Shakira's New Video "Girl Like Me"

As an African American woman born with traditional tribal drums pumping through her veins, I find it downright embarrassing that I can't identify my left foot from my right foot. I'm considered the most uncoordinated person I know, from running into doors to hitting my knee on coffee tables. After finishing up an article, I decided to scroll through my Facebook feed to find inspiration. Thirty minutes in, I stumble across Shakira's latest song, "Girl Like Me," with the Black-Eyed Peas. When you think of Shakira, you automatically think about what one two-step she'll present to the world. She makes dancing look effortless while keeping a smile on her face. It could be her childlike personality, or it could be she's teasing her audience with "I bet you can't do this." I still consider myself a fan. Ever since her "Whenever Whatever" video, I knew she wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

Now let us talk about these dance steps. Watching Shakira's feet move in and out gave me anxiety. I found myself rewinding the dance sequence to see how her feet moved. I immediately pictured myself re-creating the dance in my head. I noticed a familiar habit: moving the top half of my body and my bottom half to stay stagnant. I have to hop on one leg and shuffle my feet will automatically land me in someone's ER. I quickly got frustrated over a dance I didn't try yet. My seventh-grade dance club performances were ancient compared to what she was doing. Shakira has always had dance-friendly music that will make you sweat but, what intrigued me with this particular dance is your body heat wouldn't allow you to have upper lip sweat. These simple moves would impress anyone in three minutes. I've watched the video over twenty times, and I still couldn't get the dance steps.

I went to YouTube to watch the video once again and came across a compilation video of TikTok users filming themselves doing the "Girl Like Me" dance. Watching that video compilation made me realize two things: I'm no longer young, and two, my hand and eye coordination is still in the woods trying to locate each other. That is a skill that will deteriorate over time if you aren't using it every day. I wasn't sure if I should accept this failure because I was older or leaving it up for Generation Z to showcase their talents. That seemed like a logical solution until I Googled Shakira's age. Here she is a 43-year-old woman who's in shape prancing around our flat-screen TV's. I can't use that as an excuse as a 34-year-old woman.

I'm usually not a fan of YouTube recommendations, but I was excited when I came across a tutorial on perfecting these dance moves. I watched each step at least five times to make sure I mastered the move. The teacher didn't make the dance itself seem difficult at all. She talked slowly and moved even slower. That's the kind of teaching I need. After a while, I felt comfortable with the dance, and I can see myself doing the dance steps correctly in my head. I haven't gotten the guts to try anything standing up but rest assure after mastering the mind, and my body will follow (so I hope).

By now, you're saying, "Teisha, get to the point." I say all of that to say celebrities' jobs are to make their lives look easy. Before Shakira steps on set, she rehearses for hours to perfect each dance move. She practiced that dance routine so many times that she now sees it in her dreams. Confidence doesn't always come on the first try. It may take several attempts for you to perfect anything. My hope for all of us in 2021, we find something we want to master. Something that will put a smile on our faces while we perform or showcase our art.

"Though you can love what you do not master, you cannot master what you do not love."

― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

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