If an entire dance club were condensed into four square feet, perhaps this is what it would look like: Pink and yellow lights pulse as dancers spin and step to driving techno music. Then the song ends, the arrows on the floor stop blinking, and the video screen flashes words of praise. The two dancers stop to put more quarters in the machine.
Welcome to the Dance Dance Revolution.
On Wednesday, Jan. 9, U students Itzak Lefler and Colin Elliott broke the world record for the longest time spent on the Dance Dance Revolution video game, located in the basement of the Union. Their time of 10 hours and 10 minutes beat the former record, as preserved in the Guinness Book of World Records, by two hours and 15 minutes.
“We figured?why just break the record? Why not shatter it?” said Elliott, a freshman and architecture major.
“My legs and feet are in agony,” he said afterward. “I know tomorrow I’ll be ecstatic about it.”
From 8:15 in the morning until 6:30 at night, both Lefler and Elliott pounded away on the machine, paying more than $50 in quarters to reach their goal.
Food became forbidden, and water was rationed so the two could dance uninterrupted.
“Not drinking or eating [very much]?bothered me to death,” Lefler recalled. “In the middle, I was so dead, then me and Colin had a big rush of energy.”
Lefler, who attended the U last semester as a freshman, plans to send videotapes and news articles of his time record to the Guinness Book of World Records as proof of his accomplishment.
Although he and Elliott broke the record together, Guinness rules dictate only one name may be listed as breaking it.
“[Lefler] is the one who set it up and got everything going,” Elliott said, so Lefler’s name will be featured.
The two also used the event to raise money for a local children’s charity.
Lefler first became interested in the game two years ago, after watching others play it at the Utah Fun Dome.
“The guys seemed to be having a good time, exercising and playing video games,” he said.
Curious, he tried it.
“The machine shows you a step, and you copy it,” he said. Players stomp on arrows in time to the beat of the music, and the game scores on accuracy.
Lefler became a regular at the Fun Dome, then got his own smaller version of the game to practice at home. One day, he was leafing through the Guinness Book of World Records and saw the record for longest time on a dance video game.
The rest is history.
Three or four hours of dancing every other day was all the preparation Lefler needed to break the record. But he claimed it was enough.
“I’m going into the Marines at the end of the month,” he said. “This will be good training.”
He also introduced Elliott to the game. “We had just started being friends, and I saw him doing it,” Elliott said. And trying it once was all it took.
“You get better on the steps daily,” he said.
Elliott has been playing the game for about a year and half now.
He now heads a club on Yahoo.com called Dance Dance Revolution Showoffs. The motto of the club, and his own personal theme, sums up his reasons for dancing: “It’s not about the scores, it’s about the applause.”
Lefler agrees. “I do it for the applause,” he said.
When the two practice on the machine downstairs in the union, a circle of admirers usually forms, Elliott said.
Right now, Elliott is working on the style of his moves, for example: “You slide from one move to the next.”
Or, “You can drop down to your knees to hit an arrow,” Lefler added. “In Korea, they can do stunts like back flips and handstands.”
Since it originated in Japan about four years ago, the game has caught on around the world.
“In California, it’s huge. People are totally getting into it. There are arcades with?five of them lined up against a wall,” Lefler said. Tournaments are held on the machines.
Elliott recalled a recent trip to Ireland, where he played a similar game called Easy to Dance. After noticing how his dancing attracted an audience, the owner of the arcade began paying him to dance and bring in business.
The two even took an excursion to Las Vegas, in search of the latest version of the game, Dance Dance Revolution 6th mix, which contains the hardest dance yet?the song plays 300 beats per minute.
Unfortunately, they returned without locating the game.
The most difficult songs on the machine in the union, which is the 5th mix, are “Dropout” and “Rhythm Police.” “Dropout” requires the highest endurance and “Rhythm Police” has the most complicated steps.
Other, similar games are becoming popular as well.
Players can dance with just their hands, or try out boxing, drumming or even being a DJ.
“It’s based a lot on the hip hop scene,” Lefler said.
Elliott and Lefler take their share of flack for their hobby.
“I get a lot of rude stares. People jump up on the machine and start stomping on it. People are just going to criticize every damn thing,” Lefler said. “I’ve also seen people criticize it, then get totally into it,” he continued.
“You can’t talk unless you can do it yourself. I’ve never seen anyone good at this and making fun of people,” Elliott said.
“There’s a thin line between making yourself look stupid and having a good time,” Lefler said. “Just jump on.”