Story, music, and dance are the colossus instruments of nationalism that draw rich inspirations from the history, geographical, and cultural origins of the country in Oman. The genres of music are vibrant and energetic in the rural as well as urban landscapes, well-established traditions sustained and including the modern preferences of the masses.
There was Omani music in highly textured influences themselves that had driven the Sultanate of sea trade and cross-cultural interaction centuries earlier. From across the ancient trade routes, Oman had attracted arts palates from Persia, India, and Africa. The traditional music typically consisted of instruments like oud, pear-shaped stringed instrument that came very close to mimicking the lute, and mirwas, hand-drum played playing complex rhythmic cycles. They are applied in melodies of music describing Oman’s social life, religion, and daily life.
Omani music is inseparable from dance, especially ceremonial life and celebratory celebration. Al-razha is, without doubt, the most widely recognized traditional dance, traditionally performed by Omanis dressed in white dishdashas, chanting and carrying swords in harmony. The war dance depicts bravery, solