Trancing with the Zars
Kerning Cultures
Kerning Cultures Network
4.9 • 529 Ratings
🗓️ 17 July 2020
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For centuries in Egypt, Zar was a music and dance ritual believed to heal women from unwanted spirits that possessed their bodies. But as time went on and ideologies changed, the practice became controversial and deeply feared. And now, it's mostly gone. Today on Kerning Cultures, join producer Zeina Dowidar on a journey of music, spirits, and trance.
This episode was produced by Zeina Dowidar with editorial support from Dana Ballout, Tamara Rasamny, Nadeen Shaker, Alex Atack, and Hebah Fisher.
Sound design by Tamara Rasamny and Mohamed Khreizat, and fact-checking by Zeina Dowidar.
Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey guys, it's Hibah. |
| 0:03.3 | Today on Kurning Cultures, we're going to get a little mystical. |
| 0:07.5 | Okay, so tell me how this all started, Zana. |
| 0:10.8 | I first heard about this our last summer. |
| 0:13.4 | This is producer Zena Duidur. |
| 0:15.5 | It was my first time ever hearing about it and it was one of my friends. |
| 0:18.6 | He told me there was something cool he wanted to show me and he |
| 0:23.1 | said it was in downtown Cairo I asked what it was he wouldn't tell me he told me I would have no clue |
| 0:28.4 | what we were doing before we got there we got in the car we're driving through downtown |
| 0:32.3 | Cairo I recognize nothing around me I have no idea where we're going or where he's taking me. |
| 0:38.4 | And we pull up to this theater and it was packed with people. |
| 0:44.6 | There were so many people inside. |
| 0:46.6 | And we sat down. |
| 0:48.7 | It was kind of a theater space. |
| 0:50.4 | So there was an empty space at the front. |
| 0:52.7 | And then towards the back it was kind of lined with rows of chairs and we sat somewhere towards the very back of the room. |
| 0:59.0 | Thank you. After a little bit of them all of these different, |
| 1:12.5 | after a son of chadra al-a-a-a-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-moh-a-gmoh-a-gmoh-mahehmaid. |
| 1:16.6 | After a little bit of time from behind us, |
| 1:19.2 | these performers came out with instruments. |
| 1:22.9 | All of these different really traditional Egyptian instruments, |
| 1:26.3 | so like big tablas and tambouros and stringed instruments and percussion |
... |
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