‘AGT’ contestant redefines ballerina as she performs wild stunt on her partner’s shoulders — yes, really
Each new episode of 'America's Got Talent' Season 20 brings a fresh wave of excitement. The talent competition has been pulling out all the stops to entertain viewers with a wide range of art forms. A recent performance by an acrobat duo gave a stunning spin to classic ballet. Their clever amalgamation of ballet and acrobatics had the audience and judges on edge, with Simon Cowell even calling the performance 'beautiful.' However, fans had one particular complaint, and we can totally see why.
The group in question is the Xi'An Acrobatic Troupe from China, whose performance included gravity-defying moves and displays of elegant strength. Their act had the female ballerina performing elegant pointe moves on her male partner's arms and head. After the breathtaking performance, Sofía Vergara was visibly moved, as she said, "That's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. You need to be on the biggest stage in the world."
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Howie Mandel also praised the duo, saying, "I've never seen anything like that before. And we've been here for 20 years. I can't thank you enough for coming all the way from China to show us something this spectacular, this beautiful, this strong. You were amazing." Cowell then offered a surprising confession, saying, "I find, along with a lot of other people, ballet unbelievably boring." The audience started to boo, but he continued, "Ballet is kind of for a very small group of people... However, you made ballet interesting. I've never seen anything like this."
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Curious, Cowell asked, "What do you call it?" to which the performers replied, "ballet on shoulder." Cowell responded with a smile, "Thank you. You learned something." In the end, all four judges gave a resounding "yes," sending the troupe to the next round. Fans were also in awe of the unique performance, with many taking to the YouTube comment section to express their admiration for the troupe. However, viewers also questioned why they were not awarded the coveted Golden Buzzer. One netizen wrote, "How does this not get a golden buzzer? Appreciate the spotter there for her. Bravo to her and him. That's serious strength."
Meanwhile, another fan noted, "Seriously, the judges have missed the opportunity to give talent like this GOLDEN BUZZER. BRAVO." Others expressed their disappointment by saying, "How could they not even give a standing ovation? This was amazingly impressive," and "Why ain’t this a golden buzzer tho I mean come on this is talent come on judges get the name of the show right."
Meanwhile, others couldn't stop singing praises for the acrobat couple, with one writing, "As a ballet dancer and someone who has been on pointe for a WHILE, this is absolutely INSANE. Being able to do these tricks and extensions on pointe BALANCING the whole time, not falling at any point, and having beautiful showmanship, is impossible(nearly). And the raw strength the man has…. This was insane. I think they’re going to go far!" Based in Xi’an, China, the troupe was founded in 2019 by descendants of the Guangzhou Circus, according to America's Got Talent wiki. Their performances are often choreographed by artistic director Zhang Quan, and they are known around the world for their acrobatic Swan Lake performances.
