The fire dance originated in Mwanza, Tanzania by lake Victoria. Sisi Majitu’s artistic director Ally Milao learnt the fire dance in Bagamoyo, where the fire dance was created in its present form. There is a story that is being told about the dance:
“One day the drummers of the Sukuma tribe left their village to attend a festival. A nine-year-old girl named Maria heard the sound of the drums while the drummers walked past her house. She left her house to join them, dancing and singing together with the others. Fascinated by the joy of the movement and sound, she realised that she’d come very far from her home and didn’t know the way back. At that point it was getting dark and Maria’s family started to get worried about where she had gone, and reported her disappearance to the mayor of the town. The mayor called upon many people to search for Maria and while searching they were singing a song that would help find her. “Iyayaya Mari alihe iyayaya”, where is Maria? Some hours passed and by midnight, somebody found Maria and brought her back to her family. The whole village made a big party for finding her that lasted for the whole night. Many of the fire dance’s movements come from the solo performances of that night’s celebration.”
Sisi Majitu 