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The
Passage of Time - Amel Tafsout
Since I was a child
I was fascinated by dancers, but mostly by performers with a “respectful
age” - a usage in French meaning elderly people. I remember the
first time I saw the Flamenco dancer called “La Chana” from
Cumbre Flamenca. Her performance brought tears to my eyes; she was not
only technically outstanding, but her whole persona, her stage presence,
her aura… no younger dancer could be compared to her. I went many
times to see the show only to watch her again and again!
When I went to Cuba, I was blessed to study with a master dancer : Gregorio.
We didn’t share the same language - only a little bit of French,
but we managed to communicate through the dance and the music .He was
much older than me, but his experience and knowledge of his art was amazing.
He was also a singer and both his dance as his voice brought me a very
special learning experience. I came to love watching elderly couples dancing
the rumba together, everything flowing, no need to be so technical, gliding
together as if they were walking above water. It is a joy to see their
mature grace and joy, unencumbered by the frantic turns and jumps that
young performers are doing in competitive ballroom dancing.
I remember the day I went to see a special concert of the Cuban Diva Celia
Cruz (may she rest in peace) .. Her voice, her energy were incredible.
Though she must have been in her mid-sixties at that time, when she started
dancing she became 16 years old. She enjoyed every movement and everyone
could see that she was a master dancer. Despite her respectful age she
was very sensual and very playful .While she danced, her joy of life became
so contagious that even very reserved British people, men and women, young
and seniors joined in dancing and clapping.
Another performer of respectful age, close to my heart, is the legendary
Algerian “Empress of Rai music”, Cheikha Rimitti (May her
soul rest in peace) . As a child I already knew of her, but Algerian people
spoke her name with a very quiet voice - her music was not accepted by
the establishment and her songs were listened to in secret by the male
population.
She struggled against the odds, growing up as a homeless orphan in the
west of Algeria, a French colony at the time.. During World War II, the
presence of the French military encouraged the rise of café bars.
This changed the culture and the lives of musicians. Cheikha Rimitti led
a wild life, dancing until early morning with a band of traditional musicians,
with whom she she sang and played percussion. Her early musical influences
were traditional female performers, the Shikhat and the Meddahat.
The Meddahat are singers and musicians who play violin and percussion,.
performimg only for women.
The Shikhat are women performers in Western Algeria and Morocco who perform
often for men and women, singing and dancing at various festivities, including
weddings, births and religious ceremonies.
The Shikhat are marginalized in so-called respectable society because
they overstep cultural boundaries by singing about their intimate private
lives. Today, a typical troupe includes up to ten women. However, once
these women become famous and begin recording, they start a solo career.
They sing in the language of the street about love, immigration, and the
struggle to survive poverty. In many cases their lyrics are intentionally
ambiguous, enabling them to escape censorship. This is a particular technique
of “women’s language” which allows for poetic audacities
and daring gestures. It is very common for these women to become increasingly
popular as they grow older, as the “the passage of time” does
not affect their performance, and enhances the respect they command.
Cheikha Rimiti’s first improvised verses were inspired by the terrible
epidemics, such as the plague in the region mentioned in Albert Camus’
1947 novel “The Plague”. .She established her career singing
about the hardship of women’s lives and the repugnant attitude of
men towards their young brides.
In live performances, Cheikha Rimitti had the power to transport Algerians
living abroad back to their roots. With facial expressions, her typical
shoulder movements as her famous dance steps, even at the age of 78 she
gave free reign to her talents, which included a superb comedic sense..
Well-known for her hennaed hands beautifully decorated with Berber tattoos,
she used them to introduce the song and play the bendir frame drum. In
authentic Wahrani dress and jewelry, she appeared like a mythical priestess.
When I met her, in her later years, she would really come alive only on
stage - during the day she would look very tired. But on stage! She becomes
a very young girl dancing, singing and playing like a teenager. Her manager
would try to give her a cue to stop but she would ignore him and carry
on enjoying herself with her audience. That is the moment where she was
alive living every second of her art.
