Hakuna Matata are Michaela and Ali, two acrobats who have been working together since 2007. They are occasionally joined by fellow acrobat Aziz. Find out more about their backgrounds below

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 Cork, 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. 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 performing with Hakuna Matata since 2007. Michaela also works as an aerialist, Chinese pole artist and rigger and performs her own solo show as Funky Fi. Michaela has performed at numerous festivals in Ireland and all around the world such as Cork Midsummer Festival, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Rose of Tralee, Dublin's Big Day out, Imaginarius Portugal, Western Australian Circus Festival, Out There Festival Great Yarmouth, Spraoi International Street Arts Festival and many more.

Aziz started performing as an acrobat in Somalia at the age of 8. He worked with several acrobatic groups in East Africa before moving to Cork, Ireland in 2003. Shortly after he started working as part of the 'Amani Acrobats' and since 2007 as part of 'Hakuna Matata', performing at many festivals across Ireland such as Festival of Fools (Belfast), Festival of World Cultures (Dun Laoghaire), Clonmel Junction Festival, Cork City of Cultures and many more. He has also been working with a number of traditional circuses in Ireland such as Circus Vegas, Duffy's Circus and others.