The Mayyas group was formed by choreographer Nadim Cherfan. (Credit: @mayyasofficial)
BEIRUT — An all-female Lebanese dance team, Mayyas group, took on the stage of America’s Got Talent, a popular talent competition, and stole the show with their alternative belly dancing routine, which won judge Sofia Vergara’s golden buzzer in “a truly unforgettable” moment.
Here’s what we know:
• Formed by choreographer Nadim Cherfan, Mayyas group, had bagged the winner’s title at the Arab’s Got Talent Show in 2019. “All my life I’ve been told ‘Nadim what are you still doing in Lebanon? You should leave and follow your dreams,’” Cherfan said in an instagram post following the dance crew’s win in the American competition. “I would like to tell these people I’ve made it from Lebanon to the whole wide world,” he added.
• “Lebanon is not considered a place where you can build a career out of dancing, so it's really hard, and harder for women,” Nadim said in a AGT pre-taped video.
• “Lebanon is a very beautiful country. But we live a daily struggle,” one performer said in the video. “Unfortunately, being a dancer as a female Arab is not fully supported yet,” she added.
• If an act receives the Golden Buzzer from one of the four AGT judges, it is guaranteed that the performer or performers move to the quarterfinals of the competition, even if the other judges refuse the act. Mayyas Group, who received positive feedback from all four judges at AGT, will next be performing at a live round in Hollywood, California.
• Their gripping performance on AGT was widely shared across social media in Lebanon. “Lebanon … we love you and we promise you this is not the end,” Mayyas Group said in a caption below an Instagram post of their performance.