Colombian Pop princess Shakira is inviting all of her fans to film themselves dancing the “Waka Waka,” which is the official anthem of the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa.
Shakira’s song is being used in a project called “One Goal for Education,” an international campaign that seeks to insure that every child has the right to go to primary school.
“All the children of the world should have access to education; join and dance with me for this goal,” says the singer in a video, which has instructions on how to do the song’s dance, as well as people from around the world demonstrating that it is somewhat difficult to do gracefully.
Those fans who have mastered the dance steps are then invited to upload video of themselves doing the dance to Youtube.
The “One Goal” movement was co-founded and is being led by Queen Rania of Jordan, with further support from soccer’s governing body FIFA.
The campaign is a natural fit for Africa’s first World Cup, since Africa also happens to be the continent with the largest amount of children without a school in the world.
“Waka Waka (Este es Africa)” is composed, produced, and performed by Shakira, but owes a debt to the singer’s Colombian heritage, as well as the patrimony of the World Cup site’s continent.
The song combines Afro-Colombian and Caribbean Soca rhythms with South African guitars. The song also samples a chorus from a popular marching song from the African nation of Cameroon.
The song has been released in pop, club, and African versions, and is available for download from your local digital music store. All proceeds raised from the sale of the track benefit the 20 FIFA centers for 2010 Initiative, the goal of which is to build 20 centres of education, public health and football across Africa
However, if you don’t feel like supporting a good cause, you can listen to the song here for free.
There will also be an English version of the song, called “Waka Waka (This is Africa),” which will be included on the compilation “Listen Up: The Official 2010 World Cup Album,” slated for release on May 31.
Shakira and South African band Freshlyground will play the song together at the opening and closing ceremonies at the World Cup.
