Cultural Arts Centre (Tumaini University Makumira)

The Cultural Arts Centre is a thriving centre of music and dancing, both traditional and contemporary, in the Arusha area. It is located behind Tumaini University in Makumira. The CAC mission is to provide a safe space for learning, creating, doing and sharing the arts.

CAC resident dancer/musicians have given over 650 performances to date (Jan 2023) on and off campus for various public and private functions, and at local, national and international levels. They draw on their various ethnic backgrounds, training, and experiences to create high-energy performances that feature many different types of music and dance from Tanzania, including traditional dances, newly created dances, and music pieces that fuse traditional and modern ideas.

The CAC troupe routinely welcomes Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, and other members of ministries. Highlights include representing Tanzania at Sauti za Busara in Zanzibar in 2017 and 2018, DOADOA East African Performers Market in Kampala in 2016 and 2019, and JAMAFEST Celebrating East African Culture in Nairobi in 2015 plus many local festivals in Tanzania..

We have also performed at various tourism events, including Karibu/KiliFair (450 tourism exhibitors), and SITE (Swahili International Tourism Exhibition) in Dar es Salaam, plus other events for Tanzania Tourist Board and the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators.

We completed construction on 4 buildings in 2017 including a 435-seat performance space (with grand piano) and dressing rooms, conference hall with catering facilities, a dance studio with a sprung dance floor, cultural exhibits and office space. In the Traditional Village local groups have constructed Maasai, Arusha and Meru bomas.