24 June 2019, Apia Samoa. In three days, the Siva Afi Entertainment at Matautu will host its 18th Annual International Siva Afi Competition and two overseas competitors are already in country for the event.
Onehunga High School Mathematics teacher Tim Noyce picked up the sport while living in Samoa back in 2012, competing for the first time in the 15th International Siva Afi Comp three years ago. Noyce is the NZ 2017 TahiMana Fire knife champion who has performed for TahiMana Entertainers for the past six years.
Aperaamo (Amo) Tauanuu Ieriko is a New Zealand born Samoan from the villages of Vavau and Vailima who also performs for TahiMana Polynesian Fire Warriors in Auckland. The 43 year old is a late starter, only taking up the Siva Afi when he was 34.
Leota Lene Leota says it will be another great year of entertainment for the audience, with the locals preparing well to compete against the overseas participants.
The programme will run for three days, starting from this Thursday the 27th with the finals being on Saturday the 29th of June.
Managing Director of Siva Afi Claire Leota says that the competition will start with the Seniors Preliminaries at Funway Park, Matautu where five dancers out of all entrants will be selected to advance to the finals.
“The second day will also be an interesting night because that is set aside for the Junior routines;
“There are a lot of Juniors and you can feel their excitement to compete and this always makes it extra special for both them and the audience,” she said.
“The third night will be the finals, and we have a judge Tipa Galeai who is the Manager of the Samoan Village at the Polynesian Culture Center from New Zealand coming in to judge the competition together with our own local judges, Patrick Rassmussen and Kome Feagaimaalii”
“I also want to put out there that registration is still open and if you want to compete in the Senior division the registration fee is $200 tala.
“As for the Juniors it’s free and they have to be under 15 years of age, and whoever wants to join and compete, just then come on down to Siva Afi at Matautu.”
Corporate tickets are selling for $125 tala for tables of ten, and that’s your ticket for three nights while the general admission for finals night are going for $35 tala which also includes free entry on the 27th and 28th.
Contact 26128 or 7779822 for more information.
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