Thread: Zar?

I have only recently heard of Zar and after a preliminary round of google-ing, including links to Shira's website, I undertand it as a ritualistic dance. But then after a second google, I saw mention of dancers incorporating it into bellydance routines. Is this common? How does this happen?

I am really just very curious and would love to hear what ppl know about it!

Thanks!!!

If you're curious about video, remind me tomorrow - I believe there is some on Bobbie Farrah's DVD.

Zar is a ritual -- but *not* a dance -- from pre-islamic areas of N. Africa and Arabia. In the ritual, women move their bodies, primarily their heads, to a slow, powerful drum rhythm. In real life, it looks not at all unlike headbanging to rock and roll, and with a similar resulting trance-like state (or genuine trance, depends who you ask).

Some middle-eastern music will incorporate the slow ayoub rhythm used for zar. (a fast ayoub rhythm is very common and doesn't reference zar). When that happens, the dancer will usually do head tosses or even spins to allude to the zar ritual. When it's done on stage, it is stylized into a dance. Commonly the dancer will sit on the floor to do her zar movements.

I know of at least one case where a dancer has really injured herself practicing zar movement -- I 'almost' think I remember who it was, but I don't want to give the wrong name. She was on Bhuz at the time and told us a very scary story about practicing her Zar head movements and winding up in the ER with a damaged artery to her brain!! And of course the movements are hard on the neck muscles and vertebrae, so always be gentle and very careful with your body if you practice.

Jillina often includes Zar head movements to a slow ayoub rhythm in her drum solos -- I think the 'pink snake' drum solo had an example.

Occasionally a dancer will perform an entire 'Zar Dance' but that's completely fabricated performance art. Zar is neither a dance nor a performance IRL.

Here's a GREAT piece from Yasmine/Serpentine.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KJFlDtT70c]YouTube - The Zar[/ame]

And another really good one from Gilded Serpent!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f17_PvFhtV4]YouTube - A Zar excerpt from "Hizz ya Wiz"[/ame]

Sorry, I got carried away. The short answer is that dancers incorporate movements that reference the Zar because sometimes the music references the Zar, and it's our job to follow the music. Why musicians choose to reference it I don't know -- they probably just like that heavy, hypnotic beat. (there's a zar section in the song 'Wardah' from Bellydance Superstars 1, if I recall).

Dancers who perform an entire stylized interpretation of a zar ritual, like at the end of the first clip, are doing performance art. They do it because they're fascinated by the ritual and the music, and because as dancers they want to explore it, interpret it, and share it with their audience.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Sorry, I got carried away. The short answer is that dancers incorporate movements that reference the Zar because sometimes the music references the Zar, and it's our job to follow the music. Why musicians choose to reference it I don't know -- they probably just like that heavy, hypnotic beat. (there's a zar section in the song 'Wardah' from Bellydance Superstars 1, if I recall).

Dancers who perform an entire stylized interpretation of a zar ritual, like at the end of the first clip, are doing performance art. They do it because they're fascinated by the ritual and the music, and because as dancers they want to explore it, interpret it, and share it with their audience.

Thank you so much, Lauren! I love when ppl get carried away with their explanations! It is soooo helpful and I am the point were I just love to learn about the less obvious BD traditions! And thanks for the clips!!!

Originally Posted by jengal55

Thank you so much, Lauren! I love when ppl get carried away with their explanations!

We're gonna get along great, then! ..l;,

This part of the dance fascinates me. Some Oriental pieces change from rhythm to rhythm referencing different folkloric styles -- it's like the musicians are giving the dancer a pop quiz! And the dancer is sort of 'expected' to at least acknowledge that she knows what the music is about. It looks silly, for instance, to see a dancer tossing a veil around to a zar rhythm once you know what it is. But as long as she does a couple of head movements to acknowledge the rhythm, then she can go on to do whatever she likes as long as it fits the mood/context/rhythm.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

We're gonna get along great, then! ..l;,

Exactly!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

This part of the dance fascinates me. Some Oriental pieces change from rhythm to rhythm referencing different folkloric styles -- it's like the musicians are giving the dancer a pop quiz! And the dancer is sort of 'expected' to at least acknowledge that she knows what the music is about. It looks silly, for instance, to see a dancer tossing a veil around to a zar rhythm once you know what it is. But as long as she does a couple of head movements to acknowledge the rhythm, then she can go on to do whatever she likes as long as it fits the mood/context/rhythm.

