Lusi Faiva

Lusi Faiva (born in Wellington) is a New Zealand-Samoan stage performer and dancer and a founding member of Touch Compass. She was recognised for her work with a 2020 Pacific Toa Artist Award at the Arts Pasifika Awards and in 2021 received an Artistic Achievement Award from Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards.

Early life Born with cerebral palsy, Faiva was taken from her birth parents and placed into an institution by the state. Ted and Peg Jones fostered her at the age of two, and she was reunited with her birth mother at the age of seven, and discovered her Samoan (Patamea, Savai'i) heritage. She grew up in Levin, Lower Hutt and Petone.

Career Faiva is described as a role model for 'disabled and non-disabled artists and audiences'. Faiva is a founding member of New Zealand's Touch Compass, a professional performance company that is disability-led, producing performance works and arts activations. She has performed for the company in all its major shows in New Zealand and Australia since 1997 and sits on the Artistic Direction Panel.

Performances and Films 2024 AIGA, Touch Compass, Te Ahurei Toi o Tāmaki | Auckland Arts Festival 2022 Rītaha, Touch Compass 25th Anniversary livestream event 2021 Taupou, Everybody Cool Lives Here, Cubadupa 2019 Masina Returning Home, Touch Compass, Frozen Light production 2019 Becoming Masina, short documentary, director Veronica Maitre, Doc Edge Festival 2014 Me and Mrs Jones, short film, DanceBox 2005-2006 Old Yella, Tempo 2020 Spirit of Attitude award, The Attitude Awards, Creating Achievements of the Disability Community 2020 Pacific Toa Artist Award, Creative New Zealand 2019 Highly Commended PAK’n’SAVE Artistic Achievement Award, Te Putanga Toi Arts Access Awards