You see things both impressive and underwhelming talent at local shows. But sometimes, certain acts stick in your mind — for one reason or another!

Just take the performance from a group of seven young women from 2014.

When they filed onto the stage dressed in black and white, the audience couldn’t help but giggle a little. But as soon as the music started, the giggles turned into cheers.

The group had transformed a regular dance number into an optical illusion. And the secret was in those black and white costumes.

As they break into Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, the crowd began to applaud.

The girls show that costumes and coordinated legwork make an amazing optical illusion.

It’s incredible how easily your brain can be tricked. As the girls move their legs in timed coordination, you have to stop for a moment and figure out exactly what you’re looking at.

It’s hard to see where one performer ends and the next one begins.

The teens cycled through several different songs. They even drew laughs with a slow-motion running bit set to the theme from Chariots of Fire.

The act included a rendition of Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer, again making the crowd laugh.

“Optical illusions are images or pictures that we perceive differently than they really are,” reads an article from Wonderopolis. “Put another way, optical illusions occur when our eyes send information to our brains that tricks us into perceiving something that does not match reality.”

Optical illusions can be found everywhere.

They are on screens, in puzzles, and even in nature. In fact, this teenage dance team isn’t the first to do an optical illusion performance as part of a talent show. But they put their own spin on it, which makes it even more fun.

“Some optical illusions are physiological,” reads the article from Wonderopolis. “This means that they’re caused by some sort of physical means in the eyes or the brain. Other optical illusions are cognitive. Cognitive illusions, such as ambiguous, distorting and paradox illusions, occur when our brains automatically make assumptions based on the information sent from the eyes. These illusions are sometimes called “mind games.”

The dance team’s swinging legs makes you wonder which ones belong to each performer.

Our brains assume the legs wearing white and those wearing black belong together.

It’s fascinating to learn about optical illusions and even more fun to see them in action.

“Scientists believe optical illusions are possible because our brains are so good at recognizing patterns and ‘seeing’ familiar objects,” says Wonderopolis. “Our brains work quickly to make a ‘whole’ image from separate pieces.”

The most interesting part?

Man-made optical illusions are works of art. You have to be talented to trick the brains of viewers. There’s no telling whether the team won the talent show, but we think they should have. They didn’t just perform well but also created something really intricate.

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Source: Wonderopolis, Shareably, YouTube