MTV kicked off this year’s Halloween celebration at The Roxy Theatre on Sunset on Sunday, October 30, with a plan to set a world record for the longest choreographed dance marathon, amounting to a total of 24 hours of non-stop team choreographed dancing.  I had the chance to sit in on the marathon’s final hours and watch these brave but exhausted participants raise money for anti-bullying and LGBT advocacy.

The 13 dance students who participated in this event had to collectively maintain a consistent dance movement each time a song played. Songs played continuously from 9:25 p.m. on Sunday to 9:25 p.m. on Monday with 30-second intervals, at which point the dancers could take a little breather. Longer breaks were given sporadically throughout the 24 hours, but the breaks never lasted more than 10 minutes each.

A representative from Guinness, two timekeepers, and two witnesses were always on watch to make sure no dancer stopped dancing. I was fortunate enough to be one of the two witnesses for the last six-hour stretch of the dance party and was amazed at the dancers’ dedication to the cause.  If even one of the 13 dancers stopped moving for any reason, the competition would end.

During the last few hours, a few dancers were feeling very ill, either from exhaustion or asthma, but never stopped dancing. They even kept dancing while receiving medical attention! It was amazing to see one girl keep her moves going all while a medic was monitoring her breathing on the dance floor itself! Finally, at 9:25 p.m. on Monday, October 31, 13 exhausted but ecstatic dancers were officially presented with the Guinness World Record for the Longest Dance Team Marathon.

But that’s not the only reason to celebrate! Not only did these 13 dancers set a world record, but they also raised over $12,000 for LGBT organizations and campaigns including GLSEN, the It Gets Better Project, the GSA Network, HRC, GLAAD, and The Trevor Project. I was happy to have witnessed such an impressive accomplishment.

While the dance party was going on at The Roxy, the O Music Awards were going on live in Santa Monica on Monday, October 31, 8:30 p.m.  PST – 9:30 p.m. PST. Among the winners was Adam Lambert, receiving the award for Most Followed Artist on Twitter!

For recaps of the event, please visit http://www.omusicawards.com/. GLAAD thanks MTV and all the dancers for their contributions and for taking a stand against bullying. Congratulations on setting a new world record!