''Ardah'' ( /

ALA-LC ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script. Applications The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...

: ''al-‘arḍah'') is a type of folkloric group dance in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, in most countries located in the

Gulf Cooperation Council The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; ), is a Regional integration, regional, intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Ba ...

. The dance is performed with two rows of men opposite of one another, each of whom may or may not be wielding a sword or cane, and is accompanied by drums and spoken poetry. Originally, the ''ardah'' was performed only by males of tribes of the Arabian Peninsula before going to war, but nowadays it is done at celebrations, weddings, and national and cultural events by males of all tribes. There currently exists various types of ''ardah'' across the

. It was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2015 as ''Alardah Alnajdiyah''.

Variations

The term ''ardah'' (عَرْضَة) is thought to derive from the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

verb ''ard'' (عَرَضَ) meaning to show or to parade. It was so named because its purpose was to publicly display the fighting strength of a tribe and boost morale before an armed engagement. Although there are regional variations of the particular rendition of ardah, the purpose it serves is nearly identical throughout the Arabian Peninsula.

Nejdi ''ardah''

''Najdi ardah'' is the most common variant of ''ardah'' in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. It is also the most practiced and highly televised male folkloric dance in the entire country. The Saudi government changed its name to Saudi ''ardah'' in the 21st century. However, there are numerous variations of ardah distinct from Najdi ardah throughout the country, notably in the regions of

Najran Najran ( '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia. It is the capital of Najran Province. Today, the city of Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As of the 2022 census, the city population was 381,431, wi ...

, Asir and

Jizan Jizan () is a city and the capital of Jazan Province, which lies in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia. Jizan is situated on the coast of the Red Sea and serves a large agricultural heartland that has a population of 173,919 as of 2022 and over ...

References

External links

Ardah, Conference on Music in the Islamic World/Urkevich
{{Portal bar, Saudi Arabia, Visual arts, Music, Society Arab dance Group dances Middle Eastern dances Arab culture Culture of Saudi Arabia Dance in Saudi Arabia Dance in the United Arab Emirates Dance in Bahrain Dance in Qatar National symbols of Saudi Arabia

Variations

Nejdi ''ardah''

See also

References

External links