(Applause)
That’s it, that’s it.
It was just a little demonstration
with some popular Tunisian dance steps.
On a music of our dear friend artist Nasreddine Chebli.
So, very good … (Applause)
At the end of the 19th century, Tunis capital experienced
several phenomena of urban folk dances.
Obviously, popular dance exists well before that.
And among the most known phenomena: rboukh.
And when we say rboukh, we mean Zoufra.
I explain to you: the rboukh dance was a vulgar and misplaced dance.
It was an improvised folk dance, a real city phenomenon
born in the working classes of the city of Tunis at the end of the 19th century.
After work, the workers, zoufra;
moreover, the word zoufri comes directly from the French word ouvrier.
These workers used to meet in cafes,
exclusively masculine places.
And they took up dancing, the daily work:
earthwork, portage, hooking, hauling …
And this always under the assistance of a public of male workers
who obviously participates with screams, whistles,
clapping of hands, et cetera.
So, they were dancing, singing, talking about love, about life,
of work, of their sexuality, in an openly sexual space,
in a very masculine environment
where there is a lot of daring, a lot of physical freedom,
and reached, according to the moralist discourse of the Tunisian bourgeoisie, vulgarity.
Among the least known phenomena, there is saadeoui, for example.
In other regions, Saadeoui has another name: Ageeli.
This Saadeoui was practiced by women, inside.
But outside, if a man decides to do Saadeoui
he must dress as a woman and he must especially hide his face.
He also has Zandeli, it comes from Zandela.
Zandela is a word of Turkish origin which means in French “Cell”,
in Arabic “Zenzena”.
It is a repertory of dance, song and music of prisoners.
There is also, for example, El Gouberhi. It comes from El Goubirha,
it was the dances of prostitutes.
You know that Tunis Capital, since 1727 until the arrival of the French,
there were 13, 14 neighborhoods reserved for prostitution in the city.
Today, there is only one, unfortunately.
(Laughs and applause)
This infinite number of dance phenomena
shows that Tunisian society had no problem with dance,
neither with the dancers nor with the dancers elsewhere.
Knowing that dancers did not really exist in the public space,
in the common space.
It is from the years 30-40 until the years 50-60
and when there was this wave of female dancers and artists
who came from the interior of the country and settled in Tunis Capital
as for example in Salira, with music, singing and all that.
There was: Zina and Ziza, Achome Mia, Zorah Bubah, Baha Lia.
There are many female dance icons at this precise time.
At that time, we began to destroy the borders
between the world of women and the world of men,
between female dance and male dance.
Besides, there have been crossed forms.
For example, the Saddaoui which was a women’s dance
was recovered by the Zlas dancers, the riders.
The rboukh, even: today the rboukh is a mixed dance.
It’s thanks to who? It’s thanks to mzaoudias,
the mezoued players who animated our holidays:
they recovered the dance of rboukh, removed some obscene scenes a little
and most importantly, they involved women.
So around the 60’s, that is to say just after independence,
Bourguiba wanted to dance, a job.
He calls on the great Hamadi Laghbabi,
the first professional folk dancer,
to create the National Troupe of Popular Arts.
Of course, in the troupe, there will be a ballet with dancers.
And we did not have any ballet traditions so we had to invite
trainers, Russian and Bulgarian classical dance teachers.
By the way, notice in the dances of the National Troupe of Popular Arts
classical forms, arm ports, large throws,
big gaps, even pirouettes.
They ride on the half-points and even on the points.
So it was a little distorted like dance.
Bourguiba liked the dancers very much.
He even made interventions:
For example, he forced the troop dancers to wear white tights.
to hide the legs by imitating a little the Soviet model at that time.
Hamadi Laghbabi has also tried to do what he calls: [Arabic].
That is to say, remove the sexual or even obscene aspect of our dances.
And above all, he drew the boundaries again;
I call it false frontiers;
boundaries between the world of women and the world of men.
And without realizing it, he destroyed a third world
happens between the two, who is there. That’s what I’m working on today.
It is this universe that exists between the world of women and the world of men.
So the National Troupe of Popular Arts was very present,
she played a very important role.
She was present in the official ceremonies, on TV,
in cultural, political, diplomatic events,
in Tunisia and abroad.
So she played the role of a traveling museum, a real conservatory.
To preserve: it is to protect, it is to classify, it is to store.
Finally, it is to render everything that is living, static, frozen.
Finally, it’s killing the living.
It’s also folklore.
It’s also about making our dances,
a postcard presented to a tourist audience.
So, maybe that’s why the Tunisian public
no longer feels in these dances.
He takes a distance from these dances.
But I think it was legitimate.
But what is not normal is to transform
this distance from the dance into a contempt, a rejection,
in a position against the dance and the dancers.
Maybe also, if we dig a little in the story …
You know, in the 90s, there were the first movements
contemporary dance.
There are artists, choreographers
who came with a new western experience.
They installed this experience and completely broke with the local,
with our local dances.
Maybe that explains that.
There is another explanation:
in the 1990s, there is a rise in conservatism.
It may be because of that.
But the question that arises, which I ask today,
what is it?
How to regain your love, your admiration and especially your respect
for the dance?
Thank you.
(Applause)
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