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A stage, lights, a mesmerised viewers: it appears to be like like an Egyptian folkloric live performance however Umm Sameh is singing to heal the sick by driving out the demons that possess them. The music and dance ritual often known as “zar”, with centuries-old roots in Ethiopia and Sudan, is historically carried out to keep off or exorcise jinn or evil spirits.
“We’re not quacks or witches,” stated Umm Sameh, aged in her 70s, with kohl-lined eyes, massive hoops swaying in her ears and gold bracelets tinkling on her arms.
“The singing is religious and brings out adverse energies,” stated the lead singer of the Mazaher ensemble, including that in addition they carry out prayers from Islam’s mystic Sufi practices.
Historically, the zar ritual would final a number of days and embrace animal sacrifices. However no blood is spilled at Cairo’s Makan Cultural Centre, the place the group performs to the delight of overseas and native visitors. The viewers is bewitched by Umm Sameh’s voice and nod their heads to the drumbeat.
In a patriarchal society the place ladies face frequent discrimination, zar ceremonies are among the many few cultural practices through which they take centre stage.
Umm Sameh stated she realized the ritual from age 11 from her mom and grandmother. Six a long time later, she recites the identical lyrics to the identical tunes — all from reminiscence, she provides proudly, as a result of she has “inherited them and grown up with them”.
‘Outdated therapeutic ritual’
“Zar is a really outdated therapeutic ritual, a bit like medical remedy,” stated Ahmed al-Maghraby, founding father of Mazaher, which he says is Egypt’s final group to carry out zar in public. He arrange the Makan efficiency area 22 years in the past “to protect this cultural heritage and archive native music from throughout Egypt”.
It was a troublesome feat, he stated, as a result of zar has traditionally been derided by religious Muslims as a pagan follow, and rejected by modernising state authorities as a backward rural custom. “Center Jap and Egyptian society regards every little thing native with disgust,” lamented Maghraby.
He stated it was overseas vacationers who first introduced Egyptians to the reveals, who he remembered used to say “No! There’s jinn and blood!’” “For them, the zar was at all times one thing sinful.” Ensemble member Abou Samra stated “folks have a really adverse concept of zar due to the films,” in Egypt, lengthy considered the Hollywood of the Arab world.
In considered one of them, 1987 horror film “Al Taweeza” (The Curse), superstars Youssra and Tahia Carioca contorted themselves, drenched in pretend blood, and emitting shrill cries. However zar is “an artwork like all different arts,” stated Abou Samra, who performs the tanboura, a six-string lyre. “Now we have to let go of those stereotypes.”
New era
Instances are certainly altering. The ensemble, whose musicians and dancers have been throughout 60, have introduced in a brand new member. Azza Mazaher, who grew up watching her mom Umm Hassan do percussion, now additionally drums and energises the present as she dances throughout the stage. Azza stated the group now performs in each the outdated and new methods.
“If somebody feels sick and the docs can’t discover a remedy, we will maintain a ceremony,” she advised AFP. “However right here, we’re performing a light-weight piece of folklore, so folks can uncover it, perceive it and revel in it.”
Mazaher has taken half in a number of European festivals, and extra Egyptians are flocking to their Cairo performances, appreciative of the home-grown artform.
Mariam Essawi, an viewers member in her 20s, stated: “They seem like us, they characterize us. Zar is a part of our historical past and our cultural heritage. It’s very unusual that we don’t realize it.” — AFP
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