His love for the Siva Samoa drives his passion to preserve the art and promote it amongst young Samoan men while hoping for a positive impact on their mental health.

Seumanutafa Mathew Te’o, the founder and leader of the Aumaga Dance group, celebrates four years since the group's establishment on Tuesday and looks back at how the art of Siva Samoa helped him with his mental health during his time studying abroad. 

Establishing the group on 3 October 2019, he said they had their beginnings in the New Zealand city of Dunedin and came as a result of him feeling homesick. 

“I dealt through life and I was pretty lost and I really missed my parents, especially my mum so I had to find a way to cope with being far from home,” said Seumanutafa. “School was a priority, but when you lose focus from school work, you tend to find ways to get back on track and Siva Samoa was that.

"I wanted to do something different from schoolwork and sports. Something in me just wanted to dance and to keep dancing."

The origin of the name comes from the Samoan description of untitled men in the village who serve the chiefs and their community. The pathway to leadership is paved through service, and dancing is their group's service to the Samoan culture and heritage.

According to Seumanutafa, he recruited some boys to start the group, as he saw that they all shared the need for an outlet to improve their mental health. He said this helped the students who were far away from home in a place that did not have a lot of Samoans.

“We were the first male dance group in the South Island in New Zealand and we just grew from there and we became a family which was what a lot of the students needed especially when they are a long way from home.”

Sharing his testimony on the impact of the group on their members' mental health, Seumanutafa said the dance group as a collective were able to assist others in getting over their suicidal tendencies and strengthening their passion for dancing the Siva Samoa. 

Now that he is back in Samoa, he has handed over the reins to his younger brother and two other close friends to lead their dance group in Dunedin.

“There is no male dance group in Samoa that keeps the art alive. It only stops at the church youth level and after that, they don’t carry it on so I wanted to take up that initiative for young men and promote mental health amongst young Samoan men," he said. “We grow up in a society where ‘big boys don’t cry’ and there is rarely any safe space for mental health conversations for our young men and this was it. 

"I wish I could do this on a much bigger scale for all our young boys."

Seumanutafa added that this wasn’t just a dance group and it was more like a family of fellowship and coping with everyday life.

In remembering and celebrating the dance group's journey thus far, he acknowledged all the help he got from various people along the way.

“I want to really acknowledge my brother Vaipou Timothy Leitufia, my right-hand man in starting the group here in Samoa. My good friend Antoinette Tuipea who was there from the start and I want to thank her for all that she’s done.”

The Aumaga dance group has over 17 members locally in Samoa and 12 dancers in New Zealand. Seumanutafa dreams of one day opening up an academy to teach more young people. But for now, he said that this season is more about laying the foundation towards that achieving ultimate goal.