In this workshop, Maalem Hicham Bilali brings Gnawa music to the place of learning where it is handed down directly from person to person. The students, who spend years singing, dancing, and playing qraqeb at the master’s side before being allowed to become a maalem themselves, are referred to as koyo—apprentice. For one afternoon at HKW, the participants become koyos. 

Anyone can attend: those with no previous experience who are curious to find out about Gnawa; dancers and percussionists wishing to feel the Gnawa pulse and the qraqeb patterns in their bodies; professional musicians who work with this music and wish to obtain the basic rhythmic and tonal vocabulary. Bilali will work in three phases: pulse—how to hold and play the qraqeb, a set of iron castanets, joining the 6/8 time of the music; singing—the call-and-response structure with simple, easy-to-learn phrases; and body—the basic movements on which the lila dance is based. 

No prior knowledge is necessary. No need to bring any instruments—qraqeb will be provided. Since 2007, Bilali, a maalem from Fez, has been living in Brussels where he runs Gnawa Black Koyo. He will perform on the opening night of the festival. Those attending this workshop will experience the music in a different way: not from outside, but from inside.