Shakira and her personal life

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, a Colombian of Spanish and Italian ancestry, and William Mebarak Chadid, an American of Lebanese descent. Shakira's father also had eight children with his former wife. Shakira graduated from a high school in the kingdom of Bahrain before starting her career in music.

In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa, the son of then president of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa, a romance that made headline news throughout Latin America. In March of 2001, he proposed to her. De la Rúa and Shakira remain engaged, with future plans to marry.[ She currently lives in The Bahamas. Shakira's future mother-in-law Inés Pertiné claimed the wedding would take place in September 2007 in the mansion which Shakira owns in the Dominican Republic (though this didn't happen). She also said that Shakira has already ordered Argentinian designer María Pryor to design her wedding dress. However, these rumors have been denied by Antonio's father, Fernando de la Rúa, and by Shakira herself in Mexico.

In June 2007, Latin American media speculated that the couple had finally split up and that Shakira was involved romantically with Irish actor Colin Farrell since both were seen in a Los Angeles disco. This rumor was immediately denied by Shakira's assistants, stating that she was invited by Penélope Cruz, who later introduced Colin Farrell to Shakira. On the previous days, Shakira and Antonio were seen in a restaurant in New York City, facing and denied the rumors one more time.

The last public sighting of Shakira was on October 25, 2007 in New York's Blue Note Jazz club.

Shakira maintains an intense interest in history. She frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira audited a class in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western Civilization.

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 knows the power of her feet, so performs barefoot very often. Shakira says she learned this form of dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the video to her hits "Ojos Así", "La Tortura", "Hips Don't Lie" and "Beautiful Liar". 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 for the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself.

Shakira returned to recording in 1995, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette-oriented persona which affected some of her next albums, and made her third studio one, Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America. Pies Descalzos sold over five million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, titled simply The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her best-known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.



	Shakira and her personal life Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, a Colombian of Spanish and Italian ancestry, and William Mebarak Chadid, an American of Lebanese descent. Shakira's father also had eight children with his former wife. Shakira graduated from a high school in the kingdom of Bahrain before starting her career in music. In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa, the son of then president of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa, a romance that made headline news throughout Latin America. In March of 2001, he proposed to her. De la Rúa and Shakira remain engaged, with future plans to marry.[ She currently lives in The Bahamas. Shakira's future mother-in-law Inés Pertiné claimed the wedding would take place in September 2007 in the mansion which Shakira owns in the Dominican Republic (though this didn't happen). She also said that Shakira has already ordered Argentinian designer María Pryor to design her wedding dress. However, these rumors have been denied by Antonio's father, Fernando de la Rúa, and by Shakira herself in Mexico. In June 2007, Latin American media speculated that the couple had finally split up and that Shakira was involved romantically with Irish actor Colin Farrell since both were seen in a Los Angeles disco. This rumor was immediately denied by Shakira's assistants, stating that she was invited by Penélope Cruz, who later introduced Colin Farrell to Shakira. On the previous days, Shakira and Antonio were seen in a restaurant in New York City, facing and denied the rumors one more time. The last public sighting of Shakira was on October 25, 2007 in New York's Blue Note Jazz club. Shakira maintains an intense interest in history. She frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira audited a class in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western Civilization. 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 knows the power of her feet, so performs barefoot very often. Shakira says she learned this form of dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the video to her hits "Ojos Así", "La Tortura", "Hips Don't Lie" and "Beautiful Liar". 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 for the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself. Shakira returned to recording in 1995, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette-oriented persona which affected some of her next albums, and made her third studio one, Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America. Pies Descalzos sold over five million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, titled simply The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her best-known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.