Malikat al Dabke
The first all-women’s dabke troupe in the DC metro area
Malikat Al Dabke (Queens of Dabke) is the first all-women’s dabke troupe in the DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area, specializing in performing and teaching Palestinian, Lebanese and Iraqi dabke/chobi, zaffe wedding procession and bass drums called tabls. They also incorporate into their performances singing, ululations and aweeha, and pride themselves on teaching the history, cultural significance and percussion beats related to dabke music and dance across generations and communities.
Malikat Al Dabke was collectively founded in 2023, and is made up of dedicated Arab American women who work every day to preserve their identities through dabke and resist erasure and appropriation.
Each member of the group has over a decade of Dabke experience performing and teaching hundreds of students through volunteer and educational workshops. They have performed across the country (including DC, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Michigan), and helped to raise more than $93k to aid Palestinians through prominent organizations such as UNRWA USA, Palestinian Youth Movement, Leo Education Organization, and Heal Palestine, among others. They continue to dance to raise awareness of the Palestinian genocide and occupation, along with the reverberating effects it has on neighboring countries, through countless events and protests.
Malikat Al Dabke regularly performs at community and cultural events, fundraisers, embassies, conferences, universities and schools, private events and much more. They also regularly host dabke classes and workshops at schools, events, conferences and independently. They have performed at Smith College, George Washington University, with El Funoun, Museum of the Palestinian People, Dulles Airport, The Kennedy Center, South African Embassy, Nicaraguan Embassy, Laylit, The Black Cat, New York Arab Festival, PBS and Arab America among many others.
For more information about our work and services visit our Linktree, Malikat Al Dabke Instagram, and Malikat Al Dabke TikTok.
Our mission is to resist through art.
We want to engage Arab American communities, as well as audiences unfamiliar with Arab culture, by centering Arab women while celebrating cultural heritage and affirming our presence and significance in the arts.
We accept donations in support of our operations.
Thank you for your generosity! We will make sure to keep you updated on all of our endeavors.