Dancers from the Land of the Rising Sun took the judges and audience of America’s Got Talent (AGT) from one surprise to another with their dynamic, energetic performances and amazing synchronization.
Addictive performances on America’s Got Talent
At the Audition round of America’s Got Talent, 19 girls with identical bob haircuts and schoolgirl outfits conquered all 4 judges with a unique dance performance to the music of “Cinderella Honeymoon”, a popular city pop song, released in 1978.
The tough judge Simon Cowell praised their performance as “Genius”. The video of Avantgardey – the name of the dance group – has now reached nearly 5 million views on Youtube.
Avantgardey audition round.
Sharp choreography and movements, constantly changing formations, near-perfect synchronization, and above all, humorous facial expressions with somewhat strange expressions are what make Avantgardey different. Many viewers even commented that this was the best dance performance in the history of the show.
In the Semi-Finals, Avantgardey chose “Idol” – the opening song of the anime “Oshi no Ko”, composed and performed by the famous duo YOASOBI as their background music. Their excellent performance continued to make the three judges Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara stand up to applaud.
Avantgardey in the Semi-final night. Photo: NBC
Despite not having enough votes, the group continued to advance to the final round thanks to a “rescue” vote from judge Howie Mandel. With this achievement, Avantgardey became the first Japanese team to advance to the AGT final in 10 years.
In the final round, instead of a Japanese song, the group performed the classic song “Money, Money, Money” by the Swedish band ABBA. Continuing to promote their strengths and typical techniques, they brought a performance that was eye-catching with a strong, fast rhythm. However, because they did not receive enough votes, Avantgardey stopped at the Top 6 position.
Dream of reaching the world
Although Avantgardey’s journey on AGT has ended, their performance is still extremely “viral” online. Many viewers left comments saying that they are “addicted” and are “watching over and over” the performances every day. And with what they showed on the American talent search competition, the group has successfully gained a certain number of international fans.
If you have followed Avantgardey’s dances and witnessed the girls’ perfect synchronization and harmony, many people will be surprised to know that the group was only formed in 2022.
Photo: NBC
19 girls from Osaka are led by dancer and choreographer Akane. Her real name is Akane Kikaku, born in 1992, and was famous for choreographing and producing the Bubbly Dance (バブリーダンス) video of Tomioka High School. The video became a hit when it was posted in 2017 with over 100 million views on Youtube. The female dancer has also collaborated with many famous brands such as FamilyMart with Famipay advertisement, choreographed for TVC of BOOKOFF…
Avantgardey’s members range in age from 18-28, but most are around 20. The group is quite short, averaging around 148cm.
They come from different backgrounds, and when they’re not dancing, they work jobs like restaurant servers, bartenders, clothing store employees, or cosmetics salesmen…
Uniform appearance of the dancers. Photo: NBC
Before coming to the US for AGT, Avantgardey had already built up a reputation on TikTok and Instagram as a “mysterious uniformed group.” They also made it to the finals of “THE DANCE DAY” (Nippon TV), a competition to select the best dancers in Japan, for two consecutive years.
In January 2023, the girls got the opportunity to collaborate with world-famous DJ Steve Aoki at one of his performances.
By participating in America’s Got Talent, Avantgardey wants to share the “Japanese soul” with the world, and “want the whole world to know our name,” they said during the Live Show on September 19. “Our dream is to perform all the time, all over the world.”
Avantgardey is currently active by appearing at events, but their activities on SNS are also particularly notable. Currently, Akane Kikaku – the YouTube channel that posts Avantgardey dances, has about 432,000 subscribers, the group has 855,000 followers on TikTok and 872,000 followers on Instagram , receiving a lot of support.
Humorous expressions spice up Avantgardey’s performances. Photo: NBC
