Wu Yufei, a 27-year-old Chinese dancer, teamed up with the humanoid robot dance team "Homies" to advance to the finals of America's Got Talent.
On 22 Sep 2026 GMT+7, Wu Yufei, a 27-year-old street dancer from Sichuan Province, China, who has spent 13 years mostly performing solo, now has a new, unique partner: a team of robot dancers whose fluid moves rival those of humans. This humanoid robot team, called Homies, successfully reached the finals of "America's Got Talent" after Wu had long hoped to perform on that stage.
Wu said dancing with the robots felt like being in a magical world. After months of rehearsing together, he no longer sees the robot dancers as cold, lifeless machines but almost feels a true sense of teamwork with them.
The humanoid robots performing with Wu were made by China's Unitree Robotics, which gained fame for a show at the Chinese New Year gala, one of the most watched TV programs in China. Following this, the company and event organizers nationwide rushed to hire these robots for performances to add excitement and attract audiences.
Fang Zhenghua, the artistic director behind Wu's and Unitree's performances, explained that training the robots to dance begins by recording complex human movements, simulating them on a computer, then transferring the results to the robots. He likened this process to "creating a soul" for the robots.
Source: AFP