NICOLE HANNA

Dancer

In 2020, Nicole Hanna was preparing to leave Lebanon for Canada when she got word that her dance group, the Mayyas, had been selected to compete in America’s Got Talent. “I’d started filing for immigration,” she said. “When we received the news, I thought, maybe I’ll just put Canada on hold and do this one thing.”

A 36-woman group known for their spectacular, kaleidoscopic dance performances, the Mayyas went on to win the 2022 competition. “It was the craziest experience,” she says. Amid all the tumult in Lebanon, “being part of that dance group really gave me hope again that we could achieve something”.

Born in 1989, Hanna practised dance from childhood but studied biochemistry at university. After graduating, she joined a staffing agency for hospitality events and became a shareholder in the company. The job, which she loved, went quiet during Covid. On 4 August 2020, she left work early and, by just 30 minutes, missed the blast which destroyed her office.

In the days that followed, people mobilised to clear the wreckage and Hanna joined them. “That really helped me to deal with my PTSD, for a while,” she says. “But when we had finished cleaning up the streets, then I just sat at home and said: ‘Now what?’ I really struggled with insomnia for six months.”

Staying in Lebanon no longer felt tenable. Then came America’s Got Talent. Immediately after the Mayyas’ win, Hanna found herself feeling unexpectedly homesick for Lebanon and made her way back. Now she dances as her main job and tours regularly – in January the Mayyas performed with Beyoncé in Dubai.

Hanna feels that the mood is lifting in Beirut. Businesses are rallying and new places are opening up in the areas worst hit by the blast. “It gives you hope that something eventually will change,” she says.