Montreal dance parties connect Arabic Canadians to their roots

With melodic rhythms filled with joy and optimism, the Laylit party platform, which translates to ‘the night’ in Arabic – was founded by three DJs from Syria and Lebanon.

Saphe Shamoun, Nadim Maghzal and Philippe Manasseh left their homes to settle in Montreal and New York City.

In 2018 – they founded Laylit, which connects the Arabic community in Canada to their roots, through music by creating dance parties filled with Arabic music.

“As artists, we had this growing feeling that there is never really a space where we could I guess showcase our culture in a forward-thinking way, not just like in a nostalgic way reminiscing on the countries we have left, now we live here,” explained Maghzal.

“Now we live here and this means our culture is alive with us and we need a space not just to showcase it but also to continuously re-invent it.”

And the group says no one needs to be Arab to enjoy, the parties are open to all.

“Laylit comes from this idea of like rallying you to know artists but also audiences who are open and interested in feeling represented and feeling like they exist in society, and I think it’s very important to have spaces like these,” explained Maghzal.

#WATCH: With melodic rhythms filled with joy & optimism, Laylit, which translates to ‘the night’ in Arabic – was founded by three DJs from Syria & Lebanon. They're bring Arabic dance parties to Montreal & beyond.
 
READ: https://t.co/zGHhJsvkrw
 @Farahmustapha7 pic.twitter.com/VObrM8vtpM

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) September 16, 2022

And among Laylit’s many goals: is to remove stigmas and stereotypes, hoping that little by little, positive associations are created.

“There are a lot of stereotypes towards Arabs in Canada and North America and even more since 9/11,” said Manasseh. “People don’t know much, they only know what they see on the news and it’s mostly wars and oils.

“The image is stuck in the past and our role to come in and contribute at least in the music front, saying hey this exists but also there is all these stuff that is evolving, it’s not as foreign as you think because it’s very influenced by what you know here,” added Manasseh.

As for Laylit, Manasseh says it’s all about expanding and looking to the future.

“We are very focused now in Canada and U.S. and we are expanding to more cities this year including Ottawa and Toronto in Canada. In the States, we are looking at Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, and LA. The idea is to expand as much as we can.”