Zurcaroh (pronounced ZOO-CA-ROW) is an acrobatic show group based in

Götzis Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch. Population Events The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

(

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

), and directed by Brazilian choreographer Peterson da Cruz Hora. The group became internationally known after they won a golden buzzer on the 2017 season of France's Got Talent and again in 2018 on season 13 of

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

, when they finished second overall.

History

Peterson da Cruz Hora, a choreographer from

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, originally founded the group in 2007 in Brazil. In 2009, after moving to Austria, he decided to refound the group there with a local crew. Their first international appearance as an Austrian group occurred in 2011, in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland.Zurcaroh - Shows & Projects
/ref> Some of the moves and routines are unique or rarely seen in dance routines. These include multiple flips at once and circus style trapeze acts. One move has two dancers doing cartwheel-style somersaults off the ground, landing each revolution on fellow performers' arms. Another has a dancer acting as a jump rope. Peterson explained why it was important for the troupe to audition for AGT, "Because this is the biggest stage in the world where we can share our skills and our talent." He went on to say how the group accepts dancers, gymnasts, and acrobats at all levels. As of May 2018, there were 31 members in the troupe. They are based in

, a town in the highly populated Rhine valley in the west of Austria.

Performances

Zurcaroh represented Austria at

World Gymnaestrada The World Gymnaestrada is the largest general gymnastics exhibition. Much like the Olympics, the event is held every four years. However, the focus of this event is not on winning medals but instead Group Performances – some with hundreds or ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in July 2015; the event is held every four years. Zurcaroh earned a golden buzzer from

David Ginola David Ginola-Ceze (born 25 January 1967) is a French former professional footballer. A television personality, he has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit. A forward, Ginola played for ten seasons in France with Toulon, Racing Par ...

in 2017 on season 12 of

La France a un incroyable talent ''La France a un incroyable talent'' (), previously known as ''Incroyable Talent'', is a French TV show, based on the ''Got Talent'' series. It debuted on M6 on 2 November 2006, and is currently presented by Karine Le Marchand. Summary Sea ...

(France has incredible talent), warranting their participation in the finals.

America's Got Talent

The group performed on the first show of season 13 of

in 2018. The act consisted of "daring acrobatics and precise synchronicity." Afterwards, each of the judges reacted favorably to the performance.

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

called it "incredible" and "breathtaking." Host

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American model, television personality, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15 and was the first Black A ...

gave them a golden buzzer, which allowed them to advance directly to the live shows. In the quarterfinals, Zurcaroh conducted a dance piece based on the

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

story of

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

. It was once again favorably received. So was their performance in the semifinals, which had an

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian theme. Journalist Carolyn Lipka wrote this about Zurcaroh following the semifinals performance: In the finals, Zurcaroh performed a routine to

Baba Yetu "Baba Yetu" (Swahili language, Swahili: "Our Father") is the main theme song for the 2005 video game ''Civilization IV''. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's debut ...

. The performance was set in a jungle and featured their usual acrobatic maneuvers. It received the loudest applause from the crowd out of the ten acts that performed that night. The first judge to comment after the performance,

Howie Mandel Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel is known for voicing Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', playing rowd ...

, had his voice almost completely drowned out by applause from the audience. In the end, Zurcaroh finished second as runner up to magician

Shin Lim Liang-Shun Lim (; born September 25, 1991), known professionally as Shin Lim, is a Canadian-American magician, recognized for his use of card manipulation and sleight of hand. He is known for elaborate close-up card magic routines, during wh ...

References

{{America's Got Talent America's Got Talent contestants Dance groups Performing groups established in 2009 Vorarlberg