Acrobats

Profile:

"Hakuna Matata" are Michaela and Ali, two acrobats who have been working together for the last two years.

Ali started performing as an Acrobat at the age of 8 in Kenya. He worked there with various different groups performing high level east-African style acrobatics until he moved to Ireland where he started working with Circus Vegas and Circus Gerbola. Shortly after that he formed his own acrobatics group 'Amani Acrobats' who worked together successfully for many years. In 2007 himself and Michaela formed Hakuna Matata together. Highlights of Ali's career include TV advertisements with TG4 as well as the Club Orange Skipping Ad. Throughout his time in Ireland he has performed at many festivals including Festival of Fools (Belfast), Festival of World Cultures (Dun Laoghaire), Rose of Tralee, Cork City of Cultures and also the 2008 Street Performance World Championship in Dublin and Fira Tarrega in Spain. 

Michaela started her acrobatic career in the form of equestrian vaulting (acrobatics on horseback) at the age of 13. She worked as a trainer and also vaulted herself on a competitive level until the age of 20 when she moved to Ireland. To her dismay she discovered that there was no such thing as equestrian vaulting in Ireland and it was only when she moved to Cork and met the Amani Acrobats that she got back into Acrobatics. She has been working with Ali as Hakuna Matata since 2007 and she also works as an aerialist as part of 'Sorcaluba'. In 2008 she took part in a 4 week professinal circus training course with Tumble Circus to improve her skills. Performances include Electric Picnic, Sligo Live Festival, Rose of Tralee, Festival of World Cultures, Killarney Summerfest and Fira Tarrega in Spain.