From Morocco to the United States: The Incredible Story of Acrobatic Artist Lahcen Demlak

Since the 1980s, Lahcen Demlak has made his way into the acrobatic art by traveling through remote areas of Morocco, accompanied by his five brothers. Now living in Sarasota (Florida), this 48-year-old man would never have imagined one day that he would make his life in the United States. Before his emigration, this native of Marrakech gave artistic and theatrical street performances, which earned him great fame.

“At first, my brother was the professional in staging acrobatic shows, then we started joining him one by one,” he told Yabiladi. From one village to another and in the weekly souks, the siblings began to give their performances from 1984. “We bought donkeys and mules for this, in addition to tents, which we used to to take with us wherever we went, to create a space for our audience that we love,” he recalls.

Villages in Jemaâ El Fna and in the United States

Initially, public performances were dependent on authorizations from the authorities, while being limited to villages near Marrakech. It then spread to the rest of Morocco. “We traveled almost the whole country in the same way, on the backs of animals,” Lahcen tells us. The troupe expands beyond the Demlak brothers to 26 members.

“At that time, we started going around the souks and villages in order to inform people of the dates of our shows. We used to find the crowd waiting for us and before the show started, we always greeted our viewers with specific terms. There was no other means of entertainment and we embodied a breath of fresh air so that local residents momentarily forget their daily worries,” Lahcen confides to us.

In 1988, the troupe decided to limit itself to presenting its performances on the Jemaâ El Fna square, using monkeys. Things stayed that way until 1998. At the same time, Lahcen presented solo shows in hotels and with a Gnaoua music group. Subsequently, he signed a work contract, with a fair in the United Kingdom, to present acrobatic acts. “One of my brothers worked at Walt Disney and he allowed me to get my contract, along with other friends. We settled there and we presented various performances of folk dance, movements, singing. We did three performances drawing on Moroccan culture and we were sold out,” he recalls.

Two months were enough for the troupe to promote the folk arts of Morocco, before returning to Jemaâ El Fna square. But just two months later, the troupe received another offer, this time to go to the United States and work with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. “We were proud to work with this company, we were 13 people from Morocco, we had signed a four-year contract,” recalls Lahcen proudly.

This is how the acrobat settled in the United States in 1999, but he quickly returned to Morocco for his wedding. After many years, he was able to return, but decided to change jobs permanently. He thus began to practice several trades, while living with his wife.

Leaving street arts by cultivating entrepreneurship

After working in construction, dyeing and others, Lahcen Demlak is launching his own project, in the form of a mobile restaurant serving Moroccan specialties. The business, however, was not sustainable. “After that, I worked for car wash companies and everything related to decoration, my last experience being five years,” Lahcen tells us.

Two years ago, the man decided to launch his second project in this field, after accumulating 8 years of experience. Unlike his first, success was his ally to set up a car wash project, through an equipped mobile point.

“My vehicle is equipped with everything necessary, even water. I go to the customer, I clean the cars and I win new customers thanks to the old ones. There is a great demand, which prompted me to hire two people to help me from time to time,” describes the entrepreneur.

Proud of his Moroccanness, Lahcen Demlak is thinking of returning to his motherland to launch a project in the same field. But before that, he wants his three daughters to finish their studies. “I didn’t study and I don’t want my daughters to suffer from what I endured before,” he confides to us, longing to see his children weigh in and occupy important positions. “I can’t read or write. It is my daughters who help me, especially since I have acquired the English language through contact with people”, he confides to us.