September 16, 2025 • 8 mins
As the countdown continues to the start of World of World of WearableArt (WOW) in Wellington for 2025, Nick Mills spoke with show model and dancer Stela Albuquerque, whose face is on the WOW posters and advertising for this year's event.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk st B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
WOW World of Wearable Art is back in Wellington for
twenty twenty five from this week. The preview show starts
things off tomorrow and the show runs till October the
fifth at TSB Arena. This year show is called Rise
and it will showcase all the wearable art, dancers, music,
lights and av Last week I popped along while the
(00:36):
rehearsals were on and I chatted to Stella Albuquerque. She's
the model you'll see around town on all the posters
and advertising this year, and she's stepping up this year
from a model to a dancer on stage the whole show.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And she's just coming from a rehearsal he doing.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm really good and feeling warm and ready for the day.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Ready for this interview.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I'm ready for the interview.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah. How many years have you been a model on WOW?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I think from the top my head, probably three or
four years modeling. Yeah, and this is my first time dancing.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Why did you go from a model to be a dancer.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I'm a professional dancer. That's my full time job. So
that's what I always wanted to do. Yeah, and modeling
is really, really, really fun, but yeah, I just really
wanted to be dancing in such a big venue with
some of the audience members.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, are you a Walentonian?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I'm from Brazil originally, but I moved here eleven years
ago to the Lower Hut.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And what school did you go to?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Hot Bully High School? For the wings?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Now tell me you're the smallest young lady that I've
seen in my life. How do you, when you were
a model put on those big outfits and wander down
or is that rude?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I'm I allowed to say.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
That, that's fine. I think in the model world for
a while, I was always one of the shortest. Actually,
in the garments, some are really hard to put on,
but most of them are actually very wearable, Like that's
part of the criteria for them to get into the
show anyway. So it's a challenge sometimes in weight or
in the heels off there super big, but it's always doable.
(02:13):
They wouldn't put us in that position if it wasn't doable.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Have you had any mishaps where you know, you slipped
or the heel went down somewhere it shouldn't have gone down,
or someone spilled something as you're walking through.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I think my most memorable mishap was probably I was
stepping in for another model. She was sick, and I
have never watched that section before. I didn't know her
pathway very well because I've never seen it, so I
went the wrong way and then this big cloth fell
off the sky and hit the garment, and I felt
so embarrassed. The audience saw it and they're like, ooh,
(02:47):
and yeah, I just hid in the bathroom for like
an hour after that.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
What makes well so different? So wow, oh.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
My gosh, everything everything. As an audience member, I think
it's all the elements coming together or the airless, the dancers,
the avy, everything I can't even explain. And the garments
are so beautifully made, so unique different. But as a
member of the cast, I think what makes for me personally?
(03:17):
What makes who are the people? It's so supportive. It's
all womanly, which is incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Explain that to me, so our CEO.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Our head of garment, our creative director, our supports people.
It's I think the majority of workers at we are women,
and I might be biased because I'm a woman, but
it makes it such a supportive environment.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Makes it relaxed for you.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, yeah, like everyone is always friendly, everyone's always doing
their best, and even if it's a hard day, like
we know one, everyone's trying their best. Yeah. So I
don't think it's because we're women.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
We've got men in the show too, we do, and.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
I love them. They're also so talented, so kind. I
think the crew in general is amazing. But I'm just
saying that because it's quite rare to have a workplace
that's the woman lead.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Now I ask someone else from your show about the teamwork,
you know, because this is giant egos, very very talented people,
beautiful models, beautiful people. Where do the egos come in?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
You need to have some ego to be a performer.
If you want to be on stage and be stared
at by one thousand people, I think you need to
want that at some stage. But I think people are
just very comfortable with themselves and we get encouraged to
just be ourselves. So don't. I can't think of one
person that I would clash with in that sense, Like, honestly,
(04:45):
I'm not even lying right now.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
I just love everyone.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So there's no like, don't come in my space and
don't turn that light on and don't come over here,
and oh you smell of garlic?
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Not that I can think of. Honestly, no one that
I can think of is like that that I know of,
which is incredible and such a huge team. Even when
I was modeling, Like there are obviously things like this
is hurting me, so can you not pull this hard?
Or I don't know, can you not go this way
or my pathway? But I think everyone's so kind and
(05:15):
gentle in the way they say their needs that I
think I need to get met, but in a gentle.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Way as a dancer on the show. How many songs
do you dance to? How long you're on stage four?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
We're on stage for the whole show except for one section,
but yeah, we're on stage four, Yeah, the whole show.
