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10 | THE REVIEW JAN–APR 2022 Award-winning stage performer ready for next goal An invitation to join a drama group as a teenager kicked off a love of performing arts and communicating for Lusi Faiva. By MELANIE LOUDEN For a woman who has already achieved so much, Lusi Faiva isn’t slowing down. The 54-year-old Samoan lives in Auckland and is an award-winning stage performer and dancer who has performed in New Zealand, Australia and Europe. But Lusi’s greatest wish, and her next goal, is to perform in Samoa where she will also set up a dance workshop. Lusi’s exposure to the performing arts came as a teenager when she was approached about being involved in a drama group called Unlimited Theatre. “I went to their audition and I automatically got cast in their first production.” Despite not having any acting experience, Lusi, who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy – Spastic Quadriplegia as a two-year-old, embraced the opportunity. “It opened the doors for me,” she says, and it sparked a life-long love of performing. Ten years later, in 1996 she attended a contemporary dance audition workshop for people with different abilities. As a result of her successful audition, Lusi was performing her first dance solo a year later as part of the newly formed dance company Touch Compass. Lusi’s successful audition saw her join as a dancer, performer