Sunday, December 8, 2013

MUSIC OF THE SHIKHAT






























Via ghostcapital: a most incredible sample of Tunisian Shikhat dance music recorded by soloist and choreographer Mardi Rollow. Shikhat are "female performers in Moroccan society whose singing and dancing are central to all festivity, including rites of passage like marriage ceremonies and birth and circumcision celebrations. Despite their centrality, however, Shikhat are socially marginal due to the license that they exhibit both in performance and in their 'off-stage' lives" (JSTOR). Dancers sing, perform complicated handclap rhythms and work with finger cymbals. The joyous intensity of this music is arguably not higher than, but definitely very different from, traditional Western wedding music like this (which does still give me goosebumps).

Listen to Music from the Shikhat here.





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