The she-wolf has a name: It’s Isabel. And no, it’s not just a stage prop or an imposing figure decorating the set as one of the most powerful elements of the tour to convey a message that has crossed borders: “Las mujeres ya no lloran, las mujeres facturan” (“Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in”). It carries an entire connotation.
The she-wolf is Shakira’s alter ego, almost an extension of her own being — not only as an artist but also as a person — a symbolic manifestation of her rebirth and the woman who has built a new empire through her art, her music, and her resilience. For this reason, it’s no coincidence that this stage companion, which has become a symbol of strength and empowerment for her pack, was named after the Colombian artist’s middle name (Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll).
Isabel embodies the very essence of the artist and the woman who now reveals a new facet after having been a wounded she-wolf. A transformation of tears into diamonds that has been reflected not only in her music but also in the most ambitious tour of her more than 30-year career — her first stadium trek: the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour.
It’s a tour of colossal proportions, featuring a monumental stage weighing over 62 tons and a giant 50 x 12-meter screen that brings to life an AI-created avatar showcasing the show’s visuals, alongside musicians and dancers. But above all, it’s the existence of an all-terrain team of more than 150 people who serve as the backbone of everything, making the tour possible while becoming a pack that helps the she-wolf shine.
The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is almost like a mini-Tower of Babel, where languages and people of different nationalities come together to accompany the Barranquilla-born artist and bring to life the spectacle seen on stage each night. The team includes individuals from the United States, England, Ireland, Belgium, South Africa, Scotland, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, Australia, and the Dominican Republic.
“A tour of this size is only possible thanks to all the people who travel with it. For example, the technology, the lights… It’s not just about the technical team; if you don’t take into account the people who do all the work, you really have nothing,” explains Marty Hom, the director of the LMYNL World Tour, who has been working with Shakira for 16 years. He has also been the longtime tour director/tour manager for Fleetwood Mac, Barbra Streisand and Stevie Nicks; more recently, he worked with the Rolling Stones, Beyonce and Olivia Rodrigo.
Upon entering the backstage area, the first thing you notice is the meticulous precision with which a team of this magnitude operates. Inside El Campín in Bogotá, or any other venue on the tour, many individuals have their own workspaces with computers and offices, and each zone has a designated person in charge to ensure that not even the smallest detail is overlooked. From these offices, everything is managed — from the arrival of refreshments to preparations for upcoming tour dates. And such logistics are necessary: when Shakira travels across the continent, she moves a total of 249,000 kilograms of equipment alone.
The artist’s security is also coordinated from this location, covering both the infrastructure and setup of the show as well as the personnel essential to ensuring Shakira enters and exits the venue safely. Hours later, as showtime approaches, the she-wolf’s pack witnesses the security operation unfold. At El Campín, between 50 and 70 officers are strategically positioned, giving the appearance of being bolted to one side of the stadium to ensure order for an unforgettable night.
Shakira’s health is also a priority, which is why the artist travels with two therapists, several masseuses and her own chef. Her diet, with the occasional indulgence, has to be quite strict, as does her training routine. The two-and-a-half-hour performance on stage demands constant discipline to maintain the physique, vitality, and stamina of a world-class pop star who, at 48 years old, continues to prove that her hips don’t lie.
For nearly a year and a half, her team worked tirelessly, with shifts lasting up to 16 hours a day, to bring to life the idea of a tour of this magnitude — an idea that initially came about during a casual conversation while creating a song in the studio. However, it has been Shakira herself who has led the charge, serving as the creative mind behind the tour, the hardest worker, and the driving force pushing the limits of what’s possible to ensure every detail bears the mark of the she-wolf.
The Challenge of Bringing Shakira’s Dream to Life
The staging is not just a technical matter but also an economic one. Marty Hom reveals that one of his greatest challenges as the head of the show has been balancing Shakira’s artistic vision with the financial realities of executing a tour of this magnitude. “The hard part for me is seeing the financial and economic impact of doing a tour of this scale,” he says. “The challenge is to let her have her artistic vision, maintain the integrity of the show, but also stay within budget. It’s about having a financial framework that ensures she can still turn a profit.”
That balance has been achieved with precision, resulting in a show that not meets the artist’s expectations and those of her fans — a multigenerational audience that has grown alongside the different phases Shakira has offered over the years. From the rockstar and the golden-hipped dancer to her romantic pop era and her latest empowered single-woman persona, embracing more contemporary and urban rhythms like reggaeton and other electronic sounds.
“The thing with Shakira is that she’s a perfectionist, and she wants everything to be perfect for her fans because they are the most important thing to her. She’s constantly thinking about how they will react and whether they’ll like what’s being done. That’s always her top priority,” concludes Hom.
Additionally, the staging includes a groundbreaking approach with the use of nine visual interludes that build the show’s narrative through artificial intelligence. A realistic avatar of her image and evolution over the years was developed over the course of more than five months at the Los Angeles-based creative studio Actual Objects — a rigorous creative process involving over 40 specialists in digital animation and 3D sculpting.
“Until now, no artist of Shakira’s caliber had used artificial intelligence in this way in the service of pop culture,” says Maite Marcos, her choreographer and right-hand collaborator for more than 20 years, who has been with her since day one of creating the tour. “An immense team was involved, with Shakira making constant changes to achieve the perfection of what she wanted to project. Creating this avatar of herself wasn’t easy, but we managed to use the technology to its fullest potential. Even the 13 costume changes she makes on stage were made possible thanks to the magic of the show.”
Now that the show is a reality, her team, who worked tirelessly for months to make it happen, is beginning to grasp the impact of what they’ve built and the message they want to convey. “Now is when I’m really starting to realize how big this is, seeing the audience’s reaction — not just live, but also on social media. And seeing what the message of ‘Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in’ means to them, and how it has connected with so many people, is indescribable,” says Alex Castillo, better known as AC, Shakira’s music producer and the mind behind hits like “Soltera.”
The show is a display of innovation and technology, but also a doctrine of female empowerment, carrying a clear message that has been conveyed through Isabel, the she-wolf, in whom many people have found inspiration for strength and freedom.
Isabel, the She-Wolf Shakira Brings to Live Each Night as a Symbol of Greatness
The symbolism of the she-wolf is no coincidence. Since her 2009 Spanish-language hit *”Loba”* (or “She Wolf” in English), the character of this animal has accompanied Shakira in her artistic evolution, with its meaning evolving alongside her — from representing a simple woman with carnal desire to becoming a symbol of empowerment that reflects her strength and resilience in the face of the challenging personal experiences she has endured in recent years.
“The she-wolf is our mascot. It’s a symbol of strength for her, one she has embraced as an emblem of female empowerment. The she-wolf is not only a symbol of empowerment for Shakira but is also meant to be a symbol of empowerment for women around the world,” says Hom.
And Shakira is not just a she-wolf. She is an untamed, passionate, and unrestrained she-wolf.
“She has that she-wolf spirit. She’s sexy, she’s free, she’s wild, as if she has no limits,” says Danira Littleton, the captain of the dance team for the LMYNL World Tour, who has closely experienced the entire creative process of the tour. “Many women can be shy, holding back out of fear of taking risks. But Shakira breaks through that. She dances on the ground, her hair and everything about her is like an untamed creature. She brings all that energy that makes women feel like we can be ourselves.”
“There are people who have such a powerful energy that everyone wants to be near them, and that’s precisely Shakira. Even if you don’t like her music, you can’t ignore her; everyone knows who she is because what she does and the energy she exudes are special,” adds Albert Menendez, her keyboardist since the recording of her MTV Unplugged, who has witnessed the she-wolf through all her stages.
During the tour, the figure of the she-wolf expands to a total communion with her pack, in a sort of pact portrayed in the “ten commandments of the she-wolf” projected during the show, because what would a she-wolf be without her pack?
It’s something that can be seen from the very first moment of the show, starting with the support she receives during her grand entrance, accompanied by fans dressed in silver as she makes her way to the stage.
A Vibrant Show With a Message that Resonates Powerfully
From the backstage of the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran tour, there is one thing Shakira’s entire team agrees on: “The show is alive.”
Although the creative work behind the monumental final result took many months — with training sessions between Miami and Mexico to adapt to the altitude and workdays lasting up to 16 hours — every day and every performance is unique. There’s always a new surprise, continuous improvement, or a new resource or element that makes it special and different from all the others. All of this is done with the most important element in mind: the fans.
“The audience’s reaction is the final ingredient, the touch that ties everything together. It’s like the last instrument that completes the harmony of the show,” says AC. “Without that energy, it was hard to truly know how the show felt. But from the very first concert in Rio, it was clear: everything was in its place, the show was complete.”
And so, the howl of Isabel, the she-wolf, is finally heard louder than ever, transformed into a symbol of strength, freedom, and rebirth. It’s a journey of learning that Shakira herself expresses on stage during every concert — a story of a she-wolf wounded by life’s blows, who emerged stronger and filled with answers. A she-wolf who transformed her pain and found meaning in every fall. Because, as Shakira herself explains, it’s not just about recovering but about understanding the message that pain brings and using it as a driving force for growth, realizing that the only love that truly saves and shows the light at the end of the tunnel is self-love, though having the support of the pack during the process is also essential.
The Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour is more than just a tour. It is a testament to resilience, reinvention, female empowerment, and self-love. Now, after conquering Latin America with impressive numbers in the region — including 11 sold-out shows in Mexico and new dates scheduled for the summer — it will continue its journey through the United States starting May 13, marking Shakira’s return to North American stages, where her last stadium performance was at the iconic 2020 Super Bowl.
Shakira will return for a second leg in Latin America before taking her show to Europe, with plans to continue her journey in the near future through Asia and the Middle East. Over the next two years, her music, her story, and her legacy will resonate in every corner of the globe through her she-wolf Isabel, delivering a message that began as an artistic expression and has now evolved into an entire movement, driven by a massive pack that loudly proclaims, “Women don’t cry anymore, women cash in.” And why not men, too?
This article was originally published by Billboard Colombia.
