The former University of Wollongong performance students had been dancing for 24 hours straight, confined to a circle marked out in lights on the floor.

But as they counted down the final seconds of their feat, barely shuffling as they waltzed and walked, their spirits were buoyed by the crowd that had gathered to watch them reach the end.

As spectators released silly string in celebration, the pair embraced, relieved it was done.

"We're feeling just tiredness, but other than that we're not as bad as we thought we would be," Ms Young said when it was all over.

"It was quite emotional for both of us because the walk we did took so long, it was like the countdown was slowly, finally coming."

The performance was created and directed by Deborah Pollard, who has been studying the dance marathons of the 1930s as part of her PhD on interesting uses of time.

Entitled Yowza Yowza Yowza, the performance was screened online for the entire 24 hours.

The dancers followed rules based on the ones developed 80 years ago, including dancing for 45 minutes of every hour and wearing modest dress.

"What they revealed was a vulnerability of the human spirit when it gets broken by extreme tiredness," Ms Pollard said. "It's very human and what becomes interesting for the spectator is almost an empathy for these people because you relate to this situation. It's almost an early prototype of a reality television show of the worst kind."