Masaka Kids Africana children's energy conquers Sharjah Children's Reading Festival

Gone are those first choreographies to the song "Jerusalema", composed by South Africans Master KG and Nomcebo Zikode, when these children, who form the Masaka Kids Africana group, began to win the hearts of millions of people. Who would have thought that life had a big surprise in store for them, these little orphans, and that they would become the centre of the world's attention.

They landed in Sharjah with the same energy that they transmit in their videos, with that joy and that smile that invites you to get up from your seats and start dancing too. Listening to them and seeing them live is even more impressive, so that they don't stop singing, they keep moving! It is impossible to remain impassive in front of the spectacle they show.

There are seven, just seven, the little ones who invade the tremendous stage of the Ballroom of the Exhibition Centre, including two little girls, but they fill it all in that non-stop, totally chordal and rhythmic way that takes them from one place to another, that takes us all along with them. A natural talent that surely also adds up to many hours of preparation to achieve perfect coordination between them. Hands, feet, hips, head...

Who doesn't know them? Who, even without wanting to, hasn't seen them on the small screen of a mobile phone? They invade the different social networks. From Tick Tock, with five and a half million followers, to YouTube, a platform where their videos have three and a half million subscriptions, and not forgetting Instagram, whose account tells us that almost eight million people already follow them, although there are only one hundred and ninety privileged people that they have chosen. And precisely on this network, taking advantage of their stay in Sharjah, they have uploaded (Reels) some amusing seconds in which they dance to the rhythm of "La Macarena", yes the same one, the one by Los del Río. The Spaniards must be happy with their Macarena, which has been making people talk for three decades. Like these children, who would have thought that this song would have a long and tireless career? Well, may they continue, one and all, adding up the years.

But let's go back to the Children's Reading Festival where Masaka Kids Africana will be showing their show several times. A montage full of coloured lights and in which some of their recordings, some of their most popular videos, are projected on a giant screen in the background, while they dance and sing. The first chords sound and they have already won you over. These kids dare to play all kinds of rhythms: gospel, reggae, pop, afro... A repertoire in which they mix very famous international songs with their own compositions. And if they come from the African continent, they could not miss Shakira's song chosen by FIFA for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa: Waka, Waka (This is Africa).

The stage vibrates, the great artists on stage vibrate, and so do the spectators in their seats. And they don't just dance, their voices are also worthy of note. Habibi habibi", welcome to my city, says the lyrics of this song, which also invites you to have fun: enjoy. Magical moments, like this one in which one of the members of the group also asks the children in the audience to sing with him, or when he plays his drums in a corner of the stage, or when his feet play with cans that do not fall to the ground... Together or separately, the members of Masaka Kids Africana have also conquered the Emiratis with this peculiar way of understanding life, of giving themselves to music and seeking hope and joy in it, despite the adversities, of which they know more than they need to.

Behind each of these children there are unwanted stories that are written with the word sadness, although along the way they found generosity. Thanks to a young electrician named Suuna Hassan, these homeless orphans found a home, and thanks to their desire to dance with life, they were invited to many parties where they were able to show their dances: that of overcoming, emotion, effort, love... They are an example that destinies can change overnight, that nothing is definitive and that hope is a great travelling companion. Their sad stories of the past are now joined by others that could well be made into a film. It is not easy where they have had to live, but they have learned that good people can be found anywhere, and that the warmth of a smile heals hearts, perhaps for this reason, they also give us theirs.

Masaka Kids Africana have taken to the stage of this festival, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority, for the third time since it opened on 3 May without losing a single ounce of energy, and they have two more to go, where we are sure they will once again garner praise and applause.

We are lucky to be able to enjoy them, so let the show go on!