Little bit of nostalgia, lots of awe and oodles of inspiration that’s Mayyas for me.
With the usual morning routine, where I sit for a little while with my daughter, going through some rhymes and baby sensory videos, the Mayyas video was the first thumbnail displayed.
With no prior clue and out of curiosity I looked at what was it about and I was left amazed.
Mayyas, is an all-female dance troupe from Lebanon that won the $1 million prize on America’s Got Talent Season 17. Having watched one performance and being left completely amazed, I went in succession watching their beautifully coordinated, remarkable moves that were so in sync. The alluring visuals definitely adds to the whole hypnotizing experience.
For the season’s finale they used feathers as props. In the beginning, it appears as if there’s a single performer dressed in a gigantic costume and slowly you see how all the others fan out from underneath in the shape of Lebanon’s national symbol – the cedar tree.
I was taken back in time to my school days. Every year, January 11th was the day of our Annual Sports & Cultural Meet. It was a mini-festival in its way. Throughout most of December, we had extensive practice sessions, our drills, our march past, learning new things, making new friends, listening to each other’s stories, tanned skin, glucose water gulping, and studies being the last aspect to worry about. No stringent routines like the other regular days, all play and no work making Jack a bright boy 😀
From hoops to ribbons and fans and different props, the coordination would be so important that even one miss and everyone had to repeat.
Our school principal would envision the entire function and run the show like a movie director. We had pre-runs of the entire day’s event and last-moment changes, from parts of it to sometimes the whole ideation were quite common. In two words – Chaotic Fun!
Mayyas is an Arabic word meaning ‘The Power Walk of A Lioness’. And they stand to depict exactly that – the amalgamation of bold and fierce beauty yet gentle and nurturing.
Lebanon is a country in the Middle East that has been in an economic crisis for the past three years. The country’s people are faced with up to 22 hours of power cuts on some days as the government doesn’t have the money to pay for the fuel. In a scenario like this, this troupe of 30+ women practised nonstop for 4 months and got the fruits of their labour. Coming from a misogynistic society they have dealt with several things that hindered their success. As their choreographer, Nadim Cherfan puts it “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 himself was inspired by Jane “Nightbirde” Marczewski, another contestant, an American singer who wowed the judges. She was battling with cancer and fighting for her life, despite which she still took to the stage to share her talent.
During their audition round, Judge Simon Cowell had mentioned that their performance would leave a positive impact and that it sure has done. The chain of inspiration continues!
