THE BAGAMOYO FESTIVALS ENDS

ARTS AND CULTURE FESTIVAL ENDS

The 34^th Bagamoyo Festival of Arts & Culture which kept the Bagamoyo Residents and visitors entertained for seven days ended last Sunday with prospective improvement in the next festivals.

Almost thirteen stage performances were held on Saturday and followed by equally exciting stage performances on Sunday from evening hours to midnight. The normally quite beach-side TASUBA institute was humming with movements of hundreds of visitors, ngoma beats and blaring loud speakers playing loud music.

A group of Magicians from the defence forces of JWTZ held the on-lookers spellbound when the elderly looking magician dressed in glittering red attire pierced two sharp long nails through the neck of a woman. During the performance the elderly woman moaned in pain (dramatic voice) as she sat still on a stool facing the audience. Minutes later she was up and about acclaiming cheers from the audience.

The other captivating performance was story-narrating ngoma dance involving married couple and the punishment delivered by the villagers for tradition violation. This kept the audience well entertained.

The “Pamoja Dance Group” from Kenya was  a stage pantomime (drama without utterance of speech) by disabled wheel-chair person whose lower limbs appeared to be paralysed. He was dejected with his sorrowful life and most of the time looked to the cealing as if appealing or complaining to God about his hopelessness. He cried and wailed until a dwarf lady passed by and both fall in love with each other. They are united emotionally and somehow his prayers were answered!

Almost thirty Shaolin students (karate) from Zanzibar took the audience by surprise when small children could performance act of defence even when fighting an elder person. The swiftness with which they threw their limbs in defence was a great show to watch. The Shaolin kids ranged from the age of five years to elderly age.

Story & Pix by Abdul Hai

The TPDF magician performing an act of magic by piercing steel wire in the neck of the woman sitting on the stool.

The "Shaolin Kids" from Zanzibar performing their marshall physical movements showing acts of defence against an intruder.

The cat-walk pantomime by TASUBA ngoma dancers BAFIMA.