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Acting career
Shakira appeared in the Colombian telenovela El
Oasis in 1994, playing the character of Luisa Maria.
Personal life
In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa,
the son of then president of Argentina Fernando de
la Rúa, a romance that made headline news throughout
Latin America. In March 2001, he proposed to her. De
la Rúa and Shakira remain engaged. She currently
lives in The Bahamas. Shakira's future mother-in-law
Inés Pertiné claimed the wedding would take place in
September 2007 in the mansion which Shakira owns in
the Dominican Republic (though this didn't happen).
She also said that Shakira has already ordered
Argentinian designer María Pryor to design her
wedding dress, and by Shakira herself in Mexico.
In June 2007, Latin American media speculated that
the couple had finally split up and that Shakira was
involved romantically with Irish actor Colin Farrell
since both were seen in a Los Angeles disco. This
rumor was immediately denied by Shakira's
assistants, stating that she was invited by Penélope
Cruz, who later introduced Colin Farrell to Shakira.
On the previous days, Shakira and Antonio were seen
in a restaurant in New York City, facing and denying
the rumors one more time.
Shakira maintains an intense interest in history.
She frequently studies the history and languages of
the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation
tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira audited a class
in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western
Civilization. She used her middle and last names,
Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was
visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being
recognized as a celebrity.
Dancing
Shakira is well known for her dancing in various
music videos and in concert. Her moves are based on
the art of Arabic belly dancing, a part of her
Lebanese heritage (her father is Lebanese). She
knows the power of her feet and often performs
barefoot. Shakira says she learned this form of
dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. She
also mentioned in a MTV interview that she learned
how to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her
belly. The intense training has afforded her a
fluidity in her body movement most seen in the
videos to her hits "Ojos Así", "La Tortura", "Hips
Don't Lie" and "Beautiful Liar" including "Suerte".
She has had several belly dance choreographers,
including award-winning Bellydance Superstar Boženka.[34]
As the MTV Making the Video for "La Tortura"
reveals, she worked with Jamie King on the
choreography, but ended up creating most of it
herself.
Philanthropy and humanitarian work
In 1997, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos
Foundation. It is a Colombian charity with special
schools for poor children all around Colombia. It
was funded by Shakira and other international groups
and individuals. The name of the foundation is taken
from Shakira's third studio album called Pies
Descalzos, released in 1995.
Throughout her career, Shakira has performed at a
large number of benefit concerts. In 2002 she sang
at a Party in the Park concert fundraising for the
Prince's Trust. That same year she performed at
Divas Live which support VH1's Save the Music
Foundation. On July 2, 2005 she performed her hits
"Whenever, Wherever" and "La Tortura" on the Live 8
benefit concert at the Palace of Versailles, near
Paris. On July 7, 2007, the singer opened the German
leg of Live Earth in Hamburg. Her set included
"Don't Bother", "Inevitable", "Día Especial" (with
Gustavo Cerati) and "Hips Don't Lie". Shakira also
performed at the "Clinton Global Initiative", where
she performed her hits "Underneath Your Clothes",
"Inevitable" and "Hips Don't Lie".
Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one
of their global representatives. "Shakira, like all
our Goodwill Ambassadors, was chosen based on her
compassion, her involvement in global issues, her
deep commitment to helping children, and her appeal
to young people around the world. We're very pleased
to have Shakira join the UNICEF family. I know
she'll help bring UNICEF's mission to the audience
who will have the most impact on our future – young
people themselves", said UNICEF's Executive Director
Carol Bellamy.
On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at a United
Nations ceremony for creating the Pies Descalzos
Foundation. At the event, the singer said, "Let's
not forget that at the end of this day when we all
go home, 960 children will have died in Latin
America."
Shakira was recently ranked at number 48 on the list
of Top 50 Most Charitable Celebrities by OK!
magazine. It reported that she donates approximately
$55,000 to charity yearly.
On September 28, 2007 at the Clinton Global
Initiative, it was revealed that Shakira's newest
charity, called ALAS Foundation (America Latina en
Accion Solidaria - Latin America for Solidarity),
donated a massive $40 million to help the victims of
natural disasters. An additional $5 million will be
donated to four Latin American countries, to be
spent on education and health.
In December 2007, Shakira visited Bangladesh to
appeal for the victims of Cyclone Sidr. She spent 3
days with the victims and visited children affected
by the disaster in schools built by Unicef and
participated in the distribution of family kits and
warm clothes. She said that little was left of the
school she visited in the village of Mirzapur, but
it still provided an "oasis" for the children. "I am
more convinced than ever that education is the key
to so many of the difficulties that our children
face in countries like mine or in developing
countries like this one. It's the key to a better
and safer world," she said.
Shakira is to be the Honorary Chair for Action Week
2008 (April 21 to 28). The event is put together by
the Global Campaign for Education to generate
awareness about the Education for All Act. She spoke
with the US Congress, British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown, and World Bank President Robert Zoellick to
promote a move towards Global Education. Angelina
Jolie served as last year's chair.
Music and voice
Shakira has told many interviewers that she had
grown up listening to oriental music, which
influenced many of her earlier works. Shakira is
known to be a fan of rock music, especially those of
The Police, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin.
Shakira is known to have adopted many genres,
including folk, mainstream pop and rock. Her earlier
Spanish albums, including Pies Descalzos and Donde
Estan Los Ladrones were a mix of folk music and
Latin rock, while her cross-over English album,
Laundry Service and her later albums were influenced
by pop and rock.
Shakira is recognized for her powerful, melismatic
voice. Her 1999 MTV Unplugged performance in New
York was critically acclaimed by many American
critics, and is said to have paved her path towards
the English markets.
Songwriting and producing
Shakira is known to write and produce all of her
music. She has been recognised as "an incredible and
powerful songwriter" and "a remarkable producer" by
numerous critics. She is a perfectionist.
Influence
Shakira is influenced greatly by her Arabic roots.
This urged for the release of Ojos Asi. Shakira is
also very influenced by Rock, such as AC/DC, and
this resulted in her performance of "Back in Black"
in her Tour of the Mongoose.
Tours
* 1997: Tour Pies Descalzos
* 2000: Tour Anfibio
* 2002–2003: Tour of the Mongoose
* 2006–2007: Oral Fixation Tour
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