Ahwach, The Amazigh Tradition
Ahwach represents one of the great traditions of Amazigh dances in Morocco. It’s a purely rural art, a mixed collective dance. It occurs mainly in the High Atlas and Anti Atlas regions within the Chleuhes communities (Amazigh ethnic group). Ahwach combines songs, gestures, percussion, and poetry.
Depending on the circumstances, this artistic tradition remains a celebration for a predominantly peasant community. Anchored in its identity context, Ahwach represents a framework in which the individual expresses his way of life, his values, his thoughts, his emotions, his mystical spirituality, the perception of self, and of the Other… It is a living picture where the creative inspiration of Amazigh women and men beautifully transmits their experience and the collective imagination of their community.
In the past, Ahwach was practiced in a place located in the heart of the village called “Assarag or Assais” in Amazigh. It is a large courtyard that used to be a performance space for all tribal ceremonies.
Dressed in white djellabas and wearing turbans, the men stand in the center of the patio equipped with tambourines and drums. The women, dressed in white, pink, blue dresses ... heads covered nicely with fringed scarves and adorned with authentic Berber jewelry, form a circle. The dance begins with a solo call launched by the troop leader. Two tambourine beats follow. The youyous of women punctuate this introduction. The dance then begins and the rhythm increases crescendo.
To the marvelous undulation of the splendid dancers who operate an extension of their bodies from the bottom up, is added the beauty of poetry which delights an enthusiastic crowd. Women and men fascinate with their talent as versifiers. They compete in the composition of the verses in an atmosphere of a challenge by varying the themes in all fluidity, from the sacred to the profane: invocation of the deities, quest for origins, effusions of the heart, seduction ... This beautiful poetic word accompanies the effervescence of the bodies in all harmony.
Ahwach remains a popular dance that was practiced in the collective celebrations of Amazighs in the Southeast. But this nocturnal ceremony took on an official and more solemn aspect in the time of the Glaoua. Very passionate about this art, these powerful lords who ruled the South East for decades during the colonial era watched over the improvement of the aesthetics as well as the poetry of Ahwach. They made him a sumptuous art worthy of their palates and their social standing.
Thus, all the fiefs of the Glaoua and especially the casbahs of Telouet, Taourirte, and Tifoultoute were the arenas of Ahwach par excellence. The Glaoua chiefs dictated in person the rules for the conduct of these events, played the role of an orchestra or well-informed observers. Their wives and their harem attended Ahwach's shows hidden behind the windows of their rooms which overlook the holiday yard. The troops from these casbahs are the best known Ahwach specialists today.
For women as well as Amazigh men, Ahwach is a space of expression and emancipation. It is a breach of freedom, dreams, intoxication, and fantasy ... because the bodies ignite in a mystical ritual where the dancers-singers create their ideal universe. Everyone, woman and man, is animated by the power of the desire to assert their individuality through the magic of the verb, the fruit of inexhaustible inspiration. In an exclusively oral Amazigh culture, Ahwach represents a mode of expression and transmission of the experience of the individual and his tribe. Rich in connotations specific to its culture, this artistic tradition brings to life the immemorial eras of the Amazigh communities. It is a component of their living identity in its aesthetic, historical and cultural dimensions.
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