About Us

Tumaini Group gathered — Tumaini Group together, taking a break at a rehearsal.
*Photo: Elin Hassel Iversen*

Tumaini Group was started in 1986 by Flatei Gregory Massay, who at that time was 14 years old. He started to work as an acrobat at the age of 6, when he fooled his mother into giving him permission to travel 250 kilometers, to Arusha, to perform with a troupe of traveling acrobats.

Tumaini Group has from the very beginning been working as artists as well as social pedagogic guides. It is all about giving poor children an alternative to life in the streets and at the same time give people entertainment.("Tumaini" means hope in Swahili.) Today the group consists of 35 members from the age of 6 to 39. Tumaini Group works with acrobatics, drum dance (ngoma), song and drama. The Tumaini Group members are very popular entertainers at all kinds of social events in Mbulu. They also perform in other parts of Tanzania. Everywhere they meet an enthusiastic response from a thrilled audience.

Tanzania remains one of the poorest 20 countries in the world, and the members of the group have not had the financial means for any artistic education. However they have the opportunity to train, which they do five times a week. Training of such intensity allows them to perform at a very high level of acrobatics and dance.

Flatey trains acrobatics — Flatei practice actobatic throws
*Photo: Audun Eriksen*

It has always been a basic principle for the group that everyone should be trained in several different functions, with the result that all members of group readily take responsibility for both artistic and practical challenges. Flatei Gregory Massay og Lucian Theobald Ngaire are exceptionally competent leaders of the group; they tackle challenges head on and ensure that Tumaini Group is run in a professional manner.

Tumaini Group are very popular entertainers at all kinds of social events in Mbulu. They also perform in other parts of Tanzania. Everywhere they meet an enthusiastic response from a thrilled audience. In the last few years Tumainia Group have won several competitions with their spectacular performances, and often their shows have been bought by the state for tours, which is a rare occurrence in Tanzania.

We use improvisation for artistic and creative development. It is essential for us to have a final product of high artistic quality. Improvisation has proven to be the best method for us, as it feels safe and therefore enables the performers to contribute on an equal level. In this way they have the opportunity to bring their own ideas and shape the creative process. Another reason why practical improvisation works so well in this context, is that written culture has a weaker position in Africa compared to Europe. The members of Tumaini Group are much less familiar with a method such as textual analysis.