Dar Brooklyn is a series of traditional Algerian Darbuka (goblet drum) workshops and private classes for female beginners in Brooklyn, NY. D.
The workshops are taught by Algerian-Tunisian Berber drummer and cultural activist Dr. Jihene Serkhane. Background:In traditional MENASA* families, it’s regarded as shameful for women to play music, especially folk (chaabi) music. Socially acceptable spaces for female music playing are restricted to the home (dar, in Arabic) setting of high income families. Female working class instrumentalists ar
e limited to all-women audiences at life-cycle events, such as weddings and henna. In the homeland and in Brooklyn, public playing is inappropriate. As Jihene's personal journey attests, women have very limited access to learning and performing folk music, especially drumming, and are denigrated for their lack of skills.The title points to the importance of “dar” (house or the family of in English), particularly in the transmission of women’s folk arts. Dar-Brooklyn aims to create a “Brooklyn-Family” across cultures and neighborhoods, while extending the safe and artistic space of the home to workshop settings.*: MENASA stands for "Middle-Eastern/North-African/South-Asian"BIO:Dr. Jihene Emna Serkhane, is a Bushwick-based Algerian-Tunisian Amazigh ("Berber") drum player.Jihene has been a student, teacher and performer of Middle-Eastern and North-African (MENA) percussion and dance since 2008. She studied Middle-Eastern classical and folk percussion with NY based percussionists Johnny F***j, Ramzi Edlibi, and Najib El Bahri.While visiting her mother in Paris in 2014, she was determined to find a North-African traditional darbuka teacher. She eventually met Amar Chaoui, a renowned Algerian master percussionist. Recognizing Jihene's passion for pursuing the music of her cultural heritage, he became her mentor. Jihene studies with Amar remotely and when she travels to France.On the last day of her 2014 trip to Paris, she also discovered that her own mother, Cherifa Mohdhi (1939-2019), was passionate about playing folk darbuka and was pressed to give up playing when she “became a woman” at 9 years old. Right then, Jihene's personal struggle, passion and commitment for the drum made total sense, and her calling to learn from men and teach other women became her mission.Jihene currently teaches private lessons in the NYC area and in workshops offered in partnership with MENA community-based organizations, such as the Arab American Family Support Center (AAFSC) and the Arab American Association of NY (AAANY), as well as at House of Yes as part of her music project “Dar Brooklyn: Darbuka For Her!”. She also worked on multiple occasions with Ramzi Edlibi for Dance Around The World, a NY after school program that educates young people about folk dance and music from around the World.Jihene enjoys accompanying local Algerian musicians, such as Gil Hamroune, Kamal Sadat and Ali Merghoub.In addition to the darbuka, she performed on the req (Middle-Eastern tambourine), bendir (MENA frame drum) and repique (Brazilian drum), in various events, such as Le Festival au Desert (Mali) with Atri N'Assouf and Khaira Arby, and opening to the Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary tour (NY) with BatalaNYC.During her time playing in the all women Brazilian percussion marching band based in Brooklyn, BatalaNYC, she had a direct experience of “There is power in unity and there is power in numbers” (Dr. Martin Luther King,1963).Her goal is to create an all women MENA folk music band.She speaks North-African Arabic, French and Spanish, and holds a Ph. in Cognitive Science.
