’re battling the coronavirus pandemic.
In the video, the dancers say, “Stay at home or dance with us.”
“Thanks to all the doctors in the world,” reads text in the video.
Benjamin Aidoo, the leader of the group says, “You are working hard, taking care of everyone. Now remember, stay at home or dance with us.”
You may have spotted the Ghana coffin dancers online over the last few months. Videos show the dancers dressed in black suits, wearing sunglasses and leather shoes. They dance to a techno song as they carry a coffin.
These are Ghana’s dancing pallbearers, who have tried to bring people smiles to deal with the pain of loss. They’ve done this for years. In fact, according to BBC News, the dancers first went viral back in 2017.
More recently, as The Washington Post reports, “they’ve become the accidental faces of a stay-at-home movement — comedic grim reapers edited into footage of risky behavior as a warning.”
Indeed, videos of the coffin dancers have appeared on social media in response to people leaving their homes and appearing at malls, parks and restaurants.
Aidoo, the group’s leader, said he wasn’t sure how it happened.
“It’s a bit scary, but it’s funny, too,” he told The Washington Post. “People are saying, ‘I’d rather stay home than have these guys bury me.’ ”