During the halftime performance at the 2020 Super Bowl last Sunday, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira shared the stage flashing talents and dances incorporating nods to their cultures into their show.
With the nods to Shakira’s Colombian and Lebanese heritage and Lopez’s Puerto Rican heritage shined through in Miami, making the performance a powerhouse of advocacy and education.
In Shakira’s performance, people noted that she had “stuck out her tongue and let out a high-pitched, warbling cry,” in the words of the Washington Post.
This cry is called a Zaghrouta, which is an Arabic cry of celebration and joy. As Shakira continued her performance, she honored her Colombian heritage by dancing Champeta and Mapalé, two popular Afro-Colombian dances.
Following Shakira, Lopez took to the stage and captured audiences by incorporating her daughter and a group of children in, what has been described as, “glowing cages” singing “Let’ Get Loud” into the performance.
Lopez took a political turn to calling out unjust and unethical treatment of children at the border, leading into her iconic moment of flashing the Puerto Rican flag while singing “Born in the U.S.A.”
The flag action was used to draw attention to the Puerto Rico after the earthquakes.