A Bedouin Wedding (1938)
Bedouin, the semi-nomadic people specializing in goat and sheep herding in North Africa, used to start their wedding celebrations with a grand dance procession to the bride’s house. This dance built up to the bride and groom meeting for the first time. In the past, families brokered the marriage; the couple often didn’t even meet before the ceremony. The bride and groom would meet for the first time on their wedding day.
The groom’s party started a procession, full of dancing to rababa (a stringed instrument) and dalouka (drums). When they reached the bride’s house, the men and women stayed separate until a point in the dance ritual where an ‘emissary’ from the women’s room came to observe and playfully critique the men’s dance. Today, the couples have more say in who they marry, but the joyful dancing tradition is alive and well.
