Taskiwin

Taskiwin is a collective male dance, in a circle, accompanied by Amazigh songs and frame drums (bendir). Each dancer's costume includes a decorated horn worn at the waist (the taskiwt, which gives the practice its name), a khoumas dagger, a white djellaba and a turban. The dance is martial in origin but becomes festive in its modern use.

i. Geography

Taskiwin is practised mainly in the high Ouirgane valley, at Tinmel, in the foothills of the Toubkal, as well as in the Amazigh villages of the Al Haouz and Taroudant provinces. It is attested at least since the 17th century in the Saadian chronicles, but its roots probably go back to the pre-Islamic Berber warrior rites.

ii. Form

Twenty to forty dancers form a circle around the cheïkh who leads. The song alternates between soloist and chorus, on an asymmetric metre. The dance has three phases: a grave introduction, a mid-tempo warm-up, a climax in progressive acceleration. The dancers stamp their feet, spin their horns, and let out ritual war cries.

iii. Threats

The practice is in severe decline: rural exodus, urbanisation, ageing of the maâlems, loss of the traditional village fabric. The Al Haouz earthquake of 8 September 2023, which struck precisely this area, aggravated the vulnerability of transmission by dispersing the bearer communities. The post-earthquake situation has been monitored specifically by UNESCO since 2024.

iv. Safeguarding

The Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), has since 2017 undertaken a programme of exhaustive video and sound documentation, and of transmission to the new generations through the Atlas Youth Centres. A Taskiwin school opened at Asni in 2019.

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