--- title: This Video Proves Obama Can Cut a Rug With the Best of Them description: Obama danced the Lipala, a traditional Kenyan dance, while dining at Nairobi's State House canonical: https://time.com/3972764/white-house-obama-kenya-kenya-visit-dance/ author: Alissa Greenberg article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-27T05:33:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:22:34.815Z og:title: This Video Proves Obama Can Cut a Rug With the Best of Them og:description: The President danced the Lipala during his visit to Kenya. og:url: https://time.com/3972764/white-house-obama-kenya-kenya-visit-dance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Video Proves Obama Can Cut a Rug With the Best of Them twitter:description: The President danced the Lipala during his visit to Kenya. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch Obama Steal the Show by Dancing the Lipala During His Visit to Kenya by [Alissa Greenberg](https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Jul 27, 2015 5:33 AM UTC by [Alissa Greenberg](https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/) ## Alissa Greenberg Jul 27, 2015 5:33 AM UTC We knew he could bring down the house singing [Al Green](http://entertainment.time.com/2012/12/04/top-10-arts-lists/slide/obama-sings-al-green/) and “[Amazing Grace](http://time.com/3938544/amazing-grace-obama-funeral/),” but we’d rarely seen Barack Obama put on his dancing shoes — until now. Between stops in the busy itinerary of his visit to Kenya this weekend, which included [visiting](http://time.com/3971900/obama-kenya-family-reunion/) his father’s family and giving a [ringing](http://time.com/3972179/obama-kenya-global-entrepreneur-summit/) speech on Africa’s potential for innovation, Obama found time to dine at Nairobi’s State House. There, he joined Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, first lady Margaret Kenyatta, and U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice in doing the Lipala. A traditional dance common at rural celebrations, the Lipala has returned to mainstream popularity recently after Kenyan afro-pop stars Sauti Sol chose its moves to accompany the video of their hit song “Sura Yako (Your Face).” The band, which performed at the dinner, posted a video on Instagram showing Obama getting down with fellow dignitaries, ably keeping up with the steps and clearly enjoying himself. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3972764/white-house-obama-kenya-kenya-visit-dance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3972764/white-house-obama-kenya-kenya-visit-dance/"},"headline":"Watch Obama Steal the Show by Dancing the Lipala During His Visit to Kenya","datePublished":"2015-07-27T05:33:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:22:34.815Z","description":"It seems the commander-in-chief can cut a rug like the best of them","url":"https://time.com/3972764/white-house-obama-kenya-kenya-visit-dance/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","White House","Obama","Kenya","dance"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alissa Greenberg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alissa-greenberg/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3972764/white-house-obama-kenya-kenya-visit-dance/","name":"Watch Obama Steal the Show by Dancing the Lipala During His Visit to Kenya"}}]}] ```