Dance / stomp / love!
Stomp out your (despairing) hope to the Kurdish-Syrian dance music of Rizan Said – composer, musician, and producer who can get even the stiffest wallflowers dancing. He was once the keyboardist for that other Eastern dance legend, Omar Souleyman, but in recent years, Said has been making dance floors tremble across the globe with his solo work as a keyboard hero. Or rather: keeping feet firmly pounding the floor.
At the heart of Said’s music lies the rhythm of the dabke – a traditional dance style whose name literally means “stomping” in Arabic. According to tradition, it originated from people stomping down straw, wood, and earth on rooftops in the Levant, to the rhythm of a song that called: “Let’s go help.” A true community effort, in other words.
Rizan Said brings that ancient energy and sense of togetherness into the present, with grinding synths and electrifying rhythms. And whether you come to stomp in joyful hope or in protest, as a seasoned dabke dancer or a stiff Northerner with an office-weary back – everyone is welcome. In fact, everyone must join.
Dance / stomp / love!