Zaar is a ritual dance practised in North Africa and the Middle East. Various accounts trace its roots to ancient African rituals associated with two figures, Azuzar and Asitu.
There are many reasons why women in the Middle East may be drawn to zaar. Women living in poverty face considerable pressures in their daily lives, yet may have few, if any, places where they can come together. In the conservative settings described here, expectations of proper Islamic behaviour keep women at home, where they are expected to act with dignity, cook, clean and care for their husbands and children. Going out to dance is not an option, even as a way of letting off steam. Nor is seeing a psychiatrist when they experience depression or suicidal thoughts.
Zaar is regarded as forbidden in Islam, even though words from the Qur'an are sometimes recited during the ritual. In many rural settings, mental illness is not readily recognised as a condition that can be treated.
Belief in spirits, however, is widespread in Egypt and elsewhere in Africa, with roots stretching back thousands of years. The Qur'an itself refers to beings other than humans as creations of God.
Through a shared belief in spirit possession, women form social connections that become a support network. Physical ailments without a clear diagnosis can provide a socially accepted reason for them to take part in the dance.
The ceremonies encourage participants to step away from everyday life and enter a spiritual world, offering a much-needed respite.
The word zaar means “to be visited”: in this context, a visit from a harmful spirit or demon.
As professional belly dancers, we have drawn on this ritual as an element in our performances. In its original setting, however, the dance is intended to free a woman from harmful spirits: it is a ritual of exorcism.
Zaar is a ritual for women. Men take part in other ways, playing instruments or making the appropriate offerings rather than dancing. In Egypt, the ceremony takes place in an enclosed room with an altar, or something that represents one.
The woman moves her pelvis and torso and swings her hair from side to side, seeking to expel the spirit believed to possess her. As the rhythm accelerates, her movements become faster, more forceful and increasingly frenzied.
The rhythm most closely associated with zaar is ayoub.
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Zaar ritual in Egypt
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