The Pride of the Mayyas
“We want to show the world that we’re able to stand on our own feet as really strong and powerful women.”
Sometimes I’m people’s only Lebanese friend. Sometimes I’m their only MENA (Middle Eastern/North African) friend. As a result, any time something Lebanese is trending, people send me a video to watch or a link to read. I love it. Only earlier this summer, I got sent the same video by at least three different people. It was an audition video for America’s Got Talent (AGT).
I avoid watching competition shows in general because they are arbitrary and horrible indicators of talent and crush people’s dreams for national entertainment. But I decided that if three people had sent me the same video, then it was probably worth watching.
The Mayyas (which translates from Arabic to English as the proud walk of a lioness), a Lebanese dance troupe specializes in creating optical illusions with their dance routines, while incorporating belly dancing and traditional Arabic music. Their goal is to hypnotize their audience, as well as show that magic is possible, with the help and brilliant mind of their choreographer Nadim Cherfan.
They received a standing ovation from their captivated audience after their first audition. Even Simon Cowell said, “it was arguably the best dance act we’re likely to ever see.” AGT judge Sophia Vergara showed the most support and enthusiasm for the 36-member dance troupe. She described their routine as “the most beautiful, amazing dancing I’ve ever seen.” To further prove her support of the group, she gave them the golden buzzer, the highest honor one can have bestowed upon them in an AGT audition, which sends competitors straight to Vegas.
The Mayyas were everywhere. I couldn’t escape their routine — they were on my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook feed for days. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched the routine and each time, I’m truly hypnotized.
While I was happy for the Lebanese representation, I didn’t keep up with their progress. For Lebanese people the past few years, hope has seemed futile, so I didn’t pay attention. I’m so happy to have been wrong.
However, a few days ago, I was on the phone with my dad who told me that I had to vote for “the Lebanese girls on Americans Have Talent,” because they made it to the final round. I created an NBC profile and used all my votes for them. Then I caught up on their performances throughout the season.
In’shallah, they win, I thought.
Because I don’t have cable, I called my parents Wednesday night to hear the results of the competition. They groaned every time there was a commercial and the suspense was palpable, even from New Hampshire.
Terry Crews finally announced that the Mayyas had won. My parents and I screamed with joy, with pride, with hope. It was like watching your favorite team win the Super Bowl.
The Mayyas winning this competition is not just an AGT victory.
Lebanese people have been suffering of late, but it worsened two years ago. The Beirut port explosion (the third worst in history, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) finally drove Lebanon into economic collapse, during a pandemic, and the grain silos crashing nearly two years after the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion certainly have not helped. We’ve felt betrayal, anger, sadness, and debilitating hopelessness. But now, to some degree, we finally had people rooting for Lebanon. We finally have people who care. We finally have a reason to hope.
And to those who feel that the Mayyas should not have won because they’re not American and it’s America’s Got Talent, I got a couple of things to say to that. First, none of the judges on AGT are American. But because they’re all White, except for Sophia Vergara, it’s not an issue. Two, stop being fucking racists. And three, as cliché and overly nationalistic and obnoxiously patriotic as this may seem: America, ideally, is about having the freedom to pursue your dreams. When Sofia Vergara asked them what their dream was, one of the dancers said “us being here, on the biggest stage in 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.” The Mayyas beat out hundreds of other acts. They were voted as the best by people living in America. They are living the coveted, generally mystical, American Dream. What’s more American than that?
Their victory is theirs, of course, but it is shared by Lebanese diasporas globally. We won, and no one, especially not these fucking racists, can take that from us.