So I think it's like an hour and a half.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Do you get tired?
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Hell, yeah, very tired. But I'm ripped right now from rehearsals,
Like my body has changed so much from when we
started rehearsing till now, like I feel quite strong.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
So how long you've been rehearsing for I think it's.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Been a month and a half or almost two months. Now.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
How's this show any different? From the last couple.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I don't want to say any spoilers, so.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
It must be like, is it your favorite?
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It is.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Well, my very very very show was as my first show,
partly because it was my first show ever. And the
difference this year for me personally is obviously I'm dancing,
so I'm not in the spotlight being a model and
being stared at, which I think I'll miss for my ego,
I'll miss that.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, you're on the front cover, You're you're the traction,
You're the NBA star and I love it.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I love seeing myself on the bus. It's pretty cool.
But yeah, the show is looking amazing. I think we
have all professional dancers, the makeup teams all professionals. Yeah,
it's looking like a beautiful show.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Thank you very much, thank you Stella Albuquerque.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
You know, I hopefully you got out of that interview
what I got out of it. She is one hell
of an impressive young woman. Went to hut Belly High,
a Wellingtonian model, now a dancer, always been a dancer,
but we started as a model. Went to her craft,
which is dancing, on the show the whole time. She's
the face of all the posters, all the artwork, everything
(07:05):
and the credible woman going places and I really enjoyed
having a chat to her. Don't forget. Weale's show Rise
is actually selling out fast. You can buy tickets a
world Ofwearable Arts dot com. Get your tickets now. We're
lucky to have it for another time. And tomorrow we
speak to Brian Burke. Now, Brian Burke is the genius
behind well He's the artistic director. He puts it all together.
(07:30):
And if you want to listen to an impressive man,
keep tuned tomorrow to have a listen to him. He
impressed to have it, absolutely living daylights out of me.
He's a fantastic talented person and he's on the show tomorrow.
Don't forget get your tickets to Welle. The show's called Rise.
And the people that I met, the people that I
(07:51):
was connected to going down there. We're incredible, incredible, talented,
nice people that want to put a show on for
the city.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks There'd be Wellington from nine weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talk st B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
WOW World of Wearable Art is back in Wellington for
twenty twenty five from this week. The preview show starts
things off tomorrow and the show runs till October the
fifth at TSB Arena. This year show is called Rise
and it will showcase all the wearable art, dancers, music,
lights and av Last week I popped along while the
(00:36):
rehearsals were on and I chatted to Stella Albuquerque. She's
the model you'll see around town on all the posters
and advertising this year, and she's stepping up this year
from a model to a dancer on stage the whole show.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
And she's just coming from a rehearsal he doing.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
I'm really good and feeling warm and ready for the day.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Ready for this interview.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
I'm ready for the interview.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah. How many years have you been a model on WOW?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I think from the top my head, probably three or
four years modeling. Yeah, and this is my first time dancing.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Why did you go from a model to be a dancer.
Speaker 4 (01:16):
I'm a professional dancer. That's my full time job. So
that's what I always wanted to do. Yeah, and modeling
is really, really, really fun, but yeah, I just really
wanted to be dancing in such a big venue with
some of the audience members.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, are you a Walentonian?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
I'm from Brazil originally, but I moved here eleven years
ago to the Lower Hut.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
And what school did you go to?
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Hot Bully High School? For the wings?
Speaker 3 (01:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Now tell me you're the smallest young lady that I've
seen in my life. How do you, when you were
a model put on those big outfits and wander down
or is that rude?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
I'm I allowed to say.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
That, that's fine. I think in the model world for
a while, I was always one of the shortest. Actually,
in the garments, some are really hard to put on,
but most of them are actually very wearable, Like that's
part of the criteria for them to get into the
show anyway. So it's a challenge sometimes in weight or
in the heels off there super big, but it's always doable.
(02:13):
They wouldn't put us in that position if it wasn't doable.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Have you had any mishaps where you know, you slipped
or the heel went down somewhere it shouldn't have gone down,
or someone spilled something as you're walking through.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I think my most memorable mishap was probably I was
stepping in for another model. She was sick, and I
have never watched that section before. I didn't know her
pathway very well because I've never seen it, so I
went the wrong way and then this big cloth fell
off the sky and hit the garment, and I felt
so embarrassed. The audience saw it and they're like, ooh,
(02:47):
and yeah, I just hid in the bathroom for like
an hour after that.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
What makes well so different? So wow, oh.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
My gosh, everything everything. As an audience member, I think
it's all the elements coming together or the airless, the dancers,
the avy, everything I can't even explain. And the garments
are so beautifully made, so unique different. But as a
member of the cast, I think what makes for me personally?
