Lila Xirê: Cores e Sons

Lila Xirê

Ce spectacle est basé sur l'art des traditions afro-religieuses du Brésil et du Maroc – Candomblé et Gnaoua - qui ont des pratiques rituelles communes, riches en musique, danse, couleurs, chants et mystères. Lila (nuit en arabe) et Xirê (dans la langue Yoruba signifie jeu): « Le Jeu de la Nuit » est une comédie musicale de fusion de rythmes et de rites, avec la participation des musiciens marocains, brésiliens et européens. 

         Lila Xirê est une représentation cosmogonique. Proposant un rituel  profane, contemporain et mystique, une rencontre de deux cultures, une célébration de la vie et de la nature. A travers les rythmes et les danses, le public est invité à assister à cette fête, cette union de peuples, de races et de couleurs: après tout, nous sommes tous des enfants d'Afrique.

LILA XIRÊ

Africa, Brazil and Gnaoua - Music Workshops with Mônica Elias

Africa, Brazil and Gnaoua - Music Workshops with Mônica Elias

DECEMBER 6, 7 and 8

from 2pm to 5pm  at Bastion Bab Marrakech, Essaouira

MARHABABIK! (Wellcome!) Our Brazilian Rhythms workshops will continue through december with Mônica Elias, brazilian musician of the group Vira Saia (http://www.virasaia.tnb.art.br/ and http://terreirodegriots.blogspot.com/ ). Through the program Música Minas, she comes specially to participate of the artistic residence, and share with local musicians her passion for african-brazilian rhythms and gnaoua music.

 Doing the interchange, the gnaoua musicians from Essaouira, Limini and Aziz, will give to our group lessons of gnaoua rhythms. As a result of these experiences, we are preparing a concert that will close our activities,  Lila Xixê, on the december 9th in the Alliance Franco Marocaine de Essaouira at 6pm, and on  december 10th at Bastion of Bab Marrakech, at 6pm.

We are sharing music, colors, dances, and fun!  After two months of Brazilian and Gnaoua Music Workshops, we have some pictures to show... These we took last Sunday, november 25th:

Program for November - Brazilian Rhythms Workshops

Fusion of African-Brazilian Rhythms and Gnaoua Music in Essaouira

October 24th,  Silvana plays abê and dances 

 Fusion  of 

African-Brazilian Rhythms and 

Gnaoua Music

in Essaouira

October 20th, discovering moroccan sounds 

Since October 13th, the Wind Rose - Center of Cultural Movement, in partnership with the Alliance Franco-Marocaine de Essaouira and the Cultural Delegation of this city, is promoting free workshops of african-brazilian rhythms opened for everyone that wants to share their music with brazilian styles. The propose of these workshops is to develop it into an Artistic Residence between brazilian music and the moroccan Gnaoua style.  

October 20th, our masters playing...

We have been learning with Ana Maria Fonseca brazilian styles such as Maracatu, Ijexá (or Afoxé) and Côco. We are having the participation  of artists from the Gnaoua comunity (the musicians Aziz, Halid and Limini) and also from other styles, like Hamadcha (the artist Benhamou) and Moroccan Sufi Music style (with the collaboration of the singer Abdelhak) . These workshops are opened for all those who love music, even if they never played any instrument before: the idea is to share. Our group is discovering and studying the similar origins  of many brazilian, gnaoua and african styles. 

We will continue the workshops through the month of november and december. 

In december this project is bringing, in partnership also with the brazilian program Música Minas, the musician Mônica Elias, for a week of Artistic Residence of Brazilian Rhythms and Gnaoua Music. Coming from Brazil, she will give an intensive week of Brazilian Rythms Workshops, sharing with the group some percussion styles and learn more about Gnaoua Music. 

Monica Elias is singer, flutist and percussionist. She has been traveling all over the world researching music and dances (such as Flamenco, Arabic, African, Gnaoua and Brazilian styles). Nowadays, her band  Vira Saia is playing around on the brazilian regions of Minas Gerais and Bahia. Take a look at Mônica Elias' music at http://www.virasaia.tnb.art.br/ and http://terreirodegriots.blogspot.com/ .

Jorge playing Maracatu on the Tabal

October 20th, Fabiola taking pictures 

African-Brazilian Music Workshops

The wind brings inspiration: the activities of the last months

Land-art Mandala

We have been creating some meetings and activities since April... 

Last Saturday, October 13th, Wind Rose promoted a public Brazilian Rhythm Workshop on the Bastion of Bab Marrakech. This workshop is the beginning of a project for integration of brazilian music with moroccan styles. We had the great participation of a public from different ages and nationalities, and the presence of musicians from the Gnaoua and Hamadcha traditional moroccan music. With Ana Maria, we learned Maracatu (a Afro-Brazilian performance genre from the northeastern region) and some dances: 

 From may to august, women visited once a week Wind Rose to create cloths, toys and accessories with recycle materials on the sewing afternoons with the australian artist Colleen Cassar -    

The therapist Kasha Zeltzer came in june to Wind Rose to talk about energy and the influences in our lives: 

In August, Colleen Cassar proposed a collective Mandala construction on the Essaouira's beach:

Beautiful summertime!

Some activities printed on our hearts good feelings of friendship and inspiration. The time passes slow and fast  - we keep writing our steps on the sand, the wind blows and the sea take them away...we continue walking! 

     

                                                                       art by Aziz Oumoussa

      There is a fishermen’s small city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco called Essaouira, the ancient “Mogador”. Here, the boats and ships arrived from everywhere: this village was occupied and colonized by different people, like the Phoenicians, Romans, Berberes, Portuguese, French, and Jews.  Many caravans came also from the deserts of Africa, bringing their products to export such as gold, spices or even slaves to this port. The descendants of the slaves that had come from Sub-Saharan Africa influenced this city with their mystic practices: with the Africans Essaouira inherited the musical and spiritual tradition of the Gnawas (a fraternity of popular Sufism, with similar origins of Yoruba or brazilian Candomblé).
From Timbuktu to Mogador, from here to the ports of other oceans of the world…
Today the globalization increases every day the interchanges and the cultural mixture of this village, turning it on a turistic, artistic and musical place.

…………………………………………………………………………………………................................

                                                                                 art by Aziz Oumoussa

      Existe uma pequena cidade de pescadores na costa atlântica do Marrocos que se chama Essaouira, antiga “Mogador”. Aqui, os barcos e navios chegavam de todas as partes: esta vila foi ocupada e colonizada por diferentes povos, como os fenícios, os romanos, bereberes, portugueses, franceses e judeus. Muitas caravanas vinham também dos desertos da África para este porto, tranzendo suas mercancias de exportação, como o ouro, as especiarias e até mesmo escravos. Os descendentes dos escravos que chegaram da áfrica sub-saariana influenciaram esse lugar com suas práticas místicas: com os Africanos Essaouia herdou  a tradição musical e espiritual da confraria dos Gnaouas (uma confraria de sufismo popular com raízes parecidas às do Yorubá e o Candomblé brasileiro).
De Tumbuctu a Mogador, daqui para os portos de outros oceanos do mundo...
Hoje em dia a mundialização aumenta a cada dia o intercâmbio e a mistura cultural desta cidade, transformando-a em uma localidade turística, artística e musical. 

The Wind Rose blows to Essaouira




                                                                                                    by Aziz Oumoussa