Who is the founder and leader of Ghana's Dancing Pallbearers?

Benjamin Aidoo is the founder and leader of Ghana’s Dancing Pallbearers.

Aidoo started the group as a regular pallbearer service in 2003 in Prampram, a coastal town in Ghana’s Greater Accra Region. He later introduced choreography, allowing families to hire pallbearers who would dance while carrying a coffin. The service reflects a Ghanaian funeral tradition in which ceremonies can include music, movement, and elaborate celebration.

The group first gained international attention through a BBC News feature in 2017. Their worldwide meme fame arrived in 2020, when clips of the dancers were paired with Tony Igy’s electronic track “Astronomia.” Online edits commonly used the dancers as a darkly comic punchline after a video showed an accident or failed stunt.

A frequent mistake is to treat “Coffin Dance” as the group’s formal name. It is a popular nickname; the performers are associated with Nana Otafrija Pallbearing and Waiting Service. Aidoo remains the central named figure, while the number of dancers can vary.