Tau Fuata Niue (Young men of Niue)
"The aim of Tau Fuata Niue is to promote our culture, through traditional song and dance. We also want to share our Niuean culture with other ethnic races, and to resurrect our dying culture"
- Mr Sene Falakoa
Tau Fuata Niue (Young Men of Niue) are an all-male crew, bound together by their passion for learning Niuean song and dance. Their style is a blend of traditional and contemporary, and the groups love for their culture is reflected in the enthusiasm of the groups performances. Tau Fuata Niue's founding member, Mr Sene Falakoa, formed the group
in 2001 when he and another young Niuean man felt that a group was needed. There was a renewed interest in Niuean culture, especially among those who were mainly first generation Niuean men.
Sene Falakoa has also been involved with other major performance
Groups including;
· 'Malaga' Production
· Mika Haka- 'Toro Toro' dance group
· Unitec School of Dance-Iosefa Henari.
Although Tau Fuata Niue have been around for a short time, they are often seen performing at many of Auckland City's functions which include performances at the Edge, Aotea Centre, the opening of Onehunga's new library, and a regular slot at the Pasifika Festival, where members met and had a photo taken with Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Other venues Tau Fuata Niue has had presence at are:
· Ring of Fire Festival, Wellington 2001
· Performing Arts Festival, Auckland 2001
· Multi-ethnic Festival, Taranaki 2002
· Pohutakawa Festival, Coromandel 2003
· Niuean Community, Sydney Australia 2002.
The group has at the moment 15 dancers and 3 musicians. The ages of the members range from 5yrs to 33yrs, and although Tau Fuata Niue has made exceptions for a few younger ones, they prefer the new recruits be at least 18yrs.
Sene and his group have a strong community focus. One project in the pipeline involves helping the T.Y.L.A. (turn your life around) crew, a police project based in Avondale aimed at youth, 13yrs and up.
Tau Fuata Niue's team will tutor students in using the 'tika' (spear), learning the 'meke'- the Niuean equivalent of the 'haka', as well as some traditional chants. "We want to take our culture to the community,and help develop what we have to offer. There's so much they (the youth) can learn through Niuean song and dance." | 