She didn’t
perform in large venues until 1982. Late in life, she appeared all over
the world to adoring audiences. She died in 2006, just after her big performance
in the Zenith Theater in Paris, at the “respectable age” of
83. Cheikha Remitti was a great inspiration to me. When she met me the
first time she told me that I reminded her of herself. I was very honored
by her statement as she represented so much for me, the connection to
my own roots .
Meeting Remitti, I realized how much I missed the women of my family,
especially my grandmother (May she rest in peace). My grand-mother was
like a Queen…. She walked like a Queen…. Spoke like a Queen….
Danced like a Queen. She had an aura that everybody liked to be around.
She kept her beauty , her elegance and her authority as she aged. I remember
how she put her head-dress on, how much time she took to wrap her melhafa
( a kind of sari) around her body, how she wore her jewelry … every
gesture became a dance movement, a ritual honoring life. She taught me
to honor myself and others as she did. She taught me to know when to listen
and be quiet and when to speak. She taught me to pray… I had to
practice many times while she was watching me from her chair and listening
to me reciting my prayers to make sure that I was performing them correctly.
She was very strict about it and I was trying my best because I wanted
her to be proud of me. I had to try not to look at her , to avoid bursting
out laughing from embarrassment . Sometimes I had to prepare my little
prayer rug parallel to hers and we would perform the prayer together When
I look back at my childhood I remember how much fun I had with my grandmother,
how much I respect her , and I am filled with gratitude for all her teaching.
She taught me so much and I cherish these memories very much.
I used to dance with her, holding her hand. As a child, I had to lift
my head to look at her, which gave me the impression that she was so tall
that I couldn’t reach her. I remember the feel of the fabric of
her dress caressing my face .Her dress was dancing with me ,helping me
to move and comforting me in telling me “Everything is alright just
look how I am doing it!”. It was such a beautiful feeling to go
with the flow and play with my grandmother’s dress!
In Algeria, as in so many other cultures, we learn dancing at home with
our grandmothers, mother and aunties. The first lesson would be during
a celebration,. As a child, we would try to dance the dance of older women,
and imitate them because we wanted to grow up so badly. It is very common
that during a wedding ceremony the grandmother is the first person to
open the dance. The grandmother’s dance performance is considered
as a great blessing to her grandchild. It is also a way for the grandmother’s
to make the situation more relaxed and prepare her grandchild for her
future life .
The women’s
tradition of offering a dance as a wedding present to the bride is very
common in the Arab World . What is beautiful about it is how we honor
these grandmothers for their wisdom and their knowledge. It saddens me
to observe in the west how every one is manipulated by the media to believe
that women to be beautiful must be young and slim. I see the elderly segregated
into special communities and excluded from the mainstream society.
In so many other
cultures, less affected by the worship of youth, seniors are included
in multi-generational families and everyone feels concerned about them.
Outside the world of MTV, professional female performers are respected
well into their senior years. Wherever music and dance has a function
in their society to communicate traditions, the singers, musicians and
dancers are respected. Living now in the United States, it is a great
loss to see the extent to which social dance as such has disappeared,
replaced by dance as stage performance. Stage dance choreographers require
dancers at the extremes of athletic competence, and the promoters expect
extremes of standards for appearance - tall, thin, young…. do senior
professional dancers have no chance? Should we all give up as we age past
these specific requirements?
Middle Eastern dance became very popular in the West and specifically
in the U.S., largely through the social need for empowerment among women
yearning to feel acceptance in their own, un-MTV bodies. Today we see
the evidence that this dance style too has become demanding and competitive,
as we witness the phenomena of the “ Belly Dance Super Stars”
. This representation to US and European audiences that it is the top
of the genre has systematically excluded more experienced middle-aged
dancers known for their knowledge and their motivation to bring to western
audiences an understanding of the respect this dance form demands. I wonder
that the producers of these shows are so are confused about competence
and age!. It is likely that they are underestimating the willingness of
their audience to appreciate beauty in aging forms.
In general, Western society needs to extend to senior dance performers
the respect they seem fully able to grant older singers or musicians.
As long as I am healthy and enjoy the dance, I will dance, and feel connected
with my roots and the spirit of my ancestors.
Amel Tafsout
January 10th 2007
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