– Ahidous: It is a unified dance at the level of groups in the district, but at the Arafa, it is a light dance, organized within an open circle, where the dancers carefully observe their leader who must be listened to and carry out his orders. The dancer rushes forward with movements and vibrations of the shoulders and chest forward in a light manner, which gives an undisputed wondrous feature. This dance is known from time to time as stops, as one of the members of the group gets loud and stops the dance suddenly. The clan of the man who handed them a share of the money, to conclude his chant with his praise and request addressed to the women who are watching from afar in order to let out their ululation, and so the band performs other dances at the time such as “Al-Alawi”.
– Al-Alawi.. This is a skilled dance that is mastered by the people of the region, especially in the countryside. It is a dance that brings its peculiarities and originality from the midst of the Bani Ya’la tribe in Jaradah district.. Al-Alawi is also a well-known dance in other parts of the region, but at “Al-Arafa” he is distinguished by the uniform and the dominant musical instruments. On the other hand, the task of Arafa is not limited to the dance only, but to the songs as well.
2 – Al-Shuyukh Group: It consists of many teams inside and outside the city, some of them play with the flute or “kasaba” and others play with “gaita”. Al-Kalal, which is a folkloric instrument somewhat similar to the “darbuka”, except that the first one is longer than the second, and it produces a sound that is distinguished from the voice of the “bandir”.
3 – The Bardia group, a local folklore group that is unique to the region. It consists of individuals and its name is derived from the type of movements that are carried out by playing with weapons and firing “gunpowder”. The dancers carry weapons such as “bouhba” during the duration of the dance, which sometimes lasts for two hours, and The members of the group are in an orderly position, so you see them lined up in two parallel rows, within a paramilitary system, in costumes somewhat similar to those of the custom.
It is only played by one or two individuals, and the dances performed such as “Al-Alawi” are distinguished by “Spicysia” and “Al-Arashiyya”, and in the last dance, shots are fired from the mouths of rifles, towards the sky or sometimes the earth as a sign of collective victory.
In general, it can be said that when we go back to the history of the eastern region, we discover that such dances were associated with the phenomenon of the armed “koum” or “folk”, which Morocco knew through historical stages that passed…. A dance from the sheikhs’ dances or the Arafa, for example, goes through basic stages It begins to announce it, especially after noon, where the band members line up across the place designated for the mind in their uniform clothes in terms of color and shape, and mostly yellow turbans over their heads, so you see them wandering according to the beats of the banners and moving their shoulders to the right and left, so the party begins in a large and influential family atmosphere, exalted. It includes the music of the banadir and the double piper, with solo dances sometimes, then comes the second stage, and it is called at the Arafa “Tabriha”.
As for the “Al-Nahari” dance, it is a dance belonging to the “Awlad Anhar” tribe near Ahfir, and is similar to the “Mankoushi” dance, which belongs to the Bani Mankoush tribe near Tafogalt, and the “Rakada” dance, which is close to the Fazwan and Burkan region…all of which are dances that use the same means as before. Mentioning her, which symbolizes readiness to fight… includes some manifestations of violence and strength, and thus has no place for women at all…
And because they are dances characterized by the nature of masculinity and virility, they were born by nature from the harshness of geographical nature and the dryness of human nature in general.
For more information and clarification on the door, we contacted one of the leaders of the “Arafa” group in the eastern region: Sheikh Weld Ali Al-Zakrawi, who said: It is my pseudonym, his real name is Muhammad Hamdani, born in 1955 in the Zakara tribe (Dawar Awlad Musa), I was fond of local folk dance, I learned a lot during my childhood about folk dance, so I became acquainted with Ahidous, Al-Alawi, Anhari, and Al-Saff…. The latter, which means “the wall” in our country, dates back to about 200 years. By codifying this ancient heritage, there are many terms we have in folk art:
1- Al-Alawi: which I mostly use with kambeh and bandir, then kallal, and it is an art that can be played by one person as well as by 6 people….
2- Ragada: It is a unique dance that is divided into artistic units or panels.
3 – Al-Saff or Al-Haidous: Sheikh Ali says, if members of a group of passionate people line up, they line up for defense in a state of aggression, and this is the original idea in this type of folklore. As for the gunpowder, it occurs when the women line up, and the men address them by firing gunpowder, expressing that they are protecting them, saying: “We are here to protect you.” Sheikh Ali recalled the beginning of what the men chanted during the row game: “Until I and my gazelles die… Turn us into a lonely grave.” And the women here answer them, “May God lent the bardia…they beat my son or he is still young…”
As for the areas where the row is located, Sheikh Ali says: The row is found in the tribe of Mahayah, Zakara, Beni Ya’la, Beni Kil, the sons of Sidi Ali, Taourirt, Karsif, and Awtat al-Hajj up to Tlemcen and Bel Abbas in Algeria.
And about the techniques of Allawi, Anhari and the theatre, Sheikh Ali says: The dances of Al-Rakada, the theater, Al-Mankoushi, Anhari and Allawi constitute one play, in addition to the type of “Arabism”, which is a folkloric art that combines all these dances..
As for Allawi’s techniques, a dance for reckoning, which is similar to Anhari, the theater, al-Saff, and al-Mankoushi, they are unified techniques, but they differ in terms of reckoning, and they are (Al-Sabisa, Larisha, Lakhmisa, Al-Bint or Al-Saqla..) As for Al-Sabisa, it is three (3) consecutive strokes with the right leg in mostly. And Al-Arisha is the other three separate blows to the man..
The khamees are five consecutive strokes by the man, and the girl or the saqala is one stroke, with which the game can be stopped or started again. Much about the man’s dancing, and the woman playing during the day, while the man plays during the night, and the women chant their ululation, and the ululation is the woman’s expression of encouraging the man who is often her husband, and the woman cannot ululate over a group that plays folklore unless there is a member of her relative in the midst of it or her husband. As for the dance, the person who wants to perform it is obliged to pay the price for it in order to help that sheikh who provides him with the appropriate atmosphere, and whoever errs in the scale is punished by striking a stick from the dancer who paid the price for his dance. A bluster is a man’s expression of his victory. It is a call that is echoed by mountains or walls.
So this is the popular folklore in the eastern region and the suburbs of Jeddah, and these are its features and advantages, as we referred to and referred to by the head of the Al-Arafa band, Sheikh Ali Al-Zakrawi, who is known for his agility and taste..