Thread: History of the Zeffa

Originally Posted by nisaasaintlouis

I'm with Nasila, I think the zeffa rhythm is specific to weddings, but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully somebody else will chime in with more info on this. I'll add that I think this rhythm is specific to Egyptian weddings, because non-Egyptian Arabs have different zeffa traditions with different musical styles.

It also might be worth noting that the al-zeffah rhythm is not the only one used in an Egyptian wedding procession. In some of the wedding zeffahs I've seen, the procession will stop at certain points along the way for entertainers (dancers, dervish, etc) or for family members to dance, and they will often change the base rhythm until they start moving again.

Originally Posted by 0Adara0

snip

It is definitely not an Islamic tradition. Punjabi culture has a similar tradition done at weddings named Jaggo (wake up) where the - bear with me here - family on the mother's side of the person getting married (bride or groom) walk around the village/neighborhood in the evening/night singing and making noise and waking people up to make them aware of the fact that there is a wedding happening. This is done within the days prior to the wedding. The "procession" will pull pranks and mischief on the neighbors and also walk around with canes with bells on them that they hit the ground with as they walk around - causing noise. There will be at least one person carrying a Jaggo - which was traditionally a specific clay pot with oil candles (diva, divas) on that would light the way (oldest aunt married to mom's brother starts, then others take over). They would also ask for "donations" to stop them from making noise/doing mischief. Today you get pre-made Jaggos with battery operated lights, fashionable fabrics and draperies and they are usually stainless steel now.

here a picture from a Punjabi heritage competition:



modern jaggo


old meets new


Punjabi culture cocktail. Jaggo procession at 2:41:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hriPRbPRr-Y]YouTube - Punjabi Folk Song[/ame]

read more about this [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_wedding_traditions"]here[/ame] here and here

Norwegians did processions where they carried lanterns or torches in the dark (usually winter) back in the day. I'm sure there are similar traditions all around the world where light is brought into the dark for some purpose - may it be celebration, superstition, demonstration or announcement.

Many that claim Judaiism also claim Middle Eastern cultural decent - although those parts of the Jewish society aren't always brought forth. I would think that Zaffa being a Middle Eastern cultural tradition - it would depend on WHO the Jewish person is... if they're of Middle Eastern decent - they may expect a Zaffa. If they are Russian or European decent - they may not have a clue what it is. If they are of any decent and they are IN Israel - I think it would depend on how orthodox they are in their religion.

Processions in celebration or announcement or demonstration are common in all cultures. I do think a Zaffa WITH the Shamadaan may be looked upon as more "Arab" or even Egyptian, where as a "straight up Zaffa" could be from anywhere in the Middle Eastern world. Not sure, but that's my thought on it.

So. I say, lets book Sahra Saeeda for a seminar!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT_2M_xYHiY]YouTube - JAGGO - Addi-Tappaa the game of life...[/ame]

A more traditional jaggo from a movie score if anyone's interested :)

Originally Posted by david

They would also ask for "donations" to stop them from making noise/doing mischief.

I love this!

Originally Posted by david

So. I say, lets book Sahra Saeeda for a seminar!

Do it! I'm there.

ETA David, that little tandem move at :47 in the last video... is that fertility-related?

Originally Posted by nasila

I love this!

hehe, you find flipping beds, knocking in doors, pinching people and bantering at them in your songs fun, huh? :)

Do it! I'm there.

I'm there too... too bad Sahra wont be - she's all over the place these days except in SoCal [insert posessive muttering here] lol :)

ETA David, that little tandem move at :47 in the last video... is that fertility-related?

No, it's not, it's related to what they're singing :) They're riding some type of vehicle. This is a typical thing for Punjabi folk dances to create "scenes" with human bodies. vehicles, women dressing up as men (put your veil around your head - and you're done, simple), standing on top of each other to "be" trees, fitting several people together to make a farm cart with bulls in front and the farmer sitting on the cart etc.

Lose translation:
The girl's chacchi has anklets on her feet, anklets on her feet she cant lift her feet. Come sit on my "bambo cart", the "bambo cart" is going to Ambarsar, oh you (fem), come sit on the "bambo cart".

I'll have to think about the proper translation of "bambo cart" - but for now, its some kind of vehicle.
Chacchi = the wife of one of dad's younger brother.
Ambarsar = Punjabi slang for Amritsar
oh you (fem) = ni = old informal Punjabi used as a mode to get attention - grammatically female, kind of like ya in arabic - but with a gender specification.

Originally Posted by nisaasaintlouis

I'm with Nasila, I think the zeffa rhythm is specific to weddings, but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully somebody else will chime in with more info on this. I'll add that I think this rhythm is specific to Egyptian weddings, because non-Egyptian Arabs have different zeffa traditions with different musical styles.

I've seen/heard it at many Lebanese weddings in the US.

Originally Posted by bellydancewear

I've seen/heard it at many Lebanese weddings in the US.

My main experience is with Palestinians, and I think they generally consider that rhythm to be an Egyptian thing, though I know some Palestinians (in the US) want Egyptian-style zeffa at weddings (even though it's not traditional for them).

David- forgive my ignorance of Indian culture, but I was wondering if the film 'Bride and Prejudice' had something like that in it?

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

David- forgive my ignorance of Indian culture, but I was wondering if the film 'Bride and Prejudice' had something like that in it?

You're not ignorant if you inquire about something - you are educating yourself :) THANK YOU for asking.

As far as Indian culture - it's hard to identify what that would be. Yes, Hindi, English, patriotism, Gandhi and our national anthem could be considered common Indian culture, but that's probably as far one would get with finding "commonalities" among Indians. We're over a billion people. It's easier to just split us into regional, geographical, ethnic/linguistic and statewise groups. Each region, each state, each ethnic group has their own culture - and that's without even having touched the religous divisions/differences yet. It's like Egyptians and Arabs - they definitely are not all alike, but they do share certain similarities.

As an example, humor me - I could knock on the neighbor's door here where we live and be in different culture...imagine the same with over a billion Indians. Or [insert number of Arabs] Arabs for that sake.

B&P had references to a bunch of different cultures in it. They had ladies' sangeet (ladies wedding song "get together") from Punjabi culture, they had Dandiya Ras from Gujarat (the stick dance), they had Bhangra and Giddha from Punjab, they had a bunch of other stuff too :)

Good observation BM :)))

Thanks David! I would love to learn more. I can't say I've had much exposure aside from the occasional movie.

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

Thanks David! I would love to learn more. I can't say I've had much exposure aside from the occasional movie.

I'll let you know when my brother's getting married....Bhuz field trip excursion, anyone? lol

That would be fantastic! ..g.:

Originally Posted by david

I'll let you know when my brother's getting married....Bhuz field trip excursion, anyone? lol

Count me in!

{{{HUGS}}}