The voice and the hands remain the principal instruments of this group of Arabic female singers, who accompany themselves with minimal percussion. Happiness and sorrow are shared in their songs. They can sound either slow and languorous or lively and swaying, but they’re always recognizable. The group comes from Saoura, the Saharan southern part of Algeria.
Lemma was founded by Souad Asla, who returned to her birthplace in the Saoura after years of absence. She longed back to the singing and dancing that captivated her as a child. Although distinguished by its own style and staging, melodic, instrumental and choreographic innovations, the Lemma group is inspired by the four main genres of the region: zaffânî, hadra, al-farda and gnawi.
This concert is a collaboration with The Rest is Noise, a series by Muziekgebouw for groundbreaking performances. Where our program meets, we collaborate as ‘BIMHUIS & The Rest is Noise’.
Souad Asla vocals/percussion, Mebrouka Brik vocals/bendir/karkabu, Aziza Tahri vocals/derbuka/t’bal/bendir/tarija/karkabu, Khedidja Aneb, vocals/bendir/karkabu, Zohra Kherabi vocals/t’bal/bendir/karkabu/derbuka, Rabia Boughazi vocals/t’bal/bendir/karkabu/pestle, Sabrina Cheddad vocals/bendir/derbuka
