May 07, 2012

Hoop dancers in Furtado video

Watch Hoop and Shawl Dancers in Nelly Furtado’s New VideoThe video for Nelly Furtado’s single “Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)” has been released, and for fans of hoop dancing it’s a great tribute to the skills of champion hoop dancer Tony Duncan and his brother Kevin (both San Carlos Apache/Arikara/Hidatsa).

Also making a surprise (to us) appearance is Violet Duncan, Plains Cree/Taino, Tony’s wife, performing a fancy shawl dance. Violet served as Miss Indian World 2007.
Comment:  I approve of the concept of extending Native culture into nontraditional areas such as music videos. I don't have any use for this particular song or type of music.

Since the song is about "Big Hoops," the dancers are fitting. I'm not sure the video will win any awards, but it does a decent job of integrating the dancers into the performance.

For more on Native-themed music videos, see Bon Iver's Towers Video and Screw the Drugs Music Video.

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