“America’s Got Talent”: How a group of Lebanese dancers conquered America

EUphoria and disillusionment are only a transatlantic flight apart. One day Nicole Hanna stands on the big stage in Los Angeles, drunk with joy, in a golden rain, cheered by the audience of the television show “America’s Got Talent” (AGT), one of the most important talent shows in the world. And a few days later she finds herself in a dark, hot apartment because the electricity went out again, wearing herself out in two full-time jobs from which she can hardly make a living. Welcome back to Lebanon!

The weeks she is going through after her return are strange. Until the episode airs, the public must not know that their Mayyas, a group of Lebanese dancers, have achieved great things in Los Angeles. Everyday life takes over, the days in America become a distant memory that seems more and more unreal. “It was very weird,” says Nicole. As if she had walked between two worlds: the American dream factory and the Lebanese nightmare factory. There was the Nicole Hanna of the Mayyas, who are causing a sensation far beyond the borders of their homeland. And then there was the Lebanese Nicole Hanna, who is experiencing one of the worst economic crises in modern history. Who – like so many other Lebanese – has to watch helplessly as her savings melt away, who feels every day how her purchasing power is eroding.