In the Middle Atlas Haidous dance singers and dancers form a large circle with the men

 

and women standing alternately shoulder to shoulder. Sacred and secular influences are

 

deeply linked in this ceremony. To the rhythm of tambourines, the men and women

 

undulate and sing a joyful hymn.

The dance comes from the High Atlas valleys in the Ouarzazate area. A circle of women in 

 

multicolored robes stands motionless. In the center, men sit around a fire, each of them

 

with a "bendir" (a circular wooden frame with a hide stretched over it).

 

 

    A piercing cry breaks the silence. It is a shout more than a song. All the drums beat.

 

The song of the men begins, mounting skyward. The women reply. Shoulder to shoulder,

 

they sway rhythmically and slowly. The rhythm gets faster and faster until the finale.

 

 

   A man called Raiss leads the village men who are also playing binders, drums and

 

sometimes flutes, while around a fire the unmarried boys and girls dance the Ahouach face

 

to face. Holding hands, the line of dancers vibrate and shake their bodies to move the

 

heavy Moroccan silver and amber jewelry which effects a rhythm all its own. This dance

 

creates unity within the people and is employed for that purpose. Specific

 

   choreographic knowledge must be learned in order to be a participant in the Ahouach

 

magic line.

   The people who perform this rhythmic entertainment are not professionals. The strange orchestra composed of craftsmen and merchants of Marrakech is made up  entirely of earthware drums of different dimensions. The ceremony starts with simple and rather solemn rhythms, and then the cadence of hand-clapping accelerates. High and lower pitched beats on the drums are cleverly orchestrated and the men start singing powerfully in chorus.

    The rhythm changes suddenly from time to time, but it is all amazingly well- regulated. The general impression is an  explosion of joy, a sonorous enchantmentthat seems wild but is disciplined.

   This is a ritual dance of Sufi sects descended from Ghanaian and Senegalese immigrants.  The Gnaoua dance belongs to brotherhood music-lore. The tumblers of the jemaa El Fna in Marrakech  have transformed it into an entertainment. The instruments are as primitive as ever: large drums and  wrought iron castanets form the orchestra.

 

   Cowrie shells and glass beads are worn as ornaments

that recall the dance's origin and its magical or religious aspect. Some of the dancers perform leaps worthy of the best acrobats. They manage to jump high in the air without missing a beat of the rhythm. It is a show with great dramatic intensity.

 

   Each rhythm has many symbolic meanings from healing powers to exorcism. A specific color is worn  for each dance to evoke the spirits for the ceremony, Hadra, in which the spirits are brought to the earth from another ethereal world. Dancers wear plain white robes and black hats heavily encrusted with cowry shells and beadwork, magic talismans and amulets. Standing in a row or circle, the Gnawi keep rhythm with a huge double-ended drum played with curved sticks. Others keep the hypnotic beat with  heavy metal clappers, Karkabas, as single dancers execute acrobatic dancing.

   It would take too long to try to explain the significance of this dance from South Morocco

 

in which the attitudes and movements have their origin in a very ancient symbolism. It

 

represents some ritual ceremony whose origins are lost in the mists of time.

 

   The women dancers kneel and are completely covered with a black veil. 

 

   The steady rhythm like a beating heart brings out the hands that describe vivid and

 

expressive  motions.

 

The head is revealed, with eyes closed, swaying like a pendulum. The rhythm is supplied by

 

a "guedra" or cooking pot (an earthware drum covered with skin). It becomes pulsating as

 

the dancers continue to speak their mysterious language. The singing of the spectators

 

changes to brief and guttural cries. The dancer gradually casts off her veils and finally

 

collapses in a heap.

   The village of Jahjouka is located on the hilltops of Ahl-El Srif. The Master Musicians of

 

Jahjouka have performed ceremonial music for the past ten centuries for the courts of

 

the Kings of Morocco.

   By tradition they perform the Dance of the Boujeloud considered to be the

 

mythological god Pan symbolized by the goat half man legend.
 

   Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones produced an album titled "The Flute of pan." In 1967,

 

the music of Jahjouka was introduced to the world, thanks to the influence of American

 

author Paul Bowles who spent many creative years living in Morocco.