THE HEELS ARE ALIVE - FINE FATALE
Ahead of their upcoming foray into the world of cabaret we talk to Fine Fatale Co-Director & Choreographer Mario Faumui about their new show 'The Heels are Alive'
.
Who is Fine Fatale and how/why did the group form and can you also talk about the role you have in the group etc?
Fine Fatale was a springboard off of PIPA & LIMA DANCE.
It was about creating our own space and not so much relying on other industry folks to do it for us when we can create a space to tell our stories ourselves. I’m the Co-Director and Choreographer alongside my Kelly Rowland Amanaki Prescott-Faletau.
Your show 'The Heels are Alive' premieres this Thursday - can you tell us about the show and why it's unique?
The Heels Are Alive is a celebration of people from all walks of life. Whether you is a little kitty kat heel, a construction boot heel, a church stomping heel, a 6 inch business woman heel stomping K Road, or even barefoot on the earth vibes. This is celebrating all!
This show is unique because you get a bit of everything from your fav classic cabaret with Pasifika, Street flavour. No gimmicks, just choreography for days, live vocals for months that our ancestors blessed us with.
Why did you want to do cabaret - what does a Pacific version of cabaret bring?
I don’t think there’s a “Pacific version” of cabaret I think as Pasifika we ARE Cabaret! Being Samoan it’s been part of our faafiafiaga. It’s our 3 man band arriving at Faleolo Airport It’s our Fale Aitu’s it’s our Faafafine shows at the clubs, it’s our Cindy’s, our Buckwheats, It’s our items we do at birthdays and weddings or on-the-spot singing at ceremonies. So really it was a just a nice way to jam our measina with some cute lights, boos and share a little bit of our Pasifika history to the NZ cabaret audience and add to line-up of historic performances that’s been on in THE CIVIC!
What's special about the fa'afafine creative energy on stage?
Fa’afafine have divine energy that not many humans can comprehend. We were superstars in our homes first. That was haven, our safe space to live out our fantasies away from the cruel world and so once we hit a stage and the spotlight is finally on us, we know what’s up, we’ve been training for years so we out here guns blazing because performance mode is one of the rarest times we get to be our highest selves. We put our troubles aside and our fantasy becomes our reality. I would also like to acknowledge Aka Vaine, Takatapui, Fakaleiti identities within our crew too.
What inspires you as a director and choreographer?
Growth. Risk. Fear. Play.
What else can we look out for that Fine Fatale has coming up after the 'Heels are Alive'?
The Heels Are Alive @ Spark Arena? Lol
We’ll also be visiting Hawaii for the 2020 Festival of Pacific Arts. Our show “Geish Tuiga” will be performed there.
Keep up with Fine Fatale on Socials:
Insta: @finefataledance
.
ps SATURDAY NIGHT IS SOLD OUT but you can buy tickets for the opening night in the link below OR enter our comp on the CoconetTV Facebook page.
Click here to Buy Heels are Alive tickets
