Dancing, incense and music are all part of the sensory ambience experienced when Lila is performed. This showcases the Gnawa communities' therapeutic ritual that pursues healing through achieving a state of trance. This rite, translated as 'night', is divided into seven phases that correspond to seven colours.
The Gnawa, originally descendants of sub-Saharan slaves, are mainly found in Morocco, but there are also communities throughout the Maghreb and in European cities such as Paris, Barcelona, and Brussels. Since 2019, the Gnawa have been declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Lila uses Gnawa music to help it fulfil its purpose. Its instruments include the guembri, a three-stringed, plucked, low register chordophone played by the maalem, or maestro, who leads the musical part, the tbels, or drums that open the ritual, and the karkabas, which are high register metal castanets that join in with a rhythmic ostinato. The timbral contrast and ensemble energy encourage the occurrence of states of trance.
The Barcelona-based group Gnawa Vibrations, led by the maalem Saimen Kherbouch, performs a Lila with a traditional repertoire.
ARTISTS
Gnawa vibrations:
Saimen Kherbouch, maalem
Abdallah Harroch, koyo
Abdallah Ettaleby, koyo
Anas Bentaleb, koyo
Mohamed Boukrab, koyo
Otmane Oubella, koyo
Smail Ouazza, koyo
Younes Kamar, koyo