(3 Feb 2025)
MOROCCO TRADITIONAL SONG
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 3:51
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sidi Yahya Zaer village, Morocco – 28 January 2025
1. Various of performers Mbarka Moullablad who goes by the stage name Thouria and Rachid Kadari singing in performance known as aita, a genre of historic folk singing
2. Belly dancer performing alongside singers
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rachid Kadari, aita artist:
"Morocco has many types of aita and this is what distinguishes this heritage. Before being referred to as the cheikha, she (a woman performing this art) was called ayata. And she played the role of a journalist, transferring cultures between regions."
4. Various of Moullablad putting makeup on
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mbarka Moullablad who goes by the stage name Thouria, aita artist or cheikha:
"We prepare the dance belt (that performers tie around their waist while belly dancing) and the takchita (garment) belt, and prepare for makeup of the cheikhas. (Reporter off-camera asking: Everything is done traditionally?) Yes, everything is traditional."
6. Various of Zaari and musicians rehearsing before performance
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rachid Kadari, aita artist:
"The words in the aita performance differ based on region, and also the topics differ based on the regions and the people. For example, there is a song that talks about the Zaer region and horses. It talks about going to Zaer for fun, and also about how if one is unmarried, they must marry a woman from Zaer."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rabat, Morocco – 24 January 2025
8. Tilt-down from framed photo of aita artist Hajib Farhane to Farhane seated on couch
9. Various of Hajib playing cassette
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hajib Farhane, aita artist:
"It was called aita (cry) because the singer starts singing with a strong voice to the point that he can be heard from a faraway place. When he starts, the others pay attention to what the singer will say and that is why it was called aita."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sidi Yahya Zaer village, Morocco – 28 January 2025
11. Various of Moullablad performing in a red takchita garment and golden belt
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mbarka Moullablad who goes by the stage name Thouria, aita artist or cheikha:
"My friends were working as cheikas and I also did it in order to earn money for my children. Thank God, I was able to take care of my son and daughter and educate them. My family did not agree at first and I used to suffer from society’s judgment, but now everything is good."
13. Various of Zaari performing
14. Musicians performing
15. Zaari and musicians performing
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Rachid Kadari, aita artist:
"Aita will not die because it is renewed by young people. Aita will remain in all times and is loved by old people and young people as well. It is developed and improved, but they preserve its origins."
17. Various of performance
STORYLINE:
Thouria Moullablad’s family frowned when she first told them she planned to make a living as a cheikha, singing about love, pain, and societal change to the melodies of her ancestors.
Women like her are the stewards of one of Morocco’s most cherished oral traditions: a form of folk singing known as aita, which means a “cry” or “lament” in Arabic.
From smoky bars and cabarets in Morocco’s largest cities to the gatherings in the country’s rural regions, they croon at weddings, festivals and private events and pub nights, hypnotizing audiences both humble and wealthy.
Cheikhat are often stigmatized, eroticized, and pushed to society’s margins.
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