Yowlah

The yowlah (Arabic: اليولة, al-yawlah, or العيالة, al-ʿayyalah or al-ʿiyyalah), is a weapon dance of the United Arab Emirates and Oman, traditionally performed during weddings, celebrations, and other events. The dance is accompanied by traditional music (drums and other instruments), and men and women are represented in separate groups of dancers. The yowlah originated as a Bedouin war dance where men would spin rifles after victory in a battle. There is also a variation from the standard yowlah known as the razfah (Arabic: الرزفة al-razfah, الرزفة العيالة‎ al-razfat al-ʿayyalah, or العيالة أهل البحر al-ʿayyalat ʾahl al-baḥr); and the ardah is sometimes considered a form of the yowlah (as العرضة العيالة‎ al-ʿarḍat al-ʿayyalah).

Dance routine

The yowlah, or Al Ayyala dance, involves dance, drum music, and chanted poetry; its routine is meant to simulate a battle scene. Two rows of about twenty men face each other, carrying thin sticks of bamboo to signify spears or swords. (The performance can alternatively make use of dummy rifles made entirely of wood and metal plating or real rifles, swords, or spears.) Between the rows musicians play Emirati music on large and small drums and tambourines, brass cymbals, leather bagpipes, or flutes. The rows of men move their heads and sticks in and up and down synchronously with the drum rhythm while chanting poetic lyrics, and other performers move around the rows holding swords or guns, which they spin, throw, and perform tricks with. In the United Arab Emirates, girls wearing traditional dresses stand at the front, tossing their long hair from side to side.

The melody has seven tones in an irregular repeated pattern, and the chanted poetry varies according to the occasion.