MAKING MORE ‘MAGIC’
Chicago dance team Freckled Sky, a viral hit in 2015, returns to ‘AGT’
The two beautiful dancers waited for their cue, cameras rolled and viewers held their breath as bright lights started to dim on stage.
When a black and gray illusion of an umbrella blocking heavy rain appeared, the room realized the dancers weren’t the only artistic part of the performance.
What followed was a viral moment for TV and the internet in 2015, and the start of the Freckled Sky team members’ American dream. “You certainly put smiles on our faces today,” raved judge Howard Stern, calling the performance “spectacular” and awarding the group the coveted Golden Buzzer.
“From the moment we appeared on TV, we received our first call within an hour from an agent,” Val Syganevich said about the team’s debut appearance on “America’s Got Talent.” “I realized, ‘OK, something is happening.’ In the next few days, weeks, months — everything changed.”
After receiving nearly 15 million views on
YouTube for their first appearance — only to be eliminated in the quarterfinals — the fan-favorite team Freckled Sky will return Monday to the stage of the NBC show “American’s Got Talent: The Champions.”
Dance, light and water were the ingredients Freckled Sky utilized to “create something without limitation” back in 2015.
Freckled Sky, established in 2013 in Chicago, is not limited to what millions saw the group perform on national television. The team blends projection, lighting, interactivity and special effects to create new forms of entertainment.
“We try to change the world using creativity and art,” Syganevich said. “Our goal is to create a level of special effects in live shows that people can see only in Hollywood movies.”
Before expanding as a team and putting on shows throughout the world, he said there was a period when the group members were knocking on doors to make people believe what they had was attention-worthy.
When they finally got their shot, he said what they had prepared in 2015 opened a door to combine classical dance with technology in a new way.
“We made people believe that what happened on stage was real,” Syganevich said. “Not only did the audience connect with the special effects and the physical performance, we created an emotional and magical experience as well.”
“America’s Got Talent: The Champions” features the world’s most talented, memorable and all-around fan-favorite acts from past seasons of “AGT,” according to NBC.
Syganevich said “America’s Got Talent” is the best stage in the world for artists who want to show their talent to a big audience, and it is a big honor to be invited again.
He said fans of Freckled Sky can expect surprises they love to see from their favorite team.
“We hope that our audience will see the magic again and experience a different type of magic,” he said. “We always try to have these magic moments when we do our shows. We believe we will have the magic moments again.”