Alif Institute has run its Arabic music and dance workshops out of its own space for years. This week, for the first time, it’s taking two of the most popular ones into a public park.
On Wednesday, July 29, the Atlanta-based Arab cultural center hosts Arabic Music in the Park at Newtown Park in Johns Creek, a pilot the organization hopes could become a regular presence across metro Atlanta.
An experiment, not a one-off
When Alif announced the event on social, one question kept coming up: Do you have to be Arab American to take part?
“No,” says Alif Institute Executive Director Mouna Abdelhamid. “This is open to everybody who wants to have a good time.”
Alif normally runs its music and dance programming out of its Chamblee-Tucker location. But Abdelhamid said the schedule and the drive don’t work for everyone.
Most of the institute’s classes fall on weeknights, making consistent attendance hard for those battling Atlanta traffic. Taking two of its most popular cultural workshops — Middle Eastern music and dance—out into the community, she said, is Alif’s attempt to meet people where the old model couldn’t.
Wednesday’s classes include an introduction to the derbakeh, a hand-held Arabic drum played resting against the hip or between the knees; the oud, a pear-shaped string instrument; and the dabkeh, a traditional Arab folk dance.
Musical instruction requires advance registration, since Alif has a limited number of instruments on hand for attendees to use. The dabkeh workshop is open to walk-ups.
Of the two instruments on offer, the oud is likely the least familiar to newcomers.
“[It] is a very old instrument from Mesopotamian times,” Abdelhamid explained. “It has a very soft sound. The name means wood. It’s the heart of Arabic music. And not just Arabic music … the Turks use it, and the Persians use it as well. So it’s the heart of Eastern music of that region.”
For Abdelhamid, the music being shared Wednesday isn’t just teaching material. It’s personal.
“It’s very nostalgic of times when I grew up,” she said. “I’ve been in the States for thirty years, but half of my life here, half of my life there. So really it’s very nostalgic music for me.”
The hope is that Wednesday fosters a lasting connection with attendees. Abdelhamid said that’s the real function of an intro workshop: give people who might otherwise hesitate a low-stakes way to try something new, with the hope that some of them stick around and enroll in Alif’s ongoing classes.
“We always call it the Alif family,” she said, “because whoever comes one time somehow keeps coming.”
Arabic Music in the Park runs 7 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at Newtown Park in Johns Creek. Registration and details are available at alifinstitute.org.
