The Dancing City: Ghat's Celebration of Tuareg Music and Culture
Deep in the Sahara desert, hundreds of miles from the bustling coastal cities of Tripoli and Benghazi, lies the oasis town of Ghat.
Beyond simply being a bastion of water and agriculture in the dry heat of the desert, this tiny metropolis also serves as one of the great beacons of culture in Libya. Located in the southwest region of Fezzan, this town plays host to a large population of Tuareg people, an ethnic group with origins spreading across north and west Africa and a history of assimilated Arab and black African culture. This unique synthesis of culture is ever-present in Ghat, especially through music and dance. In fact, the continuous dancing and folkloric music performances taking place throughout the city's days and nights have earned Ghat its nickname, "the dancing city."
By far, the grandest celebration of Tuareg culture in Ghat takes place every year at the Ghat Festival of Culture and Tourism. With the 24th iteration of this festival having taken place just over two months ago, this annual three-day cultural celebration puts on display all aspects of Tuareg culture: crafts, lifestyle, and most importantly, traditional styles of music and dance. This even has ballooned in popularity, especially after the government of Muammar Qaddafi was deposed and tourist groups once again began entering the country. On a given day of this festival, a person could be treated to a stroll through open-air markets showcasing all manner of handmade products, camel races in the desert, a tour of prehistoric rock paintings, and any number of traditional music and dance performances.
Interestingly enough, traditional Tuareg music style have specific roles and ornamentation styles for given genders. Folkloric music from the Tuareg people shares traditional Arab melodic patterns with the complicated rhythm and percussion styles prevalent in other African cultures. These songs typically rely on repeated melodic lines, based on the pentatonic scale (omitting all half steps in the scale -- think of just playing the black keys of a piano). However, specific ornamentation varies by gender. For example, men typically contribute to these folkloric songs by developing their conclusion. At the end of a given song, the melody will shift from a pentatonic scale to a microtonal melodic scale (think of this as playing notes between the keys of a piano). For women, instead of singing these microtonal melodies, they often utilize the technique of zaghruta, or yodeling cry, which originates from traditional Arab styles of music.
In many cases, even the instrumentation utilized by different genders can differ. When males accompany particular music or dance, they typically use reed instruments and frame drums. Women, however, have slightly more variety in their instrumental options: they often utilize goblet drums and tambourines in accompanying music and dance, and are also known for musical solos using the one-stringed fiddle.
By far, the two most well-known dance styles of the Tuareg, often performed at the Ghat festival, are the Targi and Sword Dances. The two styles share many similarities; their instrumentation is the same, with both dances being accompanied by goblet drums, frame drums, Nigerian drums, and tambourines to model intricate rhythms. Both dances stem from the original purpose of being performed at specific ceremonies, the Targi Dance typically at community celebrations and the Sword Dance before and animal hunt. The two dances, differ, however, in the story they tell. The Targi Dance, meant to celebrate the culture and artistry of the Tuareg people, tells of an old Tuareg man who, upon seeing a group of young male dancers, stops to imitate them. After a few unsuccessful tries, the man succeeds at copying their dance, and the young men stop, captivated by the man’s more eloquent movements. The Sword Dance, as once could probably guess, very closely mimics the practice of sword-fighting and hunting, and depicts the adventure of hunting animals in the wild.
Beyond simply being a bastion of water and agriculture in the dry heat of the desert, this tiny metropolis also serves as one of the great beacons of culture in Libya. Located in the southwest region of Fezzan, this town plays host to a large population of Tuareg people, an ethnic group with origins spreading across north and west Africa and a history of assimilated Arab and black African culture. This unique synthesis of culture is ever-present in Ghat, especially through music and dance. In fact, the continuous dancing and folkloric music performances taking place throughout the city's days and nights have earned Ghat its nickname, "the dancing city."
By far, the grandest celebration of Tuareg culture in Ghat takes place every year at the Ghat Festival of Culture and Tourism. With the 24th iteration of this festival having taken place just over two months ago, this annual three-day cultural celebration puts on display all aspects of Tuareg culture: crafts, lifestyle, and most importantly, traditional styles of music and dance. This even has ballooned in popularity, especially after the government of Muammar Qaddafi was deposed and tourist groups once again began entering the country. On a given day of this festival, a person could be treated to a stroll through open-air markets showcasing all manner of handmade products, camel races in the desert, a tour of prehistoric rock paintings, and any number of traditional music and dance performances.
Interestingly enough, traditional Tuareg music style have specific roles and ornamentation styles for given genders. Folkloric music from the Tuareg people shares traditional Arab melodic patterns with the complicated rhythm and percussion styles prevalent in other African cultures. These songs typically rely on repeated melodic lines, based on the pentatonic scale (omitting all half steps in the scale -- think of just playing the black keys of a piano). However, specific ornamentation varies by gender. For example, men typically contribute to these folkloric songs by developing their conclusion. At the end of a given song, the melody will shift from a pentatonic scale to a microtonal melodic scale (think of this as playing notes between the keys of a piano). For women, instead of singing these microtonal melodies, they often utilize the technique of zaghruta, or yodeling cry, which originates from traditional Arab styles of music.
In many cases, even the instrumentation utilized by different genders can differ. When males accompany particular music or dance, they typically use reed instruments and frame drums. Women, however, have slightly more variety in their instrumental options: they often utilize goblet drums and tambourines in accompanying music and dance, and are also known for musical solos using the one-stringed fiddle.
By far, the two most well-known dance styles of the Tuareg, often performed at the Ghat festival, are the Targi and Sword Dances. The two styles share many similarities; their instrumentation is the same, with both dances being accompanied by goblet drums, frame drums, Nigerian drums, and tambourines to model intricate rhythms. Both dances stem from the original purpose of being performed at specific ceremonies, the Targi Dance typically at community celebrations and the Sword Dance before and animal hunt. The two dances, differ, however, in the story they tell. The Targi Dance, meant to celebrate the culture and artistry of the Tuareg people, tells of an old Tuareg man who, upon seeing a group of young male dancers, stops to imitate them. After a few unsuccessful tries, the man succeeds at copying their dance, and the young men stop, captivated by the man’s more eloquent movements. The Sword Dance, as once could probably guess, very closely mimics the practice of sword-fighting and hunting, and depicts the adventure of hunting animals in the wild.
This blog post is extremely in-depth and interesting. I really loved how you incorporated not only a historical analysis of Ghat, but also tied that in with the different dance styles performed at the Ghat festival. In addition, I thought it was super interesting how you included a comparison between between the Targi and Sword dances, as it is very interesting to read about their similarities. Your analysis and discussion of the Ghat festival and the inclusion of extremely detailed information regarding its music and culture is extremely interesting and very well written. It's interesting to read about another aspect of a country such as music and culture and comparing that with my own. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteIt's always so interesting to read your posts and see the amount of information you're able to compile and explain in an understandable way. I really love how you've taken the Tuareg through all three posts so far. You keep expanding on their history, in this case by analyzing the history of Ghat's celebration of Tuareg music and dance. The way in how women roles and male roles are created in the music itself, through both instruments and vocal, is fascinating. As you mentioned in a previous post, women are a vital part of musical traditional and Libya, so to hear how their roles are separated shows their importance. Hope to read your fourth blog post soon!
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