Not all formal state dinners have to be stuffy affairs with stiff toasts and stiffer collars. This one gave politicians and dignitaries a chance to move their hips to a traditional folk dance which is currently rocking African nightclubs.
U.S. President Barack Obama joined Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to perform the traditional Lipala dance — with the help of the country’s hottest pop band, Sauti Sol — during a state dinner, July 25
“I looked to my right and saw the [Kenyan] President,” singer Bien Aime says in the band’s video below. “I looked to my left and saw President Obama. And I almost fainted.”
President Obama isn’t the first American leader to show off his moves on the continent. President George W. Bush got his groove on to music in South Africa on a 2008 visit.
“The Lipala dance is actually a dance that has been practiced by the Luhya tribe for the longest time ever,” band member Delvin Mudigi told the BBC.
Sauti Sol has been popularizing the traditional folk dance by mixing it with popular music, reports the BBC. Now that two presidents have been seen nationwide dancing to it, a hit was born.
(WATCH the Sauti Sol reaction below) — Photo: Sauti Sol on Twitter
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