Jerusalema dance challenge and origin
Some songs are destined to be hit. Jeruselema — by South African Master KG musician and record producer is one of them. The gospel song released in 2019. This song turned to Jerusalema dance challenge.
The song has been viewed more than a hundred million viewers. This is huge. But the Jerusalem dance challenge has immensely gone viral and has been a roaring success on social media platforms.
So, it all started with a self-choreographed dance video on Jerusalema beats in February this year. This video from Angola went viral and thus #JerusalemaDanceChallenge originated.
Since then, the dance challenge has gripped social media. Thousands of dancers, mostly in groups are uploading videos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok.
Dancers from all over the world including France, Sweden and South Africa, to diners at restaurants in Italy and Romania, and in different settings across Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Caribbean and Europe have mimicked dance moves and most of them have come up with their own choreography.
What is Jerusalema song about?
The gospel tune Jeruselma has gone globally renowned from the rural province of Limpopo in South Africa. Al Jazeera NewsFeed’s Seena Khalil has produced and edited the official video.
The song is written and performed in isiZulu (one of South Africa’s 11 official languages). The message of the song strongly resonates with the Palestinians.
The song is about Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and colonization. The song also touches deeper issues like justice, freedom and peace equally affecting the people of South Africa and Palestine.
A part of the lyrics is a kind of supplication from a Palestinian to return to Quds (Jerusalem). It talks about protection, guidance and longing for home (Jerusalem).
Jerusalema Dance Challenge reached Jerusalem
In August, Jerusalem music collective Jaw (meaning ‘mood’ or ‘atmosphere’ in Arabic) uploaded a Palestinian version of the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge.
The dancers created their own unique version of Jerusalema dance challenged with elements of dabkeh. The participants of the video are from Jerusalem’s small Afro-Palestinian community in the Babul area of the old city.
This is adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Within 12 hours of its release, 10,000 people have viewed the video and it is circulating via WhatsApp and other messaging apps in South Africa.
Moreover, unlike just a mere dance fad, the video ends with a powerful message from Palestinians to South Africans. They dedicate their dance to South Africans and show their solidarity towards them.
Medical Staff cheering with dazzling Jerusalema Dance Challenge
Some of the amazing hospital staff have taken up the challenge. These include the False Bay Hospital Staff in Cape Town and Frere Hospital East London. These dances have won over hearts of millions of people. As we are aware that during this crucial time of pandemic, doctors and other paramedic staff have been in frontline.
Thus, the videos are making rounds on social media and public and paying tribute and gratitude to the medical staff. The medical staff particularly said that performing on this dance challenged has helped them in relieving from stress.
Conclusion
People have opined that the Jerusalema dance challenge and the song are bringing the much needed positivity.
On one particular occasion Master KG stated that, “People started following it from the Mongolia challenge. It was around May when it hit TikTok and people were doing the dance. That’s when I thought to even do a remix with Burna Boy and take the song to another level as it was getting global recognition.”
Moreover, Master KG is also excited and overwhelmed to see that the song has transcended South African borders and even reached Jerusalem.
Thus, songs with powerful lyrics and music have enchanting effects and have potential to make the people around the world to dance over its rhythm.