Nearly 400 ballerinas relevèd to their toes at the Plaza Hotel to break the current Guinness World Record for most dancers en pointe at once, collectively standing on their tiptoes for a minute as photographers captured the moment.
The dancers flooded The Terrace Room and ballroom of the popular Midtown hotel on Wednesday, excited for their chance to be a part of making ballet history.
“I feel like I’m a part of something that’s bigger than me,” Sophia Roehl, 15, a dancer at Joffrey Ballet School in Manhattan, told the Gothamist.
The exact tally of ballerinas in the hotel was 353, breaking the previous world record of 306 dancers being en pointe simultaneously by 47. This previous record was set in 2019 on the TV show “LIVE With Kelly and Ryan,” with co-host Kelly Ripa being among the dancers.
Tina Shi, an adjudicator from Guinness World Record, was there to officially document the new record being set. Shi gave gave them the green light from a microphone, and then timed them.
Additionally, the ballerinas had to wear the special “pointe” shoes with a rigid toe box to make sure they were in proper position safely, and they could not touch or lean on each other.
The Plaza Hotel event was organized by the nonprofit Youth America Grand Prix, which organizes dance competitions, to commemorate their 25th anniversary.
“The big why of why we’re doing it is to really let the world know that dance is a healing force,” Sergey Gordeev, the director of external affairs at YAGP, said. “Dance is a power that brings us connection at a time when we’re so disconnected.”
Many of the dancers at the hotel, who generally ranged in age from 9 to 19, were already in New York City for the YAGP competition finals this week.
“I’ll remember this for a really long time,” Leah Owen, 16, a dancer at South Coast Conservatory in California whose 14-year-old sister also participated, said at the hotel. “It means a lot because everyone’s coming together to do this.”
The new en pointe record will likely be featured in the 2024 edition of Guinness World Records.
