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 Hypo ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , 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 ...

(

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

), 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 a televised 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 distribut ...

, when they finished second overall.

History

Peterson da Cruz Hora, a choreographer from

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, 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 , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, 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. It is held every four years much like the Olympics. But the focus of this event is not on winning medals. The Gymnaestrada is about Group Performances – some with hundreds o ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

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 who has also worked as an actor, model and football pundit. A former forward, Ginola played football for ten seasons in France before moving from Paris Saint-Ger ...

in 2017 on season 12 of

La France a un incroyable talent ''La France a un incroyable talent'' ( en, France's Got Incredible 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, presented by Alessandra Sublet ...

(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, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...

called it "incredible" and "breathtaking." Host

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

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 (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

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 Egyptian 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, Our Father") is the 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 ...

. 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-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. I ...

, 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 which h ...

References

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