Thread: Amazigh - what is it?

I have a little scrap of paper in my folder of notes on Moroccan music and dance that says "Amazigh - find out more ??"

Anybody have any info?

To my knowledge, the Amazigh are a Berber people. Here are a few links, but not all are really dance-related :)

Berber people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amazigh, (Berber) the Indigenous Non-Arab Population of North Africa, and Their language.
Amazigh dance
Dance in Amazigh countries
Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity | African Arts | Find Articles at BNET

It looks like there are some videos up on youtube - maybe those will help too!

Amel Tafsout is Amazigh (not to mention amazing! ..g.:) and she teaches it in some of her workshops--highly recommend studying with her if you ever get the chance!

edited to add her website is chock full of great information as well:

Amel Tafsout

...

Badriya beat me to it. Amel's your woman!

Amazigh is singular for a person of Berber decent (plural is Imazghen, this is what they call themselves). It means "free people." It's estimated they make up 40-60% of the Moroccan population (hard to count), and they are considered indigenous since artifacts date back to 2000 BC.

I have more details about Ahidous, the dance-game the men and women are know to 'play,' and notes on Ait Khabbash (Imazghen folklore/geneology). If you're interested in that, let me know...

Amazigh is the name of the indigenous people of North Africa. People say Berber but that's not the translation.

Yes, the way I understood it, "Berber" came from the root of the word "barbarian" and so is not considered terribly PC.

I've seen Amel Tafsout and she is pretty amazing. I'm not that advanced yet, but her style is just awesome.

Originally Posted by SweetAngeleye

I've seen Amel Tafsout and she is pretty amazing. I'm not that advanced yet, but her style is just awesome.

I'm sponsoring her in August! So excited...

Originally Posted by badriya_al_ahmar

Amel Tafsout is Amazigh (not to mention amazing! ..g.:) and she teaches it in some of her workshops--highly recommend studying with her if you ever get the chance!

edited to add her website is chock full of great information as well:

Amel Tafsout

I second (err, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) that! LOVE HER!!!

Thanks gang! Is there a dance style associated with this? The notes where I found this mention were from a Moroccan dance workshop.

So how do you pronounce it? Ah-mee-zee ?

Originally Posted by aziyade

So how do you pronounce it? Ah-mee-zee ?

The plural, Imazghen, was pronounced "e-MAZ-gen" so I believe it would be ah-MA-zig (but don't quote me on that).

Originally Posted by aziyade

Is there a dance style associated with this? The notes where I found this mention were from a Moroccan dance workshop.

There is a 'game' called Ahidous (AH-hee-doo) that is 'played' by a large portion of Imazghen for celebrations, esp weddings. Women and men make separate rows, usually facing each other. The men are in charge of percussion (clapping or frame drums) and the women stay very close in a line and sway their hips while kind of shuffle-walking. Both lines travel forward & backward together, sometimes around in a circle, and the 'game' ('dancing' is frowned upon so it's referred to as a game -- it's safe for both married and unmarried women to participate) can go on for hours.

This is a good example of traditional style, I think:

YouTube - Ahidouss

I have notes and names for the different styles/variations of Ahidous in the back house somewhere, but really they are all quite similar.

Guedra is also associated with Berber peoples, as is the Moroccan 'booty' dance.

this one looks like a modern stylization, perhaps a professional troupe.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPMrplUjDMw&videos=G7RIlngxhX4&playnext=2]YouTube - oujnine[/ame]

This is Moroccan 6/8. Not Ahidous but you can see some similarities in the dances/costumes & has great shots of the hipwork!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLDO7iQ5Lf8&feature=related]YouTube - houssa 46[/ame]

Each Berber tribe has is own traditions, including music and dance. The quickest primer would be to get a copy of Morocco's "Marrakesh Folk Festival & More: Berber Dance Under the Stars." The production quality is lacking, but the content is good. It features a number of different tribes and their dances, and Rocky does a voiceover explaining things here and there.

One thing to be aware of with Youtube is a lot videos have some sort of fusion going on, i.e. the singer is singing in Arabic, not Berber; or the dancers are mixing in Schikkhat costuming and dance steps. Rocky's tape will give you a good jumping off point.

Christine

The Amazigh are the indigenous people of Noth Africa, with their own culture and language. They were colonised by the Arabs and there has been much poloitical struggle, particularly in ALgeria. However it is a label that encompasses many regional subgroups.

There are many styles of dance within Amazigh people since they are found through Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, all the way to Egypt as well as the Tuareg people who are as far down as Mali.
It's like talking about the dances of the Native people of North America, quite diverse.

I work with a Berber group and have studied at least 5 styles of dances mostly from Algeria; Kabyle, Chaoui, Targui etc. and they are all quite different one from another.
In Morocco there are also many styles, some in popular chikatt style but other more traditional styles.

Here are a few examples from Algeria;
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMRO8tlzesA&feature=related]YouTube - danse kabyle-http://bgayet-zik.skyrock.com/[/ame]


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBq0ypOqas"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYBq0ypOqas[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BMo_VOoXyw]YouTube - Takoba une DANSE targui رقصة تارقية[/ame]