The dance originates from the High Atlas and Ouarzazate areas. Woman in colorful dresses stand motionless around a group of men sitting around a fire. The men each have « bendir’s ». A « bendir » is a circular piece of wood with a hide stretched over it. The sombre silence is broken by a piercing cry and the men begin to beat their drums and the woman sway slowly from side to side. Their speed of their swaying and the playing of the drums increase until the grand finale.