(03:17):
What makes who are the people? It's so supportive. It's
all womanly, which is incredible.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Explain that to me, so our CEO.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Our head of garment, our creative director, our supports people.
It's I think the majority of workers at we are women,
and I might be biased because I'm a woman, but
it makes it such a supportive environment.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Makes it relaxed for you.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
Yeah, yeah, like everyone is always friendly, everyone's always doing
their best, and even if it's a hard day, like
we know one, everyone's trying their best. Yeah. So I
don't think it's because we're women.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
We've got men in the show too, we do, and.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
I love them. They're also so talented, so kind. I
think the crew in general is amazing. But I'm just
saying that because it's quite rare to have a workplace
that's the woman lead.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Now I ask someone else from your show about the teamwork,
you know, because this is giant egos, very very talented people,
beautiful models, beautiful people. Where do the egos come in?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
You need to have some ego to be a performer.
If you want to be on stage and be stared
at by one thousand people, I think you need to
want that at some stage. But I think people are
just very comfortable with themselves and we get encouraged to
just be ourselves. So don't. I can't think of one
person that I would clash with in that sense, Like, honestly,
(04:45):
I'm not even lying right now.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
I just love everyone.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So there's no like, don't come in my space and
don't turn that light on and don't come over here,
and oh you smell of garlic?
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Not that I can think of. Honestly, no one that
I can think of is like that that I know of,
which is incredible and such a huge team. Even when
I was modeling, Like there are obviously things like this
is hurting me, so can you not pull this hard?
Or I don't know, can you not go this way
or my pathway? But I think everyone's so kind and
(05:15):
gentle in the way they say their needs that I
think I need to get met, but in a gentle.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Way as a dancer on the show. How many songs
do you dance to? How long you're on stage four?
Speaker 4 (05:24):
We're on stage for the whole show except for one section,
but yeah, we're on stage four, Yeah, the whole show.
So I think it's like an hour and a half.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Do you get tired?
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Hell, yeah, very tired. But I'm ripped right now from rehearsals,
Like my body has changed so much from when we
started rehearsing till now, like I feel quite strong.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
So how long you've been rehearsing for I think it's.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Been a month and a half or almost two months. Now.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
How's this show any different? From the last couple.
Speaker 4 (05:57):
I don't want to say any spoilers, so.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
It must be like, is it your favorite?
Speaker 1 (06:04):
It is.
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Well, my very very very show was as my first show,
partly because it was my first show ever. And the
difference this year for me personally is obviously I'm dancing,
so I'm not in the spotlight being a model and
being stared at, which I think I'll miss for my ego,
I'll miss that.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well, you're on the front cover, You're you're the traction,
You're the NBA star and I love it.
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I love seeing myself on the bus. It's pretty cool.
But yeah, the show is looking amazing. I think we
have all professional dancers, the makeup teams all professionals. Yeah,
it's looking like a beautiful show.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Thank you very much, thank you Stella Albuquerque.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
You know, I hopefully you got out of that interview
what I got out of it. She is one hell
of an impressive young woman. Went to hut Belly High,
a Wellingtonian model, now a dancer, always been a dancer,
but we started as a model. Went to her craft,
which is dancing, on the show the whole time. She's
the face of all the posters, all the artwork, everything
(07:05):
and the credible woman going places and I really enjoyed
having a chat to her. Don't forget. Weale's show Rise
is actually selling out fast. You can buy tickets a
world Ofwearable Arts dot com. Get your tickets now. We're
lucky to have it for another time. And tomorrow we
speak to Brian Burke. Now, Brian Burke is the genius
behind well He's the artistic director. He puts it all together.
(07:30):
And if you want to listen to an impressive man,
keep tuned tomorrow to have a listen to him. He
impressed to have it, absolutely living daylights out of me.
He's a fantastic talented person and he's on the show tomorrow.
Don't forget get your tickets to Welle. The show's called Rise.
And the people that I met, the people that I
(07:51):
was connected to going down there. We're incredible, incredible, talented,
nice people that want to put a show on for
the city.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen live
to news talks There'd be Wellington from nine weekdays, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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