In Afghanistan, the dancer Fahima Mirzaie founded a Sama school open to women and men. This ancestral dance, which dates back to the 13th century, is traditionally reserved for Sufi brotherhoods of dervishes. The troop, baptized "Shohode Arefan", is strong of about twenty members, women and men, and installed in a district west of Kabul, where the attacks have been numerous in recent years.
Fahima Mirzaie, a 23-year-old young woman, was born in the Afghan capital the year before the Taliban came to power. Her family fled to Iran, before returning to Afghanistan in 2006. In December 2019, the troop she founded performed at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of the poet Rûmî.
The origins of Sama date back to the 13th century, in the writings of the Persian mystical poet Djalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhi or Rûmî, who strongly influenced Sufism and instituted the liturgical dance of Sama. This dance was not only prohibited by the Taliban, but practiced only by men.
"Recently, the number of people who oppose our art has increased, especially among religious fundamentalists in the country. But if a Taliban came and told me not to dance Sama anymore, I will not be able to accept it because the Taliban have no right to decide what is good for us, and their choices are bad, "said Fahima Mirzaie, interviewed by Reuters.
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