Thread: Article on Zar ritual in Middle Eastern Dance

My students are working on a unit on rhythms, and I'm doing some articles for them on the topic.

This morning I finished an article on Zar ritual (Ayoub rhythm) with a focus on how it might be interpreted by a bellydancer.

I thought other dance students and dancers might find the information useful as well. It's at Bellydance styles - Zar ritual

you know ?..where i am, i have had students tell me they would NEVER take our yearly ZAR work shop..that they might "let something in".good for you! right on !

Really nice article! The only thing I might add, and it's a little trivial, is Sudan to the list of places where zar is performed. I say this based on both the widespread availability of Janice Boddy's book on zar and personal communication from a friend who grew up in Sudan and saw zars in his home village.

Perhaps it is worthwhile mentioning that ayoub means "Job" in Arabic, as in the prophet Job from the bible. Ayoub is associated with the sufis more than the zar in everyday moslem life. The zar to most Arabs is a fringe phenomenon, whereas the sufis are everywhere, with their zikrs and whirling trance meditation. That is why it can be offensive to moslems to see half naked women dancing to a sacred rhythm.

My favorite 'pop' song based on ayoub was done by Hakim. It starts out with the beginning of the adnan - "La illa il Allah." There is no god but God. I forget which album. It is long enough to visit other places.
Just a thought...
Yasmin

Originally Posted by Serpentine

My favorite 'pop' song based on ayoub was done by Hakim. It starts out with the beginning of the adnan - "La illa il Allah." There is no god but God. I forget which album. It is long enough to visit other places.

I believe the song you are thinking of is "Madad" off "El Yomein Dol." I've always been puzzled about that one. I had read that Mohammed Mounir was raked over the coals for calling one of his songs "Madad," since people were offended by the notion of using words associated with prayerful invocations for help in a pop song. Meanwhile, I've never come across any fallout for Hakim doing something that seemed (at least superficially) similar. I just assumed that it was safer not to use either of those songs for public dancing.

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

I believe the song you are thinking of is "Madad" off "El Yomein Dol." ... I just assumed that it was safer not to use either of those songs for public dancing.

That's the song! Thank you. I think your assumption is wise. Although I love to use the song for class when I want to trance out my students ..g.:

Originally Posted by Serpentine

Perhaps it is worthwhile mentioning that ayoub means "Job" in Arabic, as in the prophet Job from the bible. Ayoub is associated with the sufis more than the zar in everyday moslem life. The zar to most Arabs is a fringe phenomenon, whereas the sufis are everywhere, with their zikrs and whirling trance meditation. That is why it can be offensive to moslems to see half naked women dancing to a sacred rhythm.

My favorite 'pop' song based on ayoub was done by Hakim. It starts out with the beginning of the adnan - "La illa il Allah." There is no god but God. I forget which album. It is long enough to visit other places.
Just a thought...
Yasmin

Thank you, Yasmin! Some of this is is new information for me, but you are a trusted source. I will add the info to the article and into my regular teaching.

It would be great to make a list of good songs that use the ayoub rhythm. We already have 2. In Hakim's song he completes the adnan to say that Mohammed is the prophet of God "rasoul Allah". So you can see why belly dancing to God's and Mohammed's name would be offensive.

I believe the distinction comes with the speed of the rhythm and of course the lyrics. Drum solos and mergenci have always been favorite places to put the faster version, as you stated. The slower speeds (building to a faster climax) are what lead to trance. It is an ancient rhythm from the area, not like waltz, samba, rumba or even the Turkish rhythms adopted from the Ottomon Empire. Also, as you correctly stated, the zar does not just use ayoub. There are MANY rhythms, mainly African from the Soudan. The current form of the zar as practiced in Egypt, relies heavily on the Soudanese influence. But there are other songs for other spirits, Ya Arab al Arbaan - Gulf spirits and Sayed al-Bedawi for sufi - that have different roots.

I love ayoub. There's something primal about it, that our nervous system seems to be wired for (in my opinion). For my next Orientale album, Hymn to Hathor, I asked Sayed to write a mergenci based on a fast ayoub. It came out wonderfully. I wanted to use the album to explore the rhythm more, but in a non-offensive way. It's tricky, a fine line to tread. I'm glad you are teaching it to your students. Thank you.

It's also a favorite for sagat players :)

Thank you for posting Lauren. I've always been curious about Zar (Zaar?).

Just watching it, even on video, is calming and energizing! I wonder what the muscian's standpoint on it is? Do they feel the same as the dancers?

Originally Posted by Doozer

Just watching it, even on video, is calming and energizing! I wonder what the muscian's standpoint on it is? Do they feel the same as the dancers?

Which dancers and musicians? Western belly dancers and their musicians or the ones playing for the possessed Egyptian women looking for solace?

Thank you for sharing this Lauren! I love your site.

Originally Posted by Serpentine

It would be great to make a list of good songs that use the ayoub rhythm.

Ya Amarna by Hisham Abbas is one of my faves. The vast majority of the song is Ayoub -- I THINK. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by aziyade

Ya Amarna by Hisham Abbas is one of my faves. The vast majority of the song is Ayoub -- I THINK. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

Which album is that on, please?

It's on "Ard El Sharq." You can listen to it here (scroll down to the embedded player) Ya Amarna from album Ard El Sharq By Hisham Abbas On Nogomi.

Thank you Tourbeau for the link! After listening to it, I like Hakim's better, only because Hisham goes into standard bubblegum pop after a while (hard to trance out to pop). But I loved the ayoub in the beginning. Thank you Aziyade for bringing it up.

Any other suggestions for songs?

Awsome Lauren! I've always loved trance dancing and struggle to keep it out of my bellydancing drills!..l;, I never knew there was a tradition where the two worlds touched. That's exciting for me, as I always felt that dancing to the point where it became therapeutic/ enlightening was the natural path of dance itself and indeed the reason I was drawn to it.