Ashburn Middle School Dancer Advances On 'America's Got Talent'

ASHBURN, VA — Millions of Americans have viewed videos of Noah Epps' dancing performance last Tuesday night on "America's Got Talent." The Ashburn 12-year-old's solo performance has already gotten more than 54 million views on Facebook and almost 15 million views on YouTube.

Fans of Noah's performance on the talent show, which was recorded before the coronavirus shut down television and movie productions in Los Angeles, are hungry for more after his crowd-pleasing dance routine. Noah received rave reviews from celebrity judges Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara as well as Simon Cowell who said Noah will be one to watch as the current season of "America's Got Talent" moves on.

"It was surprisingly surprising," Noah said about Cowell's positive reaction to his marionette dancing performance.

"I really didn't think he would say anything remotely close to that," Noah told Patch. "If he had said anything positive at all, I would have been amazed."

While his fans wait in anticipation for his next appearance on "America's Got Talent," Noah and his family aren't sure when he'll be performing in the next round of the competition and whether he'll be performing again in-person in the Los Angeles area or whether the coronavirus crisis will force him to perform remotely for the judges.

"We are eagerly anticipating the call of what we have to do and where we have to go," Noah's father Brandon Epps said.

Noah has been dancing for about five years and hopes to make dancing and acting a career. His first dance teacher and mentor, Ryan "Opium" Green, "saw a lot of potential in me," Noah said.

Noah and Green still work together, with Green providing pointers on areas of his dance upon which Noah can improve. After watching Noah perform last Tuesday on "America's Got Talent," Green "went nuts," Noah said.

Noah, a rising seventh grader at Ashburn's Stone Hill Middle School, said some of his teachers told him that they were crying with joy while they watched his performance. Classmates have texted him to congratulate him. Friends have come to his home's porch to tell him, from a distance, how impressed they were with his performance.

After his appearance on the show, Stone Hill Middle School also used Twitter to let Noah know how proud they are of him.

From a non-dance perspective, Noah said adjusting to restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus, including Loudoun County Public Schools' switch to remote learning, has been hard. "But I ended up getting pretty good grades — all A's and one B," he said.

Noah has worked with choreographer Jesse Lloyd, a teacher at Studio Bleu in Ashburn who has helped him with his routines.

"I love performing with a character to show to the audience and not just a freestyle performance," Noah said. The story of a little boy on strings that he told on "America's Got Talent" is his favorite routine so far, he added.

On "America's Got Talent," Noah demonstrated his flexibility, which drew cheers and expressions of disbelief. Noah said he inherited his flexibility from his mother, who is also double-jointed.

Noah uses the mobility to his advantage in his dancing. Many dance styles incorporate the additional flexibility, with the double-jointed movements generally performed with arms, shoulders and the chest.

"A lot of people just see it as contortion, but there are a lot of formats to it," Brandon Epps said.

Noah tried to get on "America's Got Talent" the previous two seasons. The third try was a charm. "Things just came together this year," said Brandon Epps, pointing to how Noah increased his training.

Noah heard from people across the country after they watched him perform on the show. Fik-Shun, who won season 10 of "So You Think You Can Dance" and who Noah has met, was among the well-known dancers to extend a shout-out, he said.

After watching him on "America's Got Talent, Fik-Shun offered the 12-year-old high praise, saying the younger generation of dancers is in good hands.