Are there any other popular songs that you know of that have zar sections? You mentioned Warda in the other post and I listened to it and see what you mean...I just want to drill the rhythm into my head!

I don't have time to watch the clips right now, but I will definitely be watching them later. I spent last Saturday in a workshop with Amel Tafsout on Sufi practices, including "turning" or whirling, and the Zar. The second portion of the workshop was on the Zar ritual. I think the first part, the Sufi breathing, chanting and movement and the whirling, got us ready for the Zar ritual.

We didn't toss our heads around, but we did cover our heads and eyes to give us "privacy," as Amel said. We each had a partner (it was all women) and we had blankets nearby to stretch out on afterward. The music was not the heavy 2/4 commonly associated with the zar in oriental routines, but there was a steady rhythm and chanting. The partner assisted the "dancer" by keeping a hand lightly on her shoulders or back so that she felt safe to trance out. Each person moved to the rhythm in her own way in a kind of bouncing and swaying motion. When she was ready, the dancer kneeled or sat on her blanket and continued moving; when the "release" happened, she lay down on it and her partner covered her and stayed with her.

I think every person experienced something profound - I can't say if I did actually go into a trance or not but I definitely felt a big release. We had each privately chosen something to release before we started the ritual.

Mine was some old, deep childhood stuff and I definitely felt something release from my body and an emotional release, too. There were tears.

It was so sweet to be nurtured by a woman friend and it was a very safe and sacred environment that had been created.

Amel assisted each woman who was trancing by placing hands on the woman, rocking her body gently back and forth, rubbing scented water on her hands and face, and performing hand movements over her abdomen and chest that resembled cutting motions, she didn't explain but it made me think of psychic surgery or something and I did feel something release when she did it over me.

I am still processing the experience almost a week later. I definitely feel an inner shift in a very positive way and I am working to keep that emotional space inside of me open. I had been a little "shut down" emotionally and in a bit of a rut for awhile and this has loosened me up in a good way.

Amazingly, several of us danced in the evening show and had lots of energy and lightness. Amel was brilliant and all the dancers seemed to be "on" that night. It was a fun show.

This was my first experience with zar and also with Sufi turning, although I have done some of the other Sufi breathing and chanting practices before.

I can't do the head-tossing stuff because of neck injuries, so I was glad we didn't have to do that.

Amel is a magical woman, get to anything she teaches if you possibly can. She will be here in Eugene, Oregon in April of 2009, see medge.org if you are in the area. She will teach two workshops, perform, and give a lecture while she is here.

Dunyah...your description gave me chills to read! Thank you so much for recounting your experience. My best friend from college is from Eugene! Maybe I can time my next visit!

Thanks again!

Amel's website: Amel Tafsout

Dunyah, I did the same workshop with Amel and had almost the exact same experience. The woman who was my zar partner was someone I barely know, but I still feel a special bond with her when I see her at events. Looking around the room at all those women paired up and caring for each other was profound.



I highly recommend the Amel workshop!!! I'd go again in a heartbeat.

Originally Posted by dunyah

Amel's website: Amel Tafsout

Amel is amazing--we did a shortened version of the Sufi/zar workshop at the Arab Dance Seminar in Boston this year, and it was... powerful. I felt afterwards like my feet were rooted to the core of the earth and like my fingertips could reach the sun simultaneously.

