South and Central ASIA AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan is a mountainous, land-locked Central Asian land with a proud, several-thousand- year history of struggle for independence from foreign influence.  

When the Taliban were out of power and couldn't formally ban popular music, the international Afghan exile community had a chance to reconnect with musicians still in the country. This allowed all to rediscover old Afghan pop and create pop anew. The documentary “Afghan Star” even takes us inside Afghanistan’s wildly popular version of “American Idol”; eleven million Afghans, a third of the population of the country, watched the finale. With the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, the future for Afghan musicians is, at the very best, unsure.

In class we dance the Attan, which originated in the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The dance is done in a circle; dancers spin and often swirl scarves in the air. Attan songs are long and sometimes dancing continue hours and hours in the night. Dancers compete for endurance and he last dancer standing wins . . . but, then again, don’t all the dancers win?