Lemma : Algerian Women / Boulali Zahoua, Rabia Boughazi, Khedidja Anebi, Fatima Abbi, Ismahane Cheddad, Zohra Kharabi, Mebrouka Brik, Hasna El Becharia, Sabrina Cheddad, Souad Asla, Aziza Tahri.

[Place of publication not identified] : Lukarn, 2018.

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"Heiress of the Gnawa tradition, the singer Souad Asla has taken it upon herself to promote the intangible heritage of Béchar, capital of the Saoura and the largest city west of the Algerian Sahara. On the festival stage, the Lemma sit in a semi-circle; eleven women dressed in brightly coloured outfits, reproducing the El Hadra ceremonies held every Friday in Taghit, their home village located about 100 kilometres from Béchar. Having noticed that the tradition of this trance music was being lost and that the oldest singers of the ceremonies were not being replaced, Souad Asla decided to call upon musicians she has known since childhood, ones who animated her family's weddings. Supported by the traditional instruments bendir, karkabou, t'bal and pestle, their voices are raised, their hands clap the cadence and create a haunting rhythm. Spiritual commitment can be read on the faces, in the authority of certain gestures, in the dance movements that take hold of the bodies. The guembri electrifies this atmosphere of trance which spreads and the fever stretches to the audience. The titles of the pieces evoke local female ensembles, ""Djebbaryates,"" and the nearby Moroccan gnaoua style, ""Diwan."" Rituals and music from the Sahel clearly play their part in the origins of this music invented by the descendants of black slaves in the Maghreb, a mixture of contributions from black Africa but also Arabs and so-called Berbers. The songs of the repertoire are preserved in their raw state and galvanize the public along with the women who share the stage. **Marion Paoli**".

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June 21, 2023

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