TAMA'ITA'I Elite 2023 Graduation Show performance The Academy of Siva Sāmoa

As promised, here's the ELITE's full performance from beginning to end.
Earlier this summer, before The Academy began, we had the annual Nonosina Summer Show- #Nonosinaland. After creating the Samoan set, I kept telling my team that I was missing something....I was missing a ballad! A signature of mine in any Samoan set I do. Unofficially dubbed The Queen of Samoan ballads when it comes to siva sāmoa. So when The Academy began, I was set on having the Elite scratching that itch: performing not just 1 ballad but a medley of 4. Shoutout to Zaya for always allowing me to choose my songs & listening to every fiapoko detail I ask of him, lol. Thank you also to his amazing band, always coming in clutch. This medley is titled "Kuegi's Ultimate Ballad Medley Vol. 1" ka'i kele lol
Unfortunately the sound is a little quirky because our amazing DJ Uncle Ieti, had all his subwoofers putting in work that night lol It sounded phenomenal in person, but I think the mics on the cameras were just overwhelmed, 😅.
Shoutout to Uncle Ieti for the sound that night & of course, Mr. Jay Carpio for capturing the evening with his videography skills, 🙏🏽🥰.
I wanted to try something different this year & wanted them to wear black dresses during graduation as they were assisting with the flow of the evening. They were supposed to change into their pules before they performed. Per tradition, I design every puletasi myself that TAMA'ITA'I has ever worn, this year was no different. Although I had designed a special pule for our Elite, as I did for all the classes, unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances: our Elite didn't get their puletasis for grad.
As the saying goes, the show must go on. Being notified at the eleventh hour and already having bigger fish to fry- I personally made the executive decision for our Elite to perform in their black dresses.
I say all this because I typically don't condone performing traditional siva sāmoa in dresses. However in retrospect, it was fitting, as the siva sāmoa number I created for the girls to perform, was moreso contemporary. They danced to a medley I put together with Zaya, consisting a few of my favorite Samoan ballads. They did amazing & made us all so proud! I'll share the video next, until then please show my girls some love. ♡
Highlight video coming up next, so stay locked in!
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