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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

ayyala arab dance

From the balcony in my Hilton room ,I face the towering Jebel hebit 13 km away but lit like a christmas tree in the night ,with roads winding up its 4000feet ,and with this in the horizon my gaze lands on the green vast lawns of the hotel besides the modern road with fast cars zipping by .the lawn becomes colourful at least weekly once as traditonal arab dancers of Ayyala descend on it and it is fun to watch them though the repetition gets monotonous after a few hours .they arrive in many cars by 5pm and arrange themselves in two rows facing each other ,music is by one person with a huge keyboard and electronic drums which probabably makes up for all the traditional instruments .there are lulls when it all stops and shulaimaniya is served in Arab jugs ( straight from arabian nights indeed ),then they go around greting each other touching thier foreheads and noses as a sign of welcome andd greeting .adults bend down to children and do the same all with equal effortsthen they start again ,but the music and rhythm doesnt change at all .this is what I found out about it in the webArabic music is traditionally accompanied by percussion instruments like drums and tambourines, wind instruments such as the soft Arabian flute called Nai, and string instruments such as the Rababa, violin and tanboura. Town songs, sea chantys and desert songs are popular, while ancient beats and songs have deeply influenced modern singing styles.The Ayyala, an ancient dance form that emulates battle, is one of the more fascinating forms of Arabic dance practiced in the UAE.The Ayyala, an ancient dance form that emulates battle, is one of the more fascinating forms of Arabic dance practiced in the UAE. The Ayyalah is accompanied solely by drums. The leader of the ensemble is the big drum, known as Al-Ras. Its solid, deep voice sets the beat for the three smaller Takhamir drums.Tambourines are sometimes used, too; these are known as Duffuf or Tiran.The ensemble is sometimes completed by the use of copper cymbals. The dance is performed by at least 25 men, and sometimes by as many as 200. They stand in two rows, facing each other, arms linked. As they wave camel sticks in front of them, they sway back and forth to the beat and each row sings, in a declaration of challenges and boasts to the opposite side

4 comments:

Unknown said...

good research doctor!
now waiting for your blog on 'belly dance', another middle eastern performing art form!

harimohan said...

in al ain now the only dancing belly i can write about is my own in search of home food !!!

Anonymous said...

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nice...
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SuPeRmAnN-----
2 DA RESCUE
DAN DA DA DAN
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the KAlvins said...

Very informative info on the dance... thank you for sharing. You wouldn't have happened to film the dance?

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