It’s been a 40-year journey for the Funkateer Dancers, a beloved dance group from Inkster, and they are now about to embark, arguably, on an even greater journey — they entered the world of the popular TV show competition, America’s Got Talent, Tuesday, June 17, at 8 p.m. on NBC.
The group, which opened the fourth audition episode of the season and brought judges to their feet, is now headed for the quarterfinals of the show after receiving a surprise golden buzzer from Flint-native Terry Crews. The golden buzzer, which can only be hit twice per judge or host per season, automatically sends the act to the live rounds, bypassing intermediate eliminations.
The group is slated to appear in the live rounds on the Sept. 9 episode.
The Funkateer Dancers had their heyday in the 1980s with a style of dance that was, as they describe it, “often imitated, never replicated.” And it’s an apt description because they have a unique story to tell.
Back in 1980, they were a group of high school-age kids with an impossible dream at the time: winning the Inkster High School talent show. Inkster is known for a legacy of musical acts such as the Marvelettes and others, as well as being ground zero for techno music. In short, the talent represented on that stage was vast, but the Funkateer Dancers had a unique gift for not only moving on stage but moving the crowd. Call it rhythm and moves, and you wouldn’t be too far off.
“It’s just street dancing that we made up,” says Michael Kelly, 64, an original group member. “A … robotic funk. With a lot of footwork in it, just a combination of stuff.”
Kelly will be performing on AGT Tuesday, with fellow original group members, Ed Miller, 66; Jeffrey Healey, 59; and Anthony “Tony” Warren, 61. They lost two original members of the group, DeA’mon “Cricket” Ellison in 2022, and Tony “Lace” Lacey in 2024. None of this has stopped them from moving. Like an unstoppable force, they ignite the dance floor with positive energy and great hope for the future. Second acts for dance groups are rare, but the Funkateer Dancers are up to the challenge.
That “combination of stuff”, Kelly refers to led to other performances across the U.S. They were professional dancers and wound up dancing at New York City’s Studio 54, on TV on The Scene (a popular local dance show airing from 1975-1987) and the nationally broadcast Dance Fever, and others. They were even slated to go overseas (to Japan) on a tour with funk musician Rick James. But something fell through. Still, they continued to dance, until they took a break from it in 1989.
They took this time off to start families and foster professional pursuits outside the music industry but stayed in contact through it all. Appropriately, something strange began to happen in the 2000s, a rather serendipitous meeting between the analog world they were originally a part of and the digital world of viral videos in the aughts. A 23-second video of them dancing at a park during an event caught on, and was shared widely.
“And you know, it’s all God,” Miller says. “We know that. But the style of the dance (was) getting so much attention, you know, and going viral, just doing. And we looking at the video like we didn’t really do nothing, Y’all, I mean, you know?”
That was four years ago in 2021. By 2023 another viral video made the rounds. And in the winter of 2024, the group was given the honor of being added to the “Welcome to the City of Inkster” sign, right beneath “Hometown of Malcolm X 1952-1953” and “Home of the Marvelettes Motown’s 1st Gold Record,” is “Home of the renowned dance group The Funkateer Dancers.”
Sadly, 2024 was also a year of more tragedies, personally, for the group. Warren’s mother died, but left him with an encouraging prophecy: “And she said, ‘You’re gonna do. well, son, I love you.’”
The winning contestant on America’s Got Talent will claim $1 million in cash. This isn’t lost on the group – that the unlikeliest of comebacks featuring a group of men in their 60s moving as if they were in their 20s was really happening, in double time.
Any cursory review of the group’s Facebook page, or YouTube comment sections, will show the adulation they enjoy. Those from Inkster, Detroit, and metro Detroit, fondly remember the Funkateers Dancers as a talented, one of a kind, innovative act. They were the first to know, and now, with any luck, the world will know what a Funkateer is, both noun and verb.
As retro becomes vintage and cultural products are remixed and rebooted for a new generation, the Funkateer Dancers will join this narrative – already in progress.
Jeffrey Healey says, “It’s a language to it, a language to our dance.” Then, without missing a beat: “And we ain’t done yet.”
The Funkateer Dancers performed on America’s Got Talent, Tuesday, June 17 at 8 p.m. on NBC and received the golden buzzer for that performance. The group will be featured in the show’s live performance on Sept. 9. In the meantime, check out this vintage video of the group in action.
|
|
|
|
|
|
