Dance Marathons or Derbies can be traced to 1364 in London. Extremely popular during the Depression, (1920’s-30’s) offering the unemployed fame and fortune with prizes from $1000 to $5000. Some danced for food and shelter. Most of the music was slow.

Once or twice an hour the beat would pick up, called Sprints, and partners were required to dance to the music for extra cash or prizes. No sleeping, though some marathons allowed one of the team to sleep as long as the other partner held them up and kept moving.

1933 World Record was won by Vinnie Kuchinski and Callum Deviller.
They danced for three thousand, seven hundred and eighty hours.
One hundred and fifty-seven and a half days.