Cultural Influences Series – Morocco
Music
“FCBD®Style is a fusion dance form. The movements are inspired by folkloric dances of the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and India.”
- FCBDcom
I’ve always viewed FCBD®Style as a global celebration of unity through dance. As someone who loves to travel and learn about other cultures, it was the variety of world music, the empowering movements, and the layers of beautiful, and sometimes sacred, adornment that originally drew me to this dance style.
Learning about the many influences in our dance style can feel a little overwhelming. Where do you start? Music, movements, culture, adornment?
Since opening fcbdU in 2020, we’ve focused a lot of our efforts in sharing origins of steps, cultural references, book recommendations and more history about FatChanceBellyDance®Style.
We believe this is an important part and responsibility of being your official FCBD®Style education resource. We want to be sure the community at least has a starting point for your own research and studies.
We are beginning an exciting (and huge) project of sharing exactly what aspects are influenced from which countries, regions and cultures. Not only do we always want our community to be respectful when appreciating other cultures, but we want everyone to feel even more confident when using music, movements and wearing costuming that inspires you to feel great and share your joy with others.
The first country we are focusing on is Morocco!
We already have a couple of classes with Nawarra and we are adding three more including the final one in our series which is all about textiles and adornment.
I decided to focus on Morocco first because, surprisingly, it has the smallest amount of influence in our dance style.
In fact, there aren’t any specific movements that come from Moroccan dances. Most of the influence in FCBD®Style is in our “classic” costuming elements and music. I’m using “classic” here to refer to what was typical in the early era of FatChanceBellyDance. see image below
MUSIC OF MOROCCO
Since music is the foundation of dancing, let’s start there!
Did you know there are 29 folkloric music and dance styles in Morocco?! What?
I recently interviewed Nawarra for a recent podcast episode and this was one of the many interesting facts she shared.
Referring back to last week’s blog about using technology responsibly, I decided to ask chat gpt to give me a list of the 29 music styles of Morocco. Here’s what it gave me (fingers crossed these are all accurate).
Please note the term"Berber" is no longer used and instead refered to as Amazigh. Since I'm quoting an internet source, I've chosen not to change the descriptions in this post.
Aarfa: From the Rif region, features energetic rhythms and dances.
Ahidous: Traditional dance and music from the Atlas Mountains.
Aissawa: Sufi brotherhood known for their spiritual music and trance-like rituals.
Gnawa: A blend of African, Berber, and Arabic Islamic religious songs and rhythms.
Haha: From the Sous region, known for its lively and rhythmic music.
Jilala: Another Sufi brotherhood with distinctive musical traditions.
Maâllem: Masters of Gnawa music who lead the musical ensemble.
Melhoun: Traditional poetry sung in a classical Arabic style.
Mouwachah: Andalusian classical music style with Arabic poetry.
Rai: Popular music style blending Western sounds with traditional Algerian and Moroccan influences.
Reggada: Folk music and dance from the Rif region.
Sawt: Urban music style influenced by Andalusian music.
Shaabi: Popular urban music style often featuring electronic instruments.
Sufi Music: Various Sufi brotherhoods have their own musical traditions.
Taktoka Jabaliya: Traditional music of the Amazigh people from the mountains.
Tamtam: Drum music often associated with ceremonies and festivals.
Taqsim: Improvisational instrumental music often found in classical Arabic music.
Targ: A type of music and dance from the Sous region.
Tasnif: Classical Arabic music form.
Tbal: Drum music often associated with Berber traditions.
Tichumaren: Music of the nomadic Tuareg people, also known as "desert blues."
**Tind: Traditional music of the Tuareg people, often featuring a guitar-like instrument.
Zayane: Music and dance of the Zayane Berber tribe.
Zeffa: Wedding procession music often featuring brass instruments and drums.
Zokra: Traditional music featuring a double-reed instrument similar to an oboe.
Ait Atta: Music of the Ait Atta Berber tribe.
Ait Baamrane: Music of the Ait Baamrane Berber tribe.
Ait Idrassen: Music of the Ait Idrassen Berber tribe.
Ait Ouaraine: Music of the Ait Ouaraine Berber tribe.
Clearly it would take a lifetime to look at every single aspect of each of these folkloric styles.
A Spotify search on a few of these styles gave me some of these playlists:
A few more Moroccan Music resources:
Music of Morocco – a quick read that also shares images and information about many of the instruments played.
Finally, I really enjoyed this summary from Journal of Global Awareness:
https://scholar.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=jga
“Although steeped in Islamic religion and culture, Morocco is a land of varying influences and histories, including those of the native Berbers, the Moors and Jews driven out of Spain, those who follow the pious Sufi culture of Islamic spiritualism, and the Gnawa slaves who were brought into southern Morocco by Arabs. The music, customs, values, and everyday lives of these disparate peoples continue to not only blend with each other’s but also to fuse Moroccan music and culture with those of Europe, Africa, and America. The influence of Moroccan music continues to play a vital role in shaping contemporary music, especially in the study of rhythm. Music that was once heard by voices, flutes, oboes, strings, bagpipes, auxiliary percussion, and drums—symbolic of Moroccan cultural identity--may now be heard on electric guitars, keyboards, and amplified voices in popular and modern music styles that reflect Morocco’s continuing efforts to be active players in the international community.”