Videos of Emirati Culture, United Arab Emirates

Men sing and dance the "Razafat" and "Yula" (where a rifle is thrown high up into the air) at the "Cultural Village" in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. They dance in two rows, carrying sticks that traditionally are used to control their camels, with men beating drums between them.

In the second performance of "Razafat" and "Yula", halfway during the dance, they invited Ned Ingui, a visiting Australian Aboriginal boy, a student of Djarragun College in Queensland, who was painted up to perform later with his group there. Ned proved that you can dance this traditional Arab dance also in Aboriginal ceremonial paint!

Traditional Arab music is played and sung at a garden party in Abu Dhabi. The instruments used are the "qanun", a traditional Arab string instrument, essentially a zither with a narrow trapezoidal soundboard. Its strings are stretched over a single bridge and attached to tuning pegs; the "oud", a traditional Arab lute, distinguished from the European lute by its lack of frets and a smaller neck; and a tablah (durbakke), a small vase-shaped drum with a wide neck, made of earthenware.

This is followed by a fast whirling dance, lasting around 15 minutes; a very skilful performance set to traditional music, very special and the dancer didn't seem to get dizzy at all!