Lila - A Gnawa Ritual Tradition - SOLD OUT

Artists Mohamed Errebba and Chloe Rose Laing will be hosting a condensed version of a Lila at Trinity for Bristol’s communities. All are welcome including children and families. This ceremony will offer the community 2.5 hours of live music to enjoy. Mohamed will be joined by percussionist & dancers who will re-enact the ancient songs and steps of the Gnawa from times past.

The Lila tradition is recognised to be a manifestation of the expressive culture of the historical Gnawa. It is a rich ceremony of song, music, dance, costume and incense that takes place over the course of an entire night ending around dawn. The ritual enables participants to enter the trance state of jadba, in which they perform startling and sometimes spectacular dances.

The Gnawa begin the Lila by remembering through song and dance the Gnawa of times past, their lands of origin, the experiences of their slave ancestors, and their tales of abduction, sale, separation and loneliness, and ultimately redemption.

A feature that distinguishes Gnawa from other brotherhoods is their system of colour categories that mark the progression over the course of the night. Gnawa play the corresponding music, dress the trancers in the appropriate colours, and burn the corresponding incense. The colours must be sung in a certain order, the Lila follows a path through the night whose road is marked in the sensory realms of sound (music, song) sight (colours) smell (incense) and movement (dance).

We have a few walk up spaces available, first come first serve.

This project is funded by Arts Council England and is in partnership with Trinity Community Arts.