When Kenichi Ebina was studying English at university, he had a moment that changed his life.
The young man had just moved to the United States from Tokyo, Japan, and found himself attending a college dance party for freshman students.
“They made a circle and many of them were showing off in turns,” he recalled in an interview with Creator’s Lounge. “I was just watching them, but there was an atmosphere that people were looking at me as if [it was] my turn, so I had to dance.”
“I knew the one step, the Running Man, and people loved it.”
“I realized later that people were actually laughing at me, but that misunderstanding changed my interests.”
Kenichi became obsessed with dancing greats, like Michael Jackson.
“I used to slow [the videos] down and watch every single frame,” he said.
Finally, at 28 years old, he was ready for the America’s Got Talent Stage.
Kenichi made his way to Chicago to audition for the ninth season of the show. In the video, you see host Nick Cannon approach him to ask about his routine.
“A little bit of dance and robots and martial arts,” Kenichi tells him.
To be fair, Kenichi’s style of dance is hard to describe. In fact, he refers to it only as “dance-ish”. The self-taught genre is a combination of acting, storytelling, freestyle, hip-hop, mime, jazz, and more.
“Dancing is my passion,” he tells the camera.
“My dream is to do my full dance show in Vegas. That’s why I’m here.”
When Kenichi walks onstage, the judges aren’t too sure what to expect from his “dance-ish” routine.
The audience seems to be laughing at him, and Mel B. even turns with a judgemental smirk. But when Kenichi begins his moves, he takes everyone by surprise.
Using inconceivable robotic, dance steps, Kenichi tells the story of The Matrix in only 90 seconds.
Throughout the routine, he fights invisible enemies while performing gravity-defying movements.
At one point, he pulls the classic “Matrix move” by bending his body parallel to the floor without any support.
Kenichi’s routine is an amazing mix of storytelling, dance, and martial arts. From the moment he begins to move, the entire audience is entranced.
Here’s Howard Stern grinning like a little girl:
Since being uploaded to YouTube, Kenichi’s mindblowing performance has been viewed nearly 80 million times.
Even though it aired five years ago, people still can’t get enough:
“5 years later it’s still an amazing performance!”
“Are you a human or a robot. And plus who is still watching in 2018?”
“Totally badass.. he has crazy body strength to do those moves, it’s so difficult to stand up with no hands the way he did using only his head.. absolutely amazing!”
But were Kenichi’s mind-bending moves enough to impress the judges? Watch the video below!
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