Malikat al Dabke
The first all-women’s dabke troupe in the DC metro area
Collectively founded in 2023, Malikat Al Dabke (meaning Queens of Dabke in Arabic) is the first all-women’s dabke troupe in the DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) area, specializing in performing and teaching Palestinian and Lebanese dabke/dabka, Iraqi dabcha/chobi and the traditions and practices associated with the dance, including zaffe wedding procession with bass drums called tabls.
They create original choreography and aweehas (a vocal tradition), and have incorporated Arabic singing into their more somber performances. They pride themselves on teaching dabke’s history, its cultural significance, its music and styles, constantly learning and growing, and spreading its healing movement across generations and communities to keep their existence and joy alive.
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 educational workshops and classes. They have danced across the country (including DC, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois and Tennessee), and helped to raise more than $93k to aid Palestinians through prominent organizations such as UNRWA USA, Bloom Charity, Palestinian Youth Movement and Heal Palestine, among others.
Malikat Al Dabke regularly performs at community and cultural events including conferences, universities and schools, bazaars, weddings, hennas, fundraisers, embassies, private events and much more. They also regularly host dabke classes and workshops at schools, events, conferences and independently. They have performed with the premier Palestinian dance troupe, El Funoun, at Smith College where they held a dabke panel at a feminism, race and transnationalism symposium, George Washington University, Museum of the Palestinian People, Dulles Airport, The Kennedy Center, South African, Nicaraguan and Lebanese embassies, The Black Cat, New York Arab Festival and Arab America among many others.
They embody the culture and continue to dance to carry and teach tradition, as well as express joy across the Arab American diaspora to keep dabke alive in all its forms.
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.
Your donation will contribute to a Malikat Al Dabke studio where we can host classes, collaborations, community events and more!
Thank you for your generosity! We will make sure to keep you updated on all of our endeavors.