Update Jan. 19: The dancing duo, named Devina and Keysia, met up with Agnez Mo as the latter shared on Instagram. Devina and Keysia performed their cha-cha routine and managed to impress the pop superstar.
Original story follows.
Don’t cha wish you could dance like these kids? Not conservatives, apparently, who criticized the way foreign influence has supposedly corrupted youths.
Out of SMPN 1 junior high school in Ciawi, Bogor came this video depicting a boy and a girl impeccably doing the cha-cha to a remix of The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights in front of their schoolmates during an assembly.
While the above tweet praises the dancers, reposts of the video by some conservatives contained less than savory comments. One user even tweeted, “Younger generation Muslims are starting to be susceptible to foreign influence. SMPN 1 Ciawi introduced dance in its extracurricular program… Be mindful of how we raise our children and grandchildren.”
It should be noted that though Indonesian Muslims generally practice a moderate version of the religion, some conservatives are against the adoption of Western influences. Some orthodox Islamic teachings also forbid physical touch between unmarried males and females.
Amid the controversy, the school put out a statement yesterday clarifying that the students are pros who trained with funding from the Bogor Regency administration. The pair was invited to perform their routine in school to celebrate their gold medals in the 2022 West Java Provincial Games.
“The school is proud and we appreciate their achievement for the regency of Bogor,” the statement reads.
Indonesian superstar Agnez Mo said she was a fan of the dancers and waded in on the controversy by saying there was no need for SMPN 1 to answer to haters.
If anybody knows a thing or two about dancing (and dealing with haters, for that matter) it’s Agnez Mo. Perhaps this is just the start for the two youngsters as they cha-cha toward stardom.
