It is an exclusion that supports the continued adoration of whiteness at the expense of, and in rejection of, Blackness. It mirrors the kinds of racism that are embedded in those phrases we know all too well like “ pelo malo,” (bad hair) and “ hay que mejorar la raza” (one has to better the race, i.e. It mirrors the exclusion of Blackness from images of beauty. Whether intentional or not (though it is hard to imagine such an obvious creative decision not being intentional) the exclusion of the brown, curly, kinky, big-haired dancers fits all too well within the pervasive denial of Blackness visually, and in turn imaginatively, within communities as reflected in our news media, film, advertising, television shows and music videos. The brown-skinned, curly, kinky, big-haired dancers had been excluded. I later searched on my own the Spanish language video, my preferred version of the song. These dancers seemed to represent an acknowledgement of Blackness among in the foreground rather than the background, and a rare celebration of kinky, curly and robust hair that illustrates African heritage.
My friends and I were so excited to see these girls that we literally clapped and cheered for their presence. However, what caught our attention most was the presence of the brown-skinned women of Dominican dance troupe Núcleo Extremo wearing their hair big, curly and in Afros right in the foreground of the video. A visually exciting and fun video, we sat fully impressed by the video’s stars bouncing soccer balls off of their bodies in rhythm to the beat. The English language version was the first to appear. Perhaps a little behind in my celebration of the song, I only recently made efforts to see the music video with some girlfriends. Its English version has proved to be a very successful crossover hit as well. Most people have heard by now that extremely catchy Enrique Iglesias song “Bailando” that won three Latin Grammy awards in November, including Song of the Year.
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