Watch: Syrian troupe sings, spins and lifts spirits in Ramadan

euronews (in English)

This Ramadan, the ‘Arada’ troupe warms hearts and spreads smiles with traditional chants, drum beats, sword displays, and whirling performances around Damascus’ old city neighbourhoods.

Transcript

00:00What does Ramadan mean to you?

00:03Ramadan in Syria means friendship.

00:07There is a human connection.

00:09There is generosity.

00:11Ramadan is generous.

00:13Ramadan is about helping each other.

00:17It's about being neighbors.

00:19For example, cooking is about serving your neighbor.

00:24Ramadan is about praying,

00:27having a party,

00:29having a great time,

00:31and making people happy.

00:33Because the country was in war,

00:36the traditions of the old Ramadan are gone.

00:39People have emigrated,

00:41and their homes are gone.

00:43God willing, we will return to the old Ramadan,

00:46to the old Ramadan atmosphere.

00:49My name is Mohannad Al-Halabi.

00:51I am the director of Al-Araba Shamiyeh.

00:54Al-Araba Shamiyeh

01:05Al-Araba Shamiyeh is about 4 or 10 young people

01:09dancing with their musical instruments.

01:12There is drumming,

01:14there is music,

01:16there is drumming,

01:18there is drumming,

01:20there is drumming,

01:22and there is drumming.

01:24We are 12 young people.

01:26We prepare ourselves before Ramadan,

01:29we learn Ramadan recipes,

01:33and we get involved in the old markets

01:36and the old Ramadan tents.

01:38We increase our training,

01:41for example, once a week.

01:43We learn new moves, new tricks.

01:47Al-Araba Shamiyeh

01:49The old Ramadan atmosphere in Syria

01:52is different from the rest of the world.

01:55People come here in the morning,

01:57they shop,

01:59they buy things they are used to.

02:01For example, we have the soft dates,

02:03the Indian dates, the lentils,

02:05and after iftar and after Tarawih prayer,

02:08we have special celebrations here in the Levant.

02:11We have Ramadan tents,

02:13Ramadan dinners, for example.

02:15For us, the Al-Araba Shamiyeh team,

02:18we go to the old neighborhoods

02:20and ask for recipes for the Levant,

02:22to bring life back to the people,

02:24to make them feel that the country,

02:26God willing, will improve and develop.

02:29And Ramadan comes to you,

02:31Ramadan, welcome, Ramadan,

02:33the month of repentance and forgiveness.

02:35In your days, the Qur'an was revealed,

02:37welcome, you enlightened the Levant and its people.

02:39In the old areas, people want to wear Arabic.

02:42The Arabic dress is the most beautiful and the most beautiful.

02:45We try to express the heritage of the old Damascus

02:49in our description, in our play, in our performance,

02:52and the people enjoy it.

03:01My name is Anz, I am 3 years old.

03:03My father helped me,

03:05he taught me how to do movements,

03:07how to do iftar,

03:09how to pray, how to fast.

03:11The Mawlawiyah is when we do Tahiyyat,

03:14then we fast,

03:16then we study, then we fast.

03:18When we finish, we do Tahiyyat.

03:21The Mawlawiyah was established by Mawlana Jalaluddin Al-Ruhayy.

03:24It was established in Konya, in Turkey.

03:27Of course, it was established in the 13th century.

03:29And from my family,

03:31who are familiar with the subject of singing

03:33and the Mawlawiyah,

03:35we tried as much as possible,

03:37anyone who wants to learn it, anyone who wants to practice it,

03:40to develop it in a healthy and new way.

03:43One big and one small.

03:45So it has a beautiful nature,

03:47which is the continuity of this way,

03:49that we are teaching our children this story.

03:51Or, for example, we are making a perspective

03:53that the big one is following the small one,

03:55and the small one is following the big one.

03:57I mean, there is a great and beautiful connection between them.

04:04Since the country went through 14 years of war and so on,

04:07the Mawlawiyah performances have disappeared from the scene.

04:12So now we are trying to raise small children,

04:15to teach them this heritage,

04:17so that they take revenge and don't go to war,

04:19and don't go and live in the country.

04:22The Shamiyeh performance,

04:24it needs time to learn it alone.

04:27We are trying, for example,

04:29to teach young people the first part, like Maashat.

04:32Those who want to learn the Mawlawiyah,

04:34they have to learn it in an organized and specific way.

04:37For example, it is a two-minute round.

04:40It is two minutes on the left side.

04:43In practice, of course, we increase it by three minutes,

04:45or a few minutes,

04:47so that in general, it goes from one to the other.

04:53Honestly, it expresses our old demagogy,

04:56our old habits,

04:58the clothes of our ancestors.

05:01We enjoy when we go out and wear it.

05:03We do these celebrations.

05:05In the old Shamiyeh,

05:07we describe our slogans,

05:09we try to make this heritage not be forgotten by the world.

05:13I love the performances.

05:15For me, all my life,

05:17since I was a child, I have loved the performances.

05:19I love this dress,

05:21I love to wear it and dance.

05:23There is nothing like it,

05:25or equal to it,

05:27the joy that we are bringing to the hearts of the people.

05:30And we, on the other hand,

05:32when we see a person happy,

05:34we are happy too.

05:36We are happy when we see our country's heritage

05:38moving abroad,

05:40so that the world and the West

05:42can see the old Shamiyeh heritage,

05:44the old Syrian heritage.

06:02For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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