Adumu: a traditional Maasai dance

Adumu, also known as the jumping dance, is a ritual dance performed by Maasai warriors, called moran, during coming-of-age ceremonies. The dancer jumps vertically, arms at their sides, into the center of a circle formed by their peers who chant in rhythm. The goal is not height, but control of breath, balance, and endurance.

In Zanzibar, these young Maasai men do not live on their native lands in northern Tanzania. They come to work temporarily to support their families who remain in the villages: selling traditional Maasai jewelry, guarding, odd jobs. Their presence in the archipelago is often little seen, even misunderstood. Yet, they continue to practice and transmit essential elements of their Maasai culture, such as this dance.

This recording is not a folk performance. It is a fragment of living cultural heritage, shared voluntarily, outside the tourist circuits. It documents Maasai cultural resiliencein a context of economic migration.