(WXYZ0 — We’re five days into National Arab American Heritage Month, which the White House this year officially recognized as the month of April.
To celebrate heritage and culture, one needs to look no further than the Arab American National Museum and the way it’s helping to preserve a middle eastern dance that began thousands of years ago.
So why is a foot-stomping folk dance surging in popularity, becoming more inclusive than ever before?
Where you find the Arabic drum, you’ll often find Arabic dance.
Such is the case here at the Arab American National Museum, where classes are underway, not for belly dancing, but for the lesser-known Middle Eastern art form Dabke – a circle line dance that many are lining up to join.
“It’s an exciting dance. I think people want to be a part of that excitement,” says dance instructor Ayman Aboutaleb.
Aboutaleb began teaching in 2019, but when the pandemic hit and social media took on new importance, the dance began to go viral, catching the eye of people like McKinley Owens
“I just saw a video online of a Dabke line mixed with a Soulja Boy track,” Owens says. “The energy of it, was a style of folk dance I hadn’t seen before.”
A style that many have modernized over the years as a contemporary cross-section of East and West.
Musical artist Drake famously embraced it in 2021, inviting a Palestinian Canadian Dabke troupe to do a birthday serenade.
By the time we emerged from the pandemic, Aboutaleb had to triple his class offerings.
“Strangers are holding hands and you can feed off and feel a person’s energy next to you too,” he says.
And more than ever before, that energy is female.
Social media is also to thank for the scores of women now jumping in, empowered by other females taking a lead in a traditionally male-led dance form.
Women make up about 70 percent of Aboutaleb’s classes. And today, I’m part of that percentage dusting off my own Dabke skills.
For Arab Americans leaning into the dance, it’s about more than just joy.
“Dabkeh is a way that I stay connected to my identity,” says Danya Zituni.
It’s about finding ways to relate to ancestors, finding resilience in the face of often negative media perceptions.
“We’re still cultivating culture despite all of, like, the conditions and hardships we go through,” says Zituni.
And finding hope in the magic of reaching out to hold a stranger’s hand.
Aboutaleb also has a Dabke troupe that performs at cultural events in the area.
If you’re interested in learning more about that group or the classes, check out their Facebook page.
