As long as you can hear a beat or someone singing, you can dabke. “The official definition, if there is one for dabke, is when a group of people dance together, usually in a synchronised way,” says Derek Halawa. Unofficially, the musician continues, dabke is when a group of people jump in no particular order, prompted by the sound of music. Sometimes the only beat is the sound of feet hitting the floor, without a drum.
A celebration of the Levantine folk dance forms part of Dabke and Tatreez, an Artists for Peace event showing at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday. There, Halawa will play the riq – one of the world’s oldest instruments. “It is like a tambourine but it’s especially for Arabic music,” Palestinian musician Seraj Jelda says. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
Jelda, who played with the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Gaza before fleeing Israel’s bombardment for Australia a year ago, will play the riq and oud on Sunday. “It means a lot because we are delivering our culture, our songs,” Jelda says. The event brings together musicians and dancers with Palestinian, Lebanese, Turkish, Indonesian and Cypriot heritage.
Most pieces come from before the 1948 Nakba – how our grandfathers, and our ancient people, were singing their songs, Jelda says. Some songs will talk about the Nakba and how songs are transferred from cultural and happy songs to songs that talk about Palestine and how it was occupied and our land was stolen. Halawa says Sunday’s show is “a window of understanding” into the Levant culture.
Music is “one of the most important mediums in expressing culture and identity and heritage and tradition”, Turkish-Cypriot Australian curator and opera singer Ayşe Göknur Shanal says. There are songs for celebration, for grief, lamenting, she adds. “You dance in anger, and you dance in love and passion and celebration.”
The Opera House event in Sydney is both a celebration and an act of cultural preservation. Jelda notes that in times of turmoil, music becomes a way to connect and endure.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/04/gaza-musicians-perform-sydney-opera-house-ntwnfb
