Ahwache : Rhythms of Eternity and The Echo of The Atlas Mountain
by
Brahim Boussaid
Amazigh Culture Interpreter

While having a friendly talk with my grandfather on a summer night, we were enjoying the tones of drums played by an “Ahwache” troop nearby. We had a chance to chat. I asked him about some concerns regarding this music and its roots. My grandfather stated, “Ahwache was born in Souss (Plains), grew up in Tlaoute, flourished in Ouarzazate, and at last died in Dades”. I was trying to analyze his statement to seek the truth, partly in his judgment. I see that the art of Ahwache should be born in the plains of Souss: the countryside’s of Agadir, Tiznit and Tata. Those stated areas still have a life practice of the

Ahwache. The Amazigh music remains one vital aspect of our culture. In 2001 I visited Tafraoute with a group of friends where we attended an Ahwache party in a small village. Ahwache is everywhere in Morocco, entitled by different names or played in different forms. In the small village where I lived, its shape was different from what I experienced in Tafraoute. Although “folklores” were composed in the same language, but in Ouarzazate Ahwache was played in a semi-circle. The women were dancing at the same time, males playing drums, and other instruments in the middle of the semi-circle. This semi-circle can be shifted to a full circle in big celebrations. The lyrics of the songs are dealing with human values like love and respect. Sometimes telling stories of the past and narrating the harshness of life.