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Born and raised in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, Jumaa Said is a professional dancer in Contemporary, Traditional Tanzanian and Latin dances.

After training at the Mama Africa Circus, he secured a 3-year scholarship at Muda Africa Dance School where, in 2022, he completed a diploma in Contemporary dance and Arts Management in 2022.

During his training he worked with choreographers such as Johnny Autin (France/UK), Ian Mwaisunga & Robert Ngoroma (Tanzania), Vanessa Tamburi (Italy), Wanjiru Kamuyu (Kenya/US), Isis van Gemert (Netherlands) and Matthieu Nieto (France), amongst others.

In March 2022 he co-founded the African Roots Dance Group where their artistic expression is used for storytelling, creating moments of reflection and awareness around social issues. Their first dance production entitled “Madaraka” interrogates concerns around politics of leadership. The second, “Connect” addresses our shared humanity and was selected to perform at the Alliance Française in Arusha. The third, “Akiba haozi” was supported by the Goethe Institut.

As a gender equality activist, Jumaa was selected as a dancer in Ian Mwaisunga’s latest production, “Are you telling your boys?” which addresses the changing role of young men in society. As a dancer, he has also participated in major dance festivals in Tanzania and Mali, notably Asedeva’s Haba Na Haba, Muda Africa’s Time 2 Dance and Jukwaa Huru and the Bagamoyo International Arts Festival organized by Tasuba College of the Arts  (Tanzania) and Fari Foni Waati Dance Laboratory and Festival in (Bamako, Mali).