More on topic: here's a really good article about some Egyptian zar practioners.

et - Full Story

If you become really fascinated by the topic, Janice Boddy's book Wombs and Alien Spirits is an anthropological examination of the zar ritual and what it means in women's lives in the northern Sudan. Some of the book is anthro theory, but several chapters are straight ethnography, i.e. description.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Wombs-Alien-Spirits-Northern-Directions/dp/0299123146/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229117087&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Wombs And Alien Spirits: Women, Men, And The Zar Cult In Northern Sudan (New Directions in Anthro Writing): Janice Boddy: Books[/ame]

Amel has some skillz of some kind for sure - when we were doing stuff in her workshops during the Oasis Dance Camp last year, although we weren't specifically working on ritual we did an energy exercise and I wasn't the only one who felt a kind of release and became tearful.

Another little bit of info: Zar is not really appreciated by everyday Arabs(specifically Egyptians) because religiously it's considered a Bid3a(Affectation) and every Bid3a(as the saying goes) is a Dilala(Perdition)

You will see it a lot in old movies, but it's not an everyday thing. It's still done in Egypt, secretly. I remember ladies going and not telling their husbands. It's frowned upon by most people I know. Some cultures in N Africa still do it to get rid of evil spirits. Have I mentioned how superstitious we are yet? ..g.:

Originally Posted by princessisabella

Have I mentioned how superstitious we are yet? ..g.:

Heee!

Thanks, I forgot to mention that although Zar is done in Arab countries, it's not an Islamic ritual or tradition. My impression is that it's considered old-fashioned, embarrassing... kind of the way a lot of US people might look at...astrology. It's not part of the mainstream culture , most educated people sneer at it. (and yet, it's in every newspaper, magazine, and website and a lot of us who claim not to believe in it still read them.)

Does that sound about right Princessisabella? So glad you're here, by the way!!!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Heee!

Thanks, I forgot to mention that although Zar is done in Arab countries, it's not an Islamic ritual or tradition. My impression is that it's considered old-fashioned, embarrassing... kind of the way a lot of US people might look at...astrology. It's not part of the mainstream culture , most educated people sneer at it. (and yet, it's in every newspaper, magazine, and website and a lot of us who claim not to believe in it still read them.)

Does that sound about right Princessisabella? So glad you're here, by the way!!!

Exactly right! Couldn't have said it better myself. Are you sure you're not Egyptian? ..l;,

Originally Posted by princessisabella

Exactly right! Couldn't have said it better myself. Are you sure you're not Egyptian? ..l;,

..l;, Maybe somewhere deep inside my spirit? Maybe I have an Egyptian Djinn! ..l;,

..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;,

Originally Posted by princessisabella

Another little bit of info: Zar is not really appreciated by everyday Arabs(specifically Egyptians) because religiously it's considered a Bid3a(Affectation) and every Bid3a(as the saying goes) is a Dilala(Perdition)

You will see it a lot in old movies, but it's not an everyday thing. It's still done in Egypt, secretly. I remember ladies going and not telling their husbands. It's frowned upon by most people I know. Some cultures in N Africa still do it to get rid of evil spirits. Have I mentioned how superstitious we are yet? ..g.:

Zar isn't part of my cultural tradition, of course, but it wouldn't be appreciated by everyday Americans much, either. One woman in the class was concerned that her Christian faith would be compromised somehow by participating but she found a way to make that work for her. Most people would consider that kind of thing New-Agey or hippie-ish, I think, or just plain weird.

The first CD I released in 2005 was authentic Egyptian zar music.
The Zar - Trance Music for Women
It was important to me that people understood the origins of the phenomenon, so I wrote a long booklet to go with the music, an article on Gilded Serpent (Yamin tells of the Zar for the Gilded Serpent) and produced the film that was referenced above (what is on YouTube is 4 minutes of the 30 minute teaching video I use to accompany my workshop). In addition, the Gilded Serpent review of the album (Amina reviews Yasmin's Zar CD for the Gilded Serpent) clearly states that the music was NOT meant to be for performance in a dance show, but only as examples of music used during a private communion between a woman and her possessing zar spirit (jinn). Women in Egypt (and the Sudan, Ethiopia, the Arabian Penninsula, Iran and apparently even in Pakistan - this month's Smithsonian Magazine) use this ritual to connect to a different part of themselves. They take it very seriously. It is not meant to be performed on stage in a shiny sequined costume. It is meant as a vehicle to talk to the Jinn.