Oman Centre for Traditional Music is just one of the dance companies, Omani dance schools, dancing organizations and dance wear suppliers that that can be found in our comprehensive Directory of Oman Dance Companies.

Traditional Omani Dance
Most Omani music accompanies dance and is present at celebrations of all kinds around the country. Music and dance celebrate births and weddings, are used for healing and at times of national pride. Men and women dance accompanied by musical instruments that display the cultural influences of the larger region – stringed instruments from the Arab world, wind instruments from Persia, drums from Africa, and even bagpipes, originally from Egypt but more recently played by British military troops in residence in Oman, all influence the sounds of Omani music. Musical ensembles from Sohar on the northern Batinah coast, Quriyat outside Muscat and Salala, in the southern governorate of Dhufar entertained and instructed audiences in the joys of Omani celebrations.

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Dance Schools in Oman, Dancewear Suppliers, Dancing Organizations

Mr. Jumah b. Kh. al Shidi
Oman Centre for Traditional Music, Ministry of Information
PO Box 1000 OM-111 Seeb Oman
Tel. (968)601317; Fax: (968)697667
Researcher, folk dances
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Mr. Khalfan al-Barwani, Chair
Oman Centre for Traditional Music, Ministry of Information
PO Box 1000 OM-111 Seeb Oman
Tel. (968)601317; Fax (968)697667, (968)723059
khalfan30@hotmail.com 
Researcher, folk dances, Oman, Arab Gulf states; Arab countries
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National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, Ministry of Education
PO Box 3 OM-112 Muscat Oman
Tel. (968)704.852, 796.790; Fax (968)705.659
Organization

The Omani dance of death
The lament of dan, known as fan al'dan, dates from pre-Islamic and having roots in the African traditions. The name of the dance comes from its lyrics, which is constructed around the repitition of the word dan. The word is without any significant meaning, but does allow for the expression and improvisation of emotional and sorrowful sighs as in the word "owf," in the Syrian Mawwal. The dance emotional power draws upon a powerful dramatic context, in which a close female member of the deceased performs a ritual dance surrounded by a circle of men. As a ritual lamentation dance, performed by selected members of the society from both genders, dan represents the highest expression of grief within the culture of Oman. Mourning itself is a way of life, which allows for the attainment of an intensified state of confinement and an attempt to relieve its frustration.

The participation of women in this dance is highly unusual. Unlike other parts of the M.E, where public display of emotions by women is usually policed, the woman dancer in dan is liberated from such restraints. Though greater freedom is permitted in private funeral in the M.E, in a Lebanese society of Druze, for example, a female dirge singer at a funeral is instructed not to invoke excessive grief, not to beat herself nor dance while singing and not to sing before male listeners. This is obviously not the case with dan, where both male and female participate equally in creating the shape and ethos of the dance. Greater freedom is permitted in private funeral by the women lamenter so that she can make others cry. Further, some societies view laments performed without strong emotion as an honorable gesture to the deceased. But for the Omani society, the participation in such an expressive domain, like a funeral, represent one of the main social outlets for women. The dancing ritual of dan allows for greater level of outpouring of emotions, usually policed and controlled by the strict rules of society. For this reason, lament is not only a tribute to the deceased, but an avenue in which women are expected to express mourning through crying. Unlike men, who restrain and suppress their emotions, women greet each each other at the door by hugging and crying. The level of intensity in such situations is so high that tears flow naturally and intensely mixed with extensive shouting and sporadic crying.

But in the recent decades, and due in parts to the rapid change in the socio-political life in Oman, there seems to be a move by the society towards the suppression of the dance. This new attitude reflects a tendency associated with urban attitude to control feelings from excessive emotions, especially those of pain and grief. This problem has been amplified by the gradual disappearance of the tradition, in which the young population seem to move away from participating in the traditional social rituals of the elders. They see such practices as primitive and old fashion and are often ashamed of being associated with such tradition.

In any society, the death of a beloved person represents the catalyst of sorrow and grievances and catharcism. Ritually and religiously, it serves as a metaphysical communication outside the official forum of formal customs of funerals. More than just grief, pain refers to an intense and extraorinary emotional state, manifesting itself specifically and structurally through the lament. In the lament, the role of the performer is to move the audience to ponos, pain, and establish a connection between the livings and the dead. The stylized interjections of the dancer and their movement are a clear manifestation of grievance and the creation of extraordinary space that goes beyond our existential domain. In dan, these symbolic rituals are seen in the women tearing her cloths and loosing consciousness. Yet, in many instances, this state of pain and high emotional intensity does not diminish a singer's control of conventions and compositional techniques.

The dance of dan is found exclusively in the Southern region of Oman. In particular, it is a dance accompanied by lyrics, that used to be performed in the city of Mirbat and its neighboring city, Taqah. The two cities are sea-ports overlooking the Arabian Sea and had long traidtion of trades and fishery.

The dance is performed by a close member of the deceased, with the exception of the mother. In most circumstances it is the grandmother, but other members like aunts may participate. The event is usually held after dark at the deceased house within three days of his/her death. In the past, both women and men participated in forming the circle surrounding the dancer, but it seems like tradition favor the men. This, however, does not mean that women are not present at the performance. They do sorround the males and participate in the singing of the refraine (the repeated verse sung). The women dancer who enters the circle should be completely covered with black cloth. She is not allowed to ware any jewelry, perfume, or make-up.

The dance begins with the men forming a circle. They establish the rhythm of the piece by pounding softly on the ground. This pounding will slowly increase in intensity and tempo as the piece develops. In one of the corners sit the musicians, composed of three drummers and a person blowing on a carved shell that produces a single note. While the drums produce different rhythms, the shell is blown against the rhythm in syncopation, symbolizing an ominus event. Shrtly thereafter, the women dancer enters the circle and begins to dance slowly and tragically. When she reaches the center of the circle, she sits down holding her face and begins to cry.

The music of dan is made of short repetitive phrase based on the title of the dance. There is a definite correlation between the lamenting behavior and the dynamic re-shaping of a repeating melody that is enticing and befitting the somber occasion. The dance may lasts from five to ten minutes culminating in the dancer tearing her clothes off symbolically. This act represents the woman's desire to depart with her beloved and the severe pain inflicted upon her by his departure. At many instances, the woman may loose consciousness and reaches the state of tance. The aim of such ecstatic state is to establish contacts with the transcendental plane. In such cases, an appropriate substitute is available to continue the dance. It is uncommon for men to loose conscious as well, seduced by the 1) persisting beat of the drumms, 2) the loudness of the ominous sound of the shell, 3) the men's pounding on the ground, 4) the emotional intensity surrounding the circle, 5) the presence of close member of the deceased including the dancing in the middle, 6) the burning incense and their long metaphoric association with the supernatural, 7) and darkness. All these factors contribute to the dance's powerful expression and dramatic gestures.