Afropop Worldwide was pleased to attend the opening of the Brooklyn Maqam Arab Music Festival on Sunday March 2 at Brooklyn College.  A long, rich, afternoon program began with at least seven dance presentations, including a brilliant, Egyptian spinning dance, a Palestinian wedding procession, Gnawa trance music, a Yemeni men’s dance, and a spirited debkah dance that moved through the hall and brought a good portion of the audience to the stage in dancing, concentric circles.  It was an impressive parade of sights and sounds with just enough explanation to help outsiders feel clued in and welcome.  In all, a superb introduction to an amazing diversity of movement traditions in Arab cultures. 

The program ended with inspired contrast as Palestinian master musician Simon Shaheen took the stage with just his violin and oud and held the crowd spellbound with his compositions and improvisations.  Where troupes of costumed dancers had filled the generous stage, a single brilliant musician proved equally compelling.  If this program is an indication of the quality we can expect from the upcoming performances in this month long festival, then anyone with even the mildest curiosity about Arab music and culture would be well advised to study the schedule of events held in various Brooklyn and New York during March, and get out to some of these shows. 

Here are a few photos of from the opening, and click here for schedule information and more on Brooklyn Maqam, 2008.