The cabaret is the place where people meet, where all is levelled in the red dimmed light, where no one can feel lonely or sad. It is a time for dance and the celebration of life. Kabareh Cheikhats is a unique experience which started in 2016, initiated by stage director Ghassan El Hakim. The show had considerable success with the audiences, which led the group to play again in a different form at the Vertigo, a cabaret in Casablanca.

Cheikhat girls have long been stigmatized in their society, which is why Kabareh Cheikhats pay tribute to all the great cheikhat of yore, who helped save the oral tradition of Moroccan popular songs. Kabareh Cheikhats has unique cultural significance because in a completely novel way, they revisit a performance belonging to the Moroccan popular culture (the Cheikates, traditional popular singers, and the Ayta genre). They praise it and allow it to regain respectability. They do research on the performers of the 20th century from old records, decipher the lyrics in Darija (Moroccan Arabic), and render them on stage or in videos they produced during the pandemic. They have the courage to deal with Gender Studies in a conservative society.

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Photo credit: Ghassane Kaaibich