Jaycee Tanuvasa

Jaycee Tanuvasa is a Sāmoan multidisciplinary artist and choreographer of fa’afafine, femme queen & trans experience, born and raised in South Auckland, Tamaki Makaurau. Her work is firmly rooted in community, and she places autonomy and story sovereignty at the core of her projects. She celebrates the fullness of young, queer, and brown life and works collaboratively to create empowering and responsive reflections of this across a range of media.

Tanuvasa is a Legendary Trailblazer of the Aotearoa Ballroom vogue scene and Mother to the House of Iman, dedicating ten years to developing the community and the art form nationally and across the Pacific. She has produced a variety of events for the scene with Iman Ball 2021 held at the ASB Tennis Arena being the most significant culmination of her work across the decade and most recently starting their Australian chapter with the House of Iman Housewarming Vogue Night with Riverside Theatres in early 2024.

In theatre, she recently premiered her production ŌVAH ŌVAH as part of the 2023 Sydney World Pride core program and acted as co-creative director for FEVER-Return of the Ula, for Auckland Live Cabaret Festival and Nelson Arts Festival. Her television project Mother Hood explores contemporary queer Indigenous life, made in collaboration with Koha Productions and TV NZ, and has previously featured in FAFSWAG: VOGUE! – Interactive Documentary 2019, produced by Piki Films.