Welcome to October's Zameena!

(Zameena, by Zara's Zouk, aims to share empowerment, knowledge and LOVE, of bellydance) 

Myself and many North African professional dancers have spoken out about what exactly the problem is with “chikhat” performances, yet it seems that it goes unnoticed and unheard. I’d like to use this opportunity to present a learning experience for those who’d like to explore Moroccan Chaabi dance ethically. Everyone can (and should!) dance Moroccan Chaabi, but NOT everyone is a chikha. 

Let's go through some basics before I talk about how chikhat performances I’ve seen are problematic:

WHAT IS MOROCCAN CHAABI? 
 

Moroccan Chaabi, “Cha3bi Maghribi” or “Chaabi Marocain” is a popular music genre that is the people’s music (hence the word Chaabi coming from the word Chaab = people) that presents the spirit and voice of everyday working class/rural people and their common problems.

Chaabi is known for its polyrhythmic percussion with multiple bendirs (frame drums with snares) and a derbouka that altogether hold up to  3-5 different rhythms on 6/8 timing. Chaabi is famously known for the Kamanja (violin that is played vertically on the lap). This sets the melody and mood of dance, along with periods of “jarra”, instrumental breaks that “hype” the crowd. Chaabi can also have an oud, loutar, and guitar depending on the style.

Chaabi has different styles depending on the region, like Haouzi style (from Marrakech), Doukkali style (from El Jadida) or Bidaoui style (from Casablanca).
Chaabi thrives in informal social dancing spaces such as: Moussems (festivals of saints) weddings, hennas, ceremonies, social events (cabarets, etc).
Chaabi is danced socially. 

WHO ARE THE CHIKHAT? AND WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO BE LIKE THEM?

Often people confuse the word chikhat to represent a dance style. And that is incorrect. Moroccan Chaabi is a genre and dance style.
Chikhat are Moroccan women who are traditional dancers and/or singers who perform Moroccan Chaabi. To be a chikha (singular of chikhat) requires years of earning respect from elders, studying heritage, music, and dance, and as a result becoming your social occupation in traditional society. The occupation of Chikha is present across North Africa for different musical traditions (in Medahatte tradition in Algeria for example).

A chikha is a woman who is wise, respected,  artistically proficient, and is a tradition bearer in her community-- and that doesn’t come easy.
 

Chikhat can also be singers and the “MC’s”, but are more famously known as dancers. (FYI, I am using the word “performance” in this article to mean a public expression of dance, not necessarily a choreographed set.) As dancers, Chikhat perform informally without strict structure and choreography. At times there are as little as 1 and up to 10 in a performance.

There is a socio-economic context to who Chikhat are. Chikhat have been known to lead difficult lives, usually are thrown into becoming a dancer due to poverty, and obstacles to formal education (this is starting to change a bit over time, as some chikhats have more choices now, and choose to work as dancers) Sometimes women start young after a parent dies, or perhaps start after being widowed or divorced.

Chikhat are commonly known as “expatriated” women, women who live outside the margins of typical patriarchal norms of society because they dance in male-dominated public spaces and earn their own livings. In a traditional/religious/cultural/conversative context, dancing in public as a woman is stigmatized and deems one as “dishonorable” - therefore categorizing chikhat unsuitable to “live under the rule of a man” .
Often if a chikha gets married, they usually quit their profession. Being a chikha is not easy.  

They often face stigmatization by mainstream Moroccan society because of the sexist implications of being a dancer.
Some chikhat are also sex workers, because of the devaluation of this tradition which = lack of opportunity = less money.
The word “chikha” now in Moroccan society is synonomous with sex worker, which to me, isn’t an insult at all (sex work is real work!), but the real insult lies in that being a public dancer automatically implies you are sexually available for men.

Chikhat are not victims (look up Kherboucha!). Rather they represent the resilience through the challenges and contradictions of conservative society.

SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
 

What I find problematic, is the caricaturing of Chikhat by Western dancers through the ludicrous representations of them and how they dance. This is often done through bland, overly choreographed performances with incorrect traditional attire and cringy lack of timing/musiciality. At times, it's not even Chaabi music! 

Everyone is entitled to learn to dance. However, one is not entitled to inaccurately represent a dance tradition that is very specific in context - and play make-believe imitating another woman -- especially if you are white. It's the same old thing we keep seeing with folks who appropriate cultures (see; dreadlocks, hip hop;) without respect to the women and context in which they exist (see; black folks). North African and Arab women’s bodies are often worn as costumes and our cultures are exploited as cultural capital for dancers who want to get ahead.

Please discontinue using “chikhat” as a performance style, because it's not a style, it's a person. And you are not this person. Very simple.
Chikhat are chikhat because it’s their social occupation. They are not a performance piece or halloween costume. If you call yourself a chikha or your performance “chikhat”, you are directly contributing to and normalizing the collective ignorance and disrespect of a cultural tradition.

Aside from the removal of context from chikhat, these performances are not “on time”, and ignore the musical and rhythmic structure of the song. Dance movements are placed randomly and are  “belly-dance-ified (I made that up!), meaning chaabi is danced within the framework of belly dance movement vocabulary and not as a separate study.

SO, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

1: When you are unsure if you are engaging with a North African cultural tradition in an ethical manner, hire a North African cultural worker/dance professional to consult you. 

2: Learn how to dance Moroccan Chaabi socially FIRST before you perform. Learn musicality, learn rhythm, learn how to interact with the music in a way that makes sense. Have some Moroccan friends (but don't exotify them), go to Moroccan weddings, go to your local Arab cabaret and wait till the Moroccan Chaabi singer comes on. Go to Moroccan Chaabi workshops by native North Africans. Invest in us and learn from us. Do this for years. Before you create a performance piece that will be archived and documented on the internet and used as a public reference.  Everytime you post something incorrect, you add it as a resource for others who are learning as well. Don’t reproduce further ignorance. This is a cultural tradition that requires skill and proficiency, just like everything else.

3: Stop learning how to be a chikha from YouTube. And stop calling your performances “chikhat”. If you are ready to perform, present your performance as “Moroccan Chaabi”. 

THANK YOU FOR READING and
HOPE TO SEE YOU IN AN UPCOMING WORKSHOP
Esraa Warda 

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