Uganda’s Ghetto Kids will dance with Shakira at World Cup final halftime show
Their unlikely journey started dancing barefoot on a dusty street in 2014.
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Now the Ghetto Kids — a Ugandan dance troupe whose joyful, hard-to-believe moves have earned millions of followers on social media — will be bringing that energy to the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.
Shakira announced last week that the group, made up of orphaned or vulnerable children, will be joining her for the final July 19. The children have already appeared in the video for her song “Dai Dai”, the official anthem of the tournament that kicks off next month.
“I’ve already invited the Ghetto Kids from Uganda,” Shakira said in a video on social media, adding that she wanted the performance to feel “unforgettable.”
“We are so excited,” members of the dance group told NBC News in a video interview this week, wearing matching green and purple jerseys.
Tiyoma Keysha, 11, added: “We feel so excited, I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve got.”
Based in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, the group is made up of 60 children ages 4 to 16, all of whom grew up in poverty. Decades of armed conflict and extreme poverty have left nearly 1.7 million children orphaned in Uganda.
Long before the invitation from Shakira, the Ghetto Kids were dancing to her songs.
They have previously performed to her track “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” the 2010 World Cup anthem that honored the first time the tournament was held on African soil.
To get the chance to dance right alongside the Colombian superstar, especially at the World Cup in front of a huge global audience, is a dream come true for the group.
“We have always been dancing to her songs, so seeing that news made our hearts so happy,” 15-year-old Ssegirinya Madwanah King said. “We jumped up and down, we celebrated,” he said.
The Superbowl-style halftime show featuring Shakira, Madonna and BTS is a new American innovation for the soccer tournament, which kicks off June 11, with matches spanning the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The last World Cup final drew more than a billion viewers worldwide, according to FIFA.
The Ghetto Kids were formed at a foundation that looks after vulnerable children, set up by their now-manager, Dauda Kavuma.
The group first got attention in 2014, when five children posted an energetic dance video to Eddy Kenzo’s “Sitya Loss,” going viral after being shared by the singer himself.
Over the years, their videos on YouTube and other social media platforms would get less blurry, their feet now in shoes, and the choreography far more intricate.
But the infectious energy and their comedic dance style are still there.
“We are using music, dance and drama to make lives better,” Kavuma said.
The group has since grown in numbers, and their rise has taken them to unusual places, including appearances on “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League” and “Britain’s Got Talent,” as well as appearing in a music video with the rapper French Montana.
Now they’re going back to the U.S., bigger than ever.
Kavuma said he never imagined the kids would get such an opportunity. “I’ve been hoping, but I didn’t see this coming,” he said.
However, there is still uncertainty over the performance, as Uganda scrambles to avert the spread of Ebola from its neighbor Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Seven cases of Ebola and one death have been confirmed in Uganda, and Ugandan authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of the border with Congo “with immediate effect.”
People who have visited Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the past 21 days are currently banned from entering the U.S., with the exception of American citizens.
Nonetheless, Kavuma, the group’s manager, is optimistic about the trip.
“We believe all will be fine. With God’s grace, nothing is impossible,” he said.
