Shakira’s hips are positively famous. Her sensuous and powerful belly-dancing is an integral part of her performances and music videos. Her belly-dancing appears in the majority of her song performances, whether in Spanish or in English. Watch for example, her music video of “Suerte.”

Shakira has been at the forefront of fashion and trends since her debut, this pop star from Colombia brought Latin music and belly dance culture to the world. She has sung the World Cup theme song twice in a row, no wonder everyone wanted to dance when they heard her music. The song is entirely Middle-Eastern influenced from music to moves, and Shakira performs it while belly dancing, with back-up dancers belly dancing onstage behind her. This clip is a music video in which a young Shakira does variations of snake arms and basic hip lifts, shimmies, camels, the Egyptian, and hip figure eights. Specifically, she was enchanted by the rhythm of the drum used in traditional Arab music, the doumbek (or darbuka or tabla) and especially in the belly dance. The story goes that Shakira began to dance on the restaurant table. Shakira has suggested that a clear Arab, oriental influence is present in her breakthrough, world hit, Ojos Asi. Dec 9, 2015 - Explore Kim Hasek's board 'Shakira' on Pinterest. See more ideas about Shakira, Shakira mebarak, Shakira sexy.

Now, watch “Whenever, wherever”, the English version of the song.

Shakira utilized the same video and the same dance moves for both songs; she merely changed her language. By keeping the videos the same, Shakira believed in the universal appeal of her belly-dancing. She knew how to sell herself and succeeded. Indeed, her sexuality overcame the cultural differences between cultures. Notice, however, that Shakira was a blond vixen in both videos. She did not bring her belly-dancing to English speaking audiences with dark hair and skin. She brought it knowing of the dance’s sex appeal, knowing of her sex appeal, and knowing that she has retained just enough ethnicity to make the package desirable. Her belly dancing represents difference, but enviable difference.

Until Shakira, belly dancing was not well known in the United States. Shakira’s ability to crossover into mainstream music essentially changed the American imagination concerning belly dancing. Belly dancing is now marketed to women of all colors and shapes. It is now a workout, a sexy way to achieve a firm body. There are DVDs, including Bellydancing : The Sensuous Workout with Shamira and Belly Dancers: Fitness for Beginners. There are even belly-dance classes from coast to coast, from New York City to San Francisco. All of these DVDs and classes emerged post-Shakira, and they have been successful. Belly-dancing, however, is not a new dance. Indeed, Belly Dancers: Fitness for Beginners states on its back cover, “This ancient form of artistic movement has been practiced for thousands of years and remains exceptionally popular throughout the world. Once performed as entertainment for royalty and common people alike, these beautiful movements evolved with strong links to womanhood, sensuality, and even fertility. But Bellydance is also one of the safest, simplest, and most effective ways to achieve lasting fitness.” Woman hood. Sensuality. Fertility. Sex….is available to all women, if only they belly-danced.

I would like to conclude this post with a parody of “Suerte” and “Whenever, Wherever.”

The words, although a parody, should be given attention. It brings to question Shakira’s vocal talents, her use of her body to gain appeal, and of course, her belly dancing.

'Ojos Así'

Single by Shakira

from the album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?

Released

July 23, 1999

Recorded

1998; Crescent Moon Studios
(Miami, Florida)

Genre

Length

3:57

Label

Sony Latin

Songwriter(s)

Shakira Mebarak
Pablo Flores
Javier Garza

Producer(s)

Emilio Estefan

Shakira singles chronology

'No Creo'
(1999)

'Ojos Así'
(1999)

'Moscas en la Casa'
(1999)

Music video

'Ojos Así' on YouTube

'Ojos Así' ('Eyes Like Yours') is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira for her fourth studio album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998). It was released on July 23, 1999 by Sony Latin as the fifth single from the record. The song was written by Shakira, Pablo Flores, and Javier Garza, while production was handled by Emilio Estefan. Musically, 'Ojos Así' incorporates elements of middle eastern and world music. An English-language translation titled 'Eyes Like Yours' was included on Shakira's fifth studio album and first English-language record Laundry Service (2001).

The track reached numbers 9 and 22 on the U.S. BillboardLatin Pop Songs and Latin Songs component charts, respectively. It reached the peak position on the Romanian Singles Chart, and performed moderately in other European territories. The song has additionally been performed during six of the seven concert tours Shakira has held to date.

Background and composition[edit]

A sample of 'Ojos Así' by Shakira, which incorporates prominent elements of middle eastern and world music.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

'Ojos Así' contains interludes of Arabic chants. It is based in the Phrygian dominant scale to help lend to the song's Arabian feel. Shakira herself sings in Arabic in the song.

'Ojos Así' became extremely popular in Latin American countries and is one of Shakira's biggest hits in Spanish. It was also one of Shakira's smash hits in Romania.^[1]

Shakira's 2001 English language debut album, Laundry Service, features an English version of the song titled 'Eyes Like Yours'. It contains no differences from 'Ojos Así' besides each song's respective language (both still feature the Arabic). The rough, yet literal (in most places) translation of 'Ojos Así' was written by Shakira and Gloria Estefan. 'Eyes Like Yours' has an unreleased music video that was filmed around the same time as 'Ojos Así's (as Shakira looks the same in both videos). A clip of this unseen video was released on a promotional CD for Laundry Service, only a minute in length, and containing very few shots of Shakira singing in English.

Music video[edit]

The music video for 'Ojos Así' features Shakira performing the song for a crowd. In the background is a giant neon eye, which shoots out sparks and catches fire toward the end of the video. There are also clips of Shakira belly dancing in front of a dark purple background, standing in water. In these clips, there are snakes painted down her arms and red lines painted on her head. The video uses the 'Single Mix' version of the song (though versions of the video with the album mix also exist). Featured instruments in the video include an Arabic string instrument with a bowl under the head, and a Danelectro Longhorn electric bass guitar. Shakira's long-time musical partner and band manager Tim Mitchell can be seen playing guitar in the video. The video won the International Viewer's Choice Award (North) at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards, while it was also nominated for the same award in the South category and for a Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.^[2]

On 24 April 2012, an alternate version of the video surfaced online. Uploaded by the video's director, Mark Kohr, on video sharing site Vimeo, this new version was in widescreen, revealing more of the original picture, and also contained several short, but noticeable, different scenes from the original full-screen, 4:3 version.

Live performances[edit]

Shakira performing 'Ojos Así' during the Rock in Rio festival in 2008.

In order to promote 'Ojos Así', Shakira performed the song at Mexica

Shakira Belly Dance Song