Do you know what the term Tarab means? Would it be appropriate to say “I’m dancing Tarab?”

Tarab is a very complex term, and it’s one of those unique words in the Arabic language that barely has any proper translation into English. But let’s try to understand it.

Tarab is a strong emotional response with possible physical reactions that happens naturally without our ‘decision’ to react in this way. Examples:

You see such a beautiful sunset when you uncontrollably hold your breath, or say “wow!”.
You listen to beautiful music, and you can’t help by move your body.
You see a play in the theatre, and by the end of a dramatic finale you start sobbing.

As you can see, the Tarab reaction may occur in response to objects of art, scenes of nature, speech, and many other things that move us deeply inside. Reactions are also vary, from amusement to deep sorrow. In fact, in the old Book of Songs (Baghdad, 10th century) there are about 500 entries mentioning Tarab.

We may experience Tarab as performers by fully connecting to the movement and music, and we may experience Tarab as an audience member observing a dance show.

Want to learn this choreo? Detailed breakdown is available at the Iana Dance Club.

So coming back to the question: “Is it appropriate to say that we are dancing Tarab?” - Not really. What we are doing is dancing to classic songs which are often referred to as Tarab songs.

Singing plays an essential role in Arabic culture, and the mainstream music style evolved according to each time period.

Music that causes Tarab reaction is mainly found in the late 19th and 20th century repertoire. It doesn’t mean that it’s the only music that can cause Tarab, but it was a special period in the cultural history of the region.

It’s the time of the legendary Umm Kulthum, Farid el-Atrash, and Abdel Wahab. For instance, Umm Kulthum is known for her ability to stop a war… Soldiers on both sides were ceasing fire in order to listen to her voice on the radio (which were broadcasted live at that time).

It’s also a very special time in terms of attitudes to music. For instance, people were coming to a concert to listen to ONE song. LITERALLY. It could have been just 1 one, but a one-hour long song. Can you imagine this situation today?! And during that one song people were experiencing all range of emotions: from laughter to cry, from euphoric happiness to heartbreaking sorrow…

Do you understand now why we refer to songs by Umm Kulthum, Warda, Farid el-Atrash, Abdel Wahab, and other artists of that time as classic songs, or so-called Tarab songs?

And that’s why dancing to such songs is a task of great responsibility.

Since dancing to Tarab songs is a very special topic to explore, I highly recommend checking out my 10-week intensive at the Iana Dance Club. By the end of this intensive you will have a ready-to-perform choreography to the famous classical song Tab Wana Maly, by Warda. But not only that! We will also:

give special attention to the nuances of the interpretation of the lyrics,
discuss the meaning of tarab, and differences of dancing to classical Arab songs (compared to mejance or pop-song),
work on your facial expression,
experiment with your makeup skills, and
develop skills of self-coaching and polishing presentations which you can apply to any future dance routines.

Check out this special 10-week online program on Tarab.

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Author and model: Iana Komarnytska

Photographer: Pedro Bonatto