There were 12 contenders going into the “World of Dance” Divisional Final on Wednesday night, September 5, but only four came out.
The Fabulous Sisters is a fusion dance group from Tokyo, Japan. They placed first at the 2017 World of Dance finals in the youth division, for the second year in a row and are now ready to make their mark on the “World of Dance” stage in LA!
Fabulous Sisters from NBC World of Dance Hometown: Tokyo, Japan Members: 13 Ages: 11-17 Style: Urban Dance Division: Junior Team
On International Women’s Day, share your aspiration with the world
Over the years, Doodles have commemorated the achievements of women in science, civil rights, journalism, sports, arts, technology and beyond. It’s always an honor to pay tribute to women who have changed the course of history, sometimes in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
But for this year’s International Women’s Day, we wanted to celebrate the Doodle-worthy women of the future.
So we gathered our cameras and pencils and visited 13 countries where we spoke to 337 women and girls and asked them to complete the sentence,
“One day I will …”
From toddlers to grandmothers, the women in San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Lagos, Moscow, Cairo, Berlin, London, Paris, Jakarta, Bangkok, New Delhi and Tokyo all sparkled with personality. Each new city brought more “One day I will”s, more signature dance moves, more hugs, more high-fives.
The aspirations we heard were as varied as the women and girls who shared them, from the very personal – swim with pigs in the Bahamas – to the very global – give a voice to those who can’t speak -and everything in between. When it was done, we found that our own “One day I will…”s had grown bigger and richer, inspired by the women we had met.
~~International Women’s Day Doodle 2016: #OneDayIWill~~
~~Published on Mar 7, 2016~~
Over the years, Doodles have marked the achievements of women in science, civil rights, journalism, sports, arts, technology and beyond. But for our 2016 International Women’s Day Doodle, we wanted to celebrate the next generation of Doodle-worthy women—the engineers, educators, leaders, movers and shakers of tomorrow.
So we visited 13 cities around the world and asked 337 girls and women to complete the sentence “One Day I Will …” Then, we made this video.
From San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Lagos, Moscow, Cairo, Berlin, London, Paris, Jakarta, Bangkok, New Delhi and Tokyo, the women we met make up a diverse mosaic of personalities, ages and backgrounds. And their aspirations are just as varied—ranging from the global to the very personal, from discovering more digits of pi to becoming a mother to giving a voice to those who can’t speak.
We also asked some more familiar figures to participate, including anthropologist Jane Goodall – who wants to discuss the environment with the Pope – and Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai and activist Muzoon Almellehan, who are working fearlessly toward a future where every girl can go to school. Despite already impressive accomplishments under their belts, these women continue to dream big.
Video creators: Lydia Nichols, Helene Leroux & Liat Ben-Rafael
Original music: Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs http://tuneyards.com)
Playing for Change hit it out of the park this time. This is a very well known song in the Latin community. Its origins are in the island of Cuba. There isn’t a citizen of Latin America who doesn’t know the verses, the music and the meaning of this song.
~~THERE’S THE CHILL FACTOR~~
~~Origin~~
Playing For Change was born in 2002 as a shared vision between co-founders, Mark Johnson and Whitney Kroenke, to hit the streets of America with a mobile recording studio and cameras in search of inspiration and the heartbeat of the people. Producers Mark Johnson and Enzo Buono, traveled around the world to places including New Orleans, Barcelona, South Africa, India, Nepal, the Middle East and Ireland.
The music for the song is sometimes attributed to José Fernández Diaz, known as Joseíto Fernández, who claimed to have written it at various dates (consensus puts 1929 as its year of origin), and who used it regularly in one of his radio programs. Someclaim that the song’s structure actually came from Herminio “El Diablo” García Wilson, who could be credited as a co-composer. García’s heirs took the matter to court decades later but lost the case: the Supreme Court of Cuba credited Fernández as the sole composer of the music in 1993. Regardless of either claim, Fernández can safely be claimed as being the first public promoter of the song, through his radio programs.
~~Original lyrics and José Fernández~~
The lyrics to the song, as written by José Fernández, are about a woman from Guantánamo, with whom he had a romantic relationship, and who eventually left him. The alleged real story behind these lyrics (or at least one of many versions of the song’s origin that Fernández suggested during his lifetime) is that she did not have a romantic interest in him, but merely a platonic one. If the details are to be believed, she had brought him a steak sandwich one day as a present to the radio station where he worked. He stared at some other woman (and attempted to flirt with her) while eating the sandwich, and his friend yanked it out of his hands in disgust, cursed him and left.
He never saw her again. These words are rarely sung today.
Another history behind the chorus and its lyrics (“Guantanamera/Guajira Guantanamera …”) is similar: García claimed he was at a street corner with a group of friends and made a courteous pass (a polite pick-up line, like “your mother made you good” or “you came from a star”, piropo in Spanish) to a woman (who also happened to be from Guantánamo) who walked by the group.
She answered back rather harshly, offended by the pass. Stunned, he could not take his mind off her reaction while his friends made fun of him; later that day, sitting at a piano with his friends near him, he wrote the song’s main refrain.
~~Playing For Change – Guantanamera~~
~~Published on Jul 1, 2014~~
We invite you to watch and enjoy another Song Around The World from our new album: “Guantanamera“.
We started the song with Carlos Varela in Havana and it features over 75 Cuban musicians around the world, from Havana and Santiago to Miami, Barcelona and Tokyo. We recorded and produced this track with Jackson Browne, who explains that “traveling with Playing For Change across Cuba was one of the most rewarding and inspiring musical experiences of my life.”
Just another traveler on life's highway hanging out in the slow lane. It's quiet, it's peaceful. Beyond the horizon is rest calling my name. Green pastures, still waters, my cup runneth over.
We ALL are connected through MUSIC!! 
