Moroccan Culture

The kasbahIn the South, you will meet in the middle of the palm groves these superb fortified adobe buildings. Formerly the residence of the lord, the kasbah played a fundamental role for centuries. She served as both a shelter for crops and shelter to the oasis of the desert when the looters became threatening.Like all traditional houses of southern Morocco, the kasbah are built of adobe, but on stone foundations.The kasbah include three levels: the ground floor is devoted to animals, with a barn and a room for agricultural activities; the first floor is the central space, reserved for women, with its open kitchen; 2nd floor consists of reception room, for men, the whole being crowned with a terrace.Some of them, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in the late 1980s, are the subject of a conservation program.The riad and darThe riad term actually means "walled garden", while dar means "home".The riad is always one level. It's sort of the middle-class house of the medina. In a dar, there are two storeys high, a reception room on the ground floor and terrace.By abuse of language, the riad term is used to describe the traditional houses built around courtyards.Family life is organized around these courtyards. The various parts do not necessarily communicate. The windows open onto the courtyard while the walls facing the street have no window.The Berber tentIt is the habitat used by nomadic transhumance with their herds.The tent (khaïma) brown is woven sheep wool or goat hair. We find the space for women and children, and another reception area, that men use to sleep. The floor is covered with mats, carpets and cushions.Music and danceMusicPopular musicVaried and imaginative, popular music is constantly changing. They are light songs in dialectal Arabic.There are three main types: griha is a poetic improvisation, in purely vocal origin, which then discreetly accompanied by oud (Arabic lute sort of) or violin before leaving instead percussion. The procession of music gives pride to a kind of oboe, the Ghaita and drum tabala. Finally, ghounia is a light song that uses topical themes.Alongside the latter, rai, of Algerian origin, has been emulated in Morocco.It should also be made of Nass El Ghiwane group that rose to prominence by engaging lyrics sung to traditional rhythms.Classical musicKnown as the Arab-Andalusian music, it is a court music played and sung generally in large cities of the North. It is especially fun for the men of letters and scholars, the texts are always of high quality.Classic also is the inspiration of sacred music which falls Sufism. Sufism has developed the art of sacred song (for male voices).The Berber or rural musicThe rural music, including Berber, is often inseparable from dance and poetry, and kept in his pastoral isolation, its authenticity. It is inspired by the Moroccan countryside; songs and dances of the peasants are magnificent spectacles. They very often have a religious function.The music of the Arab worldMorocco is very open to major Egyptian and Near Eastern singers like Oum Kalthoum, Fairuz and Mohammed Abdel Wahab.The dancesIt will certainly give you attend some folk dances, often collective. The most widespread in the Middle Atlas region, is ahidous, bringing together dozens of men and women around a playmaker.In the High Atlas in chleuh countries, one can observe the ahouach, danced by women while men set the pace by hitting bendir.In Guelmim and part of the Saharan region, there is the guedra dance which takes its name from the pot or pots on which stretched goatskin.The Gnawa have retained their African rhythms. We can attend their demonstration in Essaouira or Marrakech. Too bad, these "performances" are increasingly devoid of authenticity.