Māori Dancers Slay Beyoncé Song With Poi Dance

Māori Dancers Slay Beyoncé Song With Indigenous Dance

What do you get when New Zealand's indigenous Māori dancing bows down to the sounds of Queen Bey?

Poiyoncé: A new type of dance that we're really hoping catches on.

Tāreikura, a Māori performing arts group in New Zealand, turned a fierce song, Beyoncé's "Move Your Body," into an even fiercer dance routine by combining it with poi dancing -- a traditional Māori dance that involves rhythmically swinging handmade balls attached to a rope.

When you mix Māori Culture with Beyoncé - Part 3!Credit: Tāreikura

Posted by Paint Fade on Saturday, June 27, 2015

Māori "is an endangered language," Tinamaree Kaipara, the group's creative director, told The Huffington Post. "This is one of the ways we as a family support the revitalization of our ancestral tongue as well as cultivate the natural talents of our young people."

Traditional poi dancing is usually performed by women, according to the Māori Dictionary Project. The poi -- which is the light ball attached to a cord -- is considered an extension of the dancer, and the sounds the balls create when hitting a surface can be used to mimic the rhythms of nature.

"The choice of Beyoncé was two fold," Kaipara added. "Firstly to give our Māori performing arts immediate relevance to our young people and secondly, well, [she's] Beyoncé slash queen slash female role model."

While the dance is usually accompanied by Māori songs or chants, we're glad that the girls at Tāreikura used Bey to introduce the rest of us to poi dancing.

That smile you do...

Posted by Paint Fade on Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Below, one more video of the girls' Poiyoncé dance, because you know you want more:

When you mix Māori Culture from N.Z with Beyoncé ... .... Had to Share Paint Fade Credit: Tinamaree Kaipara & Tāreikurasubscribe>> www.youtube.com/illegalmusik

Posted by Illegal Musik on Sunday, June 21, 2015

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