The Roots of Ahouach By Hassan Ouakrim**


The Ahouach is the authentic traditional dance of the Berbers; which is unique to the Souss, the southern region of Morocco. A main characteristic of this earthy dance is that it is performed by men and women in separate lines out of doors in conjunction with nature to celebrate special spiritual events witch are called Al Mougar (in Berber ) or Moussem ( Moroccan Arabic ).

This art form called Ahouach has its own rules since the beginning of time; as you must know the Berbers race is one of the oldest civilizations in this great planet.
Here is a simple definition of the rules:

The configurations of this discipline turn first around the knowledge of the music.
The Master leader or Raiss with his very special small powerful drum -made from goat leather- called in Berber Allun, than comes, the lead dancer who will direct the whole group.
The Raiss has several others musicians which play with him the different beats.
Let’s not forget the poet known as Andam .

Andam has the privilege and authority to open the Ahouach ceremony.
There is lot friction between tribes about the meaning of the words, sometimes about love, life,happiness and death.
>The Ahouach is also a major celebration in wedding ceremonies. It is a part of special astrological manifestations, which follows a secret code of conduct. The dates and locations of where dances are planned are spread secretly by word of mouth to keep outsiders from disturbing the secret meaning integral to the Ahouach.
According to my deep feeling Ahouach is the ritualistic mystic dance of one of the great spirit ofThe Berbers. The leader- Raiss is very well gifted to bring the complexes beats together which must trigger a kind of trance that can be translated by a combination of the drums rhythms which is categorized trigonometric in the speed and patterns that will bring everybody in one harmony.
The power of this collective dance is to create unity in the form of happiness and joy in our present lives. It is the calling of the Berbers to show the world the necessity of removing our negative energy and absorb positive realities and move towards peace and the protection of the Earth

**Hassan Ouakrim.
Master dance Teacher/Artistic Director of La MaMa Theatre. NYC