#royalwomeninspire
Nia Dennis celebrates Black culture and embodies everything that makes a Black woman. The UCLA senior slayed her recent performance against Arizona State on Jan. 23. #BlackExcellence
Dennis, 21, brought the culture with dance moves such as the ‘nae-nae’ and the ‘two-step’. Music from her routine included Kendrick Lamar, Megan Thee Stallion, Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Soulja Boy, and Tupac Shakur. Her performance even earned her props from former First Lady Michelle Obama. She also paid homage to the step culture of Black sororities and fraternities.
Kudos from the greatest
During a post-news conference, Dennis told UCLA Athletics that she wanted to “have a dance party” because that was her personality.
“This routine definitely reflects everything that I am today as a woman,” Dennis said. “And of course I had to incorporate a lot of parts of my culture. I wanted to have a dance party because that’s my personality and of course I had to shout out LA because we out here, UCLA.”
This is what #blackexcellence looks like. @DennisNia does it again! ?
? @Pac12Network pic.twitter.com/2vxgyTvUCG
— UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) January 24, 2021
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Legendary gymnasts praised Dennis on her outstanding performance, including the most decorated gymnast of all time, Simone Biles. The 30-time Olympic and World Champion gave Dennis some fellow #blackgirlmagic kudos. Biles retweeted the UCLA video and captioned it “do the damn thing girl.”
okay @DennisNia do the damn thing girl ? this was so fun to watch! keep killing it! https://t.co/eDntwMpC4R
— Simone Biles (@Simone_Biles) January 24, 2021
Not the first time blowing our minds
Dennis competed against D1 school Arizona State and earned a winning score of 9.95. According to Daily News, her performances in floor and vault won first place. Dennis is a sociology major at UCLA and aspires to become a physical therapist.
Looking back, this is not the first time this Royal Woman broke the internet with her performance. In 2020, her Beyoncé-inspired routine received kudos from Alicia Keyes and Vice President Kamala Harris!
Watch the full routine below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYZ4GvoZih8]
