São Paulo – The dances and music of the Syrian nomadic people are the subject of the lecture Bedouin People from Syria: Daily Lives and Art, which takes place this Thursday (29) in the city of São Paulo. The meeting will be presented by Márcia Dib, dancer, choreographer and holder of a master’s degree in Arab Culture from the University of São Paulo (USP). The event’s being organized by the group Lente Cultural.
“We think they are isolated people, but they’re not. They have material and cultural exchanges and this impacts their art,” explains the professor. “I’ll talk about the music from different places across the desert, the melodic phrasing, the length of the notes and how they relate with the desert’s magnitude,” she says.
Dib will also talk about the influence of the desert’s space in the nomadic peoples’ dance steps and how this environment interferes even in the way they step on the floor.
Another topic to be covered is the Bedouins’ diversity. “There are many people and tribes and these are people that don’t show up in the surveys. Despite this variety, there are shared cultural traits. They have a very similar way of walking and the size of their gestures looks alike,” she says.
She says Bedouins are also inspired by the interaction with the people from different cities and by the products that they produce to sell in these cities. According to Dib, there are also differences in the dances done only among the members of the tribe and those performed to the tourists.
According to the teacher, the themes featured in the music vary, but the majority talk of love. Feelings such as missing somebody or something and the love of camels are also themes of Bedouin songs.
Quick facts
Bedouin People from Syria: Daily Lives and Art
Thursday, June 29, from 7 pm to 9:30 pm
Where: Auditório da Livraria Martins Fontes, Av. Paulista, 2nd floor
Price: BRL 45 (USD 14.04)
Registration at www.lentecultural.com.br/palestras/palestra-povos-beduinos-da-siria-cotidiano-e-arte/
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
