Maiesitete Siva Decade Presentation

Our team has been teaching young girls for free for the past three years in collaboration with Aktive Zone as our way to give back to our community. We are looking to hold a showcase in late June this year to celebrate our team's tenth birthday. 

This showcase aims to celebrate and acknowledge our past, present and future students, their families and our community we have made connections with over the years. 

We are a small but mighty A'o Siva, the funds raised by this Boosted campaign will go towards supporting our showcase as we are wanting to make it an unforgettable night for all those who have supported us. Cheeehooo!
 

Matalena Tulisi – Head Tutor (Samoa)

Matalena Tulisi is from the villages of Fasito'o-uta, Iva, Savai'i, Tiavea, Aleipata, Sapunaoa, Falealili, Vailoa, Palauli & Fusi, Safotulafai. 

MaieSitete Siva came to Matalena as Siva Samoa (Samoan dance) has always been a part of her. She has been an active community member since the inception of MaieSitete Siva, making connections and relationships with local community members, organisations and other Pacific dance collectives. Matalena's vision for MaieSitete Siva is to continue her familial legacy and aiding young girls and women to find their confidence in their cultural identity.

Jessie Atutolu-Tulisi – Tutor (American Samoa, Niue, Tonga)

Jessie Atutolu-Tulisi comes from the village of Aunu'u in American Samoa, Liku & Hikutavake in Niue, and Ma'ufanga in Tonga.

Jessie teaches the young girls of MaieSitete Siva alongside Paulina. She is also a skilled and experienced weaver, first learning how to weave from her aunty in high school. Both Siva Samoa and weaving allows Jessie the freedom to explore her mixed cultural identity as a New Zealand-born Pacific woman, grounding her in artistic practices that have interwoven itself within her genealogy.

Paulina Bentley – Tutor (Samoa, Niue)

Paulina Bentley hails from the villages of Fasito'o-uta & Iva, Savai'i in Samoa, and Liku & Mutalau in Niue.

Paulina has been teaching the young girls of MaieSitete Siva for the past three years alongside Jessie. She enjoys the duality of being both a tutor and student, as she is also a Hawaiian Hula student of The Hula Journey. Paulina is always willing to learn and better her practice in Siva Samoa through other Pacific dances, making the subtle connections in movement between us all within the Moana.

Jo Armstrong – Aktive Zone Director (Samoa, Aotearoa)

Joanne Armstrong is from the villages of Falealili & Manunu in Samoa, and Ngāti Kuri here in Aotearoa.

Jo is the Programme Lead at Aktive Zone, which gives children of all ages and abilities free movement classes that integrate culture and fun. Jo has worked hard to make the sessions culturally inclusive and has attracted a diverse range of families from different backgrounds as well as children with disability.
 

Our Boosted fundraiser aims to pay for:

• Venue hire – including rehearsal time
• Lighting & Sound
• Photography & Videography
• MC & Esteemed Guest Speakers
• Stage hands
• Subsidised uniform cost for performing students
   

MaieSitete Siva has a tradition of hosting annual showcases for our students to perform what they have learnt with us to their loved ones. 

All of these past showcases have been majorly self-funded as a way for our team to give back to our communities and have been held in our local community spaces in school halls, gyms and at Te Pou Theatre both in New Lynn and Henderson. However, this year we wish to hold a celebration showcase acknowledging our ten years in the community and the change of name from Sau e Siva West Auckland, to a more dear and cherished name to Matalena's aiga (family).

MaieSitete, means 'Majesty' and is Matalena's maternal grandmother's name. We have four classes that are named after Matalena's mother and her sisters (Fuapauna, Melania, Fa'amao & Fa'atele) and a professional Siva team named after Jessie's late maternal grandmother (Lupi).

Siva Samoa has always been Matalena's passion. As a first-generation New Zealand born-Samoan, Matalena knows first hand the desire to connect to one's culture within the diaspora. MaieSitete Siva was created with this in mind, giving students the opportunity to establish their cultural linkage through dance. MaieSitete Siva also invites storytellers, weavers, musicians, tattoo artists, Siapo (tapa cloth) artists and community members to share space with our students, bridging the gaps within cultural knowledge through other means of artistic display.

MaieSitete Siva is a ten-year passion project. We want to share to our community our passion for Siva Samoa, our passion for our culture and our passion for the students we teach, how much we cherish the time we have spent together. Our decade showcase is for the community of Samoan and non-Samoans who have been with us through it all.
 

We believe our showcase deserves to be experienced because our students deserve the opportunity to perform in a space that displays their full potential. 

Having majorly self-funded most of our previous showcases we were limited in terms of creating a fully immersed performance with lighting, sound, professional videography, stage design etc. 

With the help of this fundraiser we will be able to create a showcase worth the students and their loved ones attention, time and dedication to MaieSitete Siva, with many of our current students having been with us for years. We believe our community should back us as we were one of the first A'o Siva to be established in West Auckland and have been committed to sharing our knowledge of Siva Samoa to have come through our doors since 2015.