Uploaded May 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Singing Wells Spotlight shines a light on the music of different groups across East Africa.
In a compound in the suburbs of Dar es Salaam, we are greeted by the music of the Nyunyusa Dancing Troupe, which included two of Mzee Morris’s grandsons: Abdala Nyunyusa Morris on vocals and Rajab Alli Nyunyusa Morris on drums.
They played seven songs:
Jembe ni Mali: a song to encourage farming
Kilongo Salale: a call to unity
Rasilmali Ya Mnyonge: The worth of a poor man.
Bendera Ya Taifa: The flag of the nation
The Snake Dance
Sarakasi: Circus. This is another performing comedy song.
Ngokwa
All of this was wonderful, but the Snake Dance was truly unique for us and definitely a top 5 Singing Wells moment. The Snake Dance originals from the Sukuma People in the Lake Victoria zone, where there are, you guessed it, lots of snakes. The tribes learn early which are the poisonous snakes and which are safe and dancers grow up learning to handle the non-poisonous snakes. The medicine doctors learn cures for snake bites. Snakes are kept as pets and feature heavily in their dances, which involve acrobatics, ‘clown acts’ and yes – snakes.
This form of performance is new to us (but, of course not to Tanzanians) and we’ve not seen it in Kenya or Uganda. In fact, ‘clown’ acts are quite central to Tanzanian dance as are acrobatic acts.
For the full performance videos, check out our Youtube channel!
Singing Wells Spotlight shines a light on the music of different groups across East Africa.
In a compound in the suburbs of Dar es Salaam, we are greeted by the music of the Nyunyusa Dancing Troupe, which included two of Mzee Morris’s grandsons: Abdala Nyunyusa Morris on vocals and Rajab Alli Nyunyusa Morris on drums.
They played seven songs:
Jembe ni Mali: a song to encourage farming
Kilongo Salale: a call to unity
Rasilmali Ya Mnyonge: The worth of a poor man.
Bendera Ya Taifa: The flag of the nation
The Snake Dance
Sarakasi: Circus. This is another performing comedy song.
Ngokwa
All of this was wonderful, but the Snake Dance was truly unique for us and definitely a top 5 Singing Wells moment. The Snake Dance originals from the Sukuma People in the Lake Victoria zone, where there are, you guessed it, lots of snakes. The tribes learn early which are the poisonous snakes and which are safe and dancers grow up learning to handle the non-poisonous snakes. The medicine doctors learn cures for snake bites. Snakes are kept as pets and feature heavily in their dances, which involve acrobatics, ‘clown acts’ and yes – snakes.
This form of performance is new to us (but, of course not to Tanzanians) and we’ve not seen it in Kenya or Uganda. In fact, ‘clown’ acts are quite central to Tanzanian dance as are acrobatic acts.
For the full performance videos, check out our Youtube channel!
