Poi

Poi is a performance art employing a ball or balls suspended from a length of flexible material held in the hand and swung in circular patterns. Poi originates from the traditional performing arts of the Māori people.

In the Māori language poi can mean the physical object, the choreography or the accompanying music. In Māori culture poi performance is practiced primarily by women; although it is sometimes said that it was first used by men to develop wrist flexibility for the use of hand weapons -such as the club-like patu, mere, and kotiate- recent academic study has found no evidence of this.

Māori poi come in two forms: short, with strings equal to the length of the fingertips to the wrist; and long, with strings equal to the distance from fingertips to shoulder. The art includes storytelling and singing choreographed to poi routines, and developed in conjunction with other disciplines- such as waiata a ringa[?], haka, and titi torea[?] (included in kapa haka performances).

Traditional poi construction

Poi were once most commonly made from harakeke (Phormium tenax) and raupō (Typha orientalis). Flax was stripped and scraped to provide the muka (the inner flax fiber) which is twisted into two strands to make the taura (cord) as well as aho (ties). A large knot was tied at one end of the cord, around which the core was formed from the pithy middle of the raupō stem. Dampened strips of raupō stems were then wrapped around the ball to form the covering and tied off around the cord. The other end of the cord was often decorated with a mukamuka- a tassel made from muka formed around a smaller knot. Poi piu were smaller tassels occasionally affixed to the base of the poi ball.

There were a wide variety of regional, tribal and personal variations on construction and design.

Another variety is poi tāniko, where the outer shell is made of finely woven muka using a pattern based on a fishing net; these sometimes include yellow dyed strands, typically forming a diamond pattern known as Te Karu ō te Atua (the eye of God).

In the late 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century a cottage industry developed manufacturing large numbers of raupō poi for sale to tourists, especially in the Rotorua area. Miniatures such as buttonhole poi and earrings were among these.

Today, most performance poi are made from modern materials due to longevity and availability, with cores of foam or crumpled paper and skins of tulle, other loomed fabrics, or plastic. Tassels are often of wool. Raupō poi wear quickly with frequent use, and some wetlands — the source of flax and raupō — have been drained, with many of the remaining wetlands now being conservation reserves (although traditional harvesting is, generally, allowed by law).

Types of Poi

Practice poi
Initiates often first employ a simple pair of practice poi, typically constructed from soft materials (such as rolled up socks, bean bags or small soft toys, or plastic grocery bags filled with crumpled tissue paper or synthetic stuffing) in order to lessen the effect of impact.

Performance poi
Performers often employ brightly colored, contrasting poi to distinguish their performance, enhance aesthetics, and emphasize pattern; to this end, tails and streamers may be attached to poi.

Glow poi
Poi performance are undertaken in darkness to dramatic effect with poi including a light source, such as UV-sensitive materials, LED lights, or chemical glow sticks. Glowstringing, using glowsticks swung from shoelaces, is popular at festivals and raves.

Meteor
Meteors were cross adopted both from poi and from the Chinese martial weapon, the meteor hammer. The meteor is often constructed like, or from, poi with an additional short chain, rope, or bar in the center. This form allows for most poi skills to translate, plus some staff, rope dart and chain whip skills as well.

Fire poi
The first known fire poi shows were part of private men’s rituals in Hawaii. Traditional knife spinning was modified to include fire in 1946, then known as fire knife. The first public appearance of these rituals started around 1959, and became a tourist attraction by the early 1960s.

Fire poi
Fire poi are constructed from chain, with kevlar blend wicks, sometimes also stuffed on the inside with more absorbing non-melting material such as cotton, that can be soaked in fuel and set on fire. Fuels used include paraffin, kerosene, naphtha (also called “white gas”) or alcohol. Each geographic and social cluster of performers has its preferred fuel. Typically these decisions are based more on legality and availability than on showmanship. Though each fuel has its strengths and weaknesses, proponents of any given fuel tend to be fiercely faithful to their particular type.

Many kinds of fire poi are available, the simplest utilizing two wicks. The fire wicks are generally one of three varieties, a cylindrical wrap, cathedral stack (square) or a monkey fist knot tied with kevlar blend rope. Some performers select their wicks according to the performance they intend to give, controlling their burn time and the brightness of the flames. Other variations of fire poi include multiple wicks, snakes (a length of rope, or long kevlar/hybrid wick that can produce a long flame), Toi (torches with a short poi chain and grip), hollow wicks (providing short lived but very bright flame), and sculpted wicks for specific theme shapes.