Guedra Dance

The guedra is named for the cooking pot that is covered with skin and beaten to accompany it, and it belongs to the Saharan communities of the far south around Guelmim and Tan-Tan. The form is unusual: the dancer is on her knees throughout, veiled at the start, and the movement is entirely in the hands, fingers, head and upper body - a slow beginning that intensifies with the drum until the dancer is moving fast within a very small compass, the fingers flicking outward in gestures generally read as blessing directed at those around her. The surrounding circle claps and sings. It has been described in outside accounts as a trance or a courtship dance, both of which oversimplify what is a communal blessing performance. It is done at weddings, moussems and gatherings; staged versions at hotels are common in the south and are a thin substitute.

What you actually see

• A kneeling dance - performed entirely from the knees, with no travelling movement.
• Hands and fingers - the expressive work done in flicking gestures read as blessing.
• The guedra drum - a skin-covered cooking pot beaten to set the rhythm.
• A surrounding circle - clapping and singing rather than watching passively.

When to go

Spring and summer for moussems; weddings all year. An evening.

Honest expectations

Hotel versions in the south are staged and thin. The real setting is a private or community gathering. Outside descriptions as trance or courtship dance are simplifications. Photographing dancers requires permission.

Nearby

Guelmim and the Tan-Tan moussem are the tradition's centres.