You must have seen them. Six dancing pallbearers all wearing black suits, what's their story?

Lifestyle

Published: 2020-05-03 12:43

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 04:41


You must have seen them. Six dancing pallbearers all wearing black suits, what's their story?
You must have seen them. Six dancing pallbearers all wearing black suits, what's their story?

Thousands of memes were spawned as the coronavirus pandemic is sweeping the world, but perhaps the most common one is the "dancing coffin".

You must have seen them. Six dancing pallbearers all wearing black suits and dancing with a coffin. 

The story behind the "dancing coffin"

Dancing with a coffin is a funeral ritual in Ghana, as it's believed that performing such rituals brings joy to the soul of the deceased.

The video, which has recently gone viral on social media platforms, dates back to 2015 and has received around 5 million views so far.

The song featured in the new funeral meme is "Astronomia" by Vicetone, a Dutch electronic musical duo formed by Ruben den Boer and Victor Pool, and Tony Igy, a Russian electronic dance music artist.

The track was released back in 2010, as a collaboration between the two artists.

The "dancing coffin" crew

While many people used the dancing pallbearers' faces sarcastically in memes, the dancers take their job seriously and make a living out of it.

The dancing pallbearers receive from $600 to $800 for dancing at a funeral. They sometimes perform the moves that the deceased's family asks them to perform or the moves that the deceased asked to be performed during his/her funeral. 

The average price of a coffin in Ghana is $150, and it takes multiple shapes based on the deceased's job. It may be in the form of a car if the deceased was a driver, or in the form of a fish if he was a fisherman.

The crew may also include women and the more members of the crew, the higher the amount they receive from the family of the deceased.

They are always well-dressed and dancing to upbeat music amid a large presence of the deceased's family, friends and neighbors in the region.