When America’s Got Talent judges Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara, Howie Mendel and Heidi Klum heard from a group of dancers onstage that they were about to be hypnotized, the panel couldn’t have had any idea how true that would turn out to be. But hypnosis is exactly what the Mayyas — an all-women dance group from Lebanon whose name means the “proud walk of a lioness” — were able to achieve, earning a gold buzzer moment from one judge and rare praise from another on the Tuesday (June 21) episode.
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“Unfortunately, being a female dancer as an Arab is not fully supported yet,” said one of the dancers before the performance, which was choreographed by Nadim Cherfan. “Standing on the biggest stage of the world is our only chance to prove to the world what Arab women can do, the art we can create, the fights we fight.”
When it came time to perform, the dancers asked the judges to get closer to each other in order to have the best experience. From there, the women assembled into a single-file line and started to make shapes with their arms and hands, sometimes using props such as feathers, creating the illusion that all couple dozen pairs of arms were sprouting magnificently from the one dancer in front.
The line then split apart to reveal all the Mayyas women’s faces, which were half covered by dangling jeweled masks, to the audience. As they stacked their arms together to create rippling shapes — at one point forming a pair of eyes with one dancer at the center of each representing the pupil — the crowd cheered.
Once the group finished their routine by reforming into the original single-file line, the judges were dumbfounded. After all four gave the Mayyas a standing ovation, Vergara said: “There are no words to explain to you what we were feeling over here.”
“You said you were going to hypnotize us,” commented Mendel. “When we sat here and we watched the movement and the perfection and the time and effort that went into that, we were hypnotized by what you did.”
“This really, really will make a difference, full stop, in so many possible ways,” Cowell raved. “It was arguably the best dance act we’re likely to have ever seen. And we are honored to have you here.”
Then came time to vote — not that three of the judges even got a chance. “I would be so honored to empower you even more in this journey, because you deserve it,” Vergara said before slamming her once-per-season Golden Buzzer — which indicates an act can go straight to the live performance shows — causing a rainstorm of confetti to hit the stage. “I want to be part of this!”
Watch the Mayyas’ transfixing dance routine below:
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