Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll

Other ventures
Shakira appeared in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis in 1994, playing the character of Luisa Maria. In December 2009, Shakira appeared as herself in the Ugly Betty episode "The Bahamas Triangle". In 2010, Shakira appeared as a fictional version herself in an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place. She was also mentioned several times on the George Lopez TV series. She was invited personally by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to play a role in Love in the Time of Cholera, but declined due to the nudity involved.
Shakira is well known for her dancing in various music videos and in concert. Her moves are based on the art of belly dancing, a part of her Lebanese heritage. She 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", "Whenever, Wherever / Suerte", "Beautiful Liar" and "She Wolf / Loba". She has had several belly dance choreographers, including award-winning Bellydance Superstar Boženka. 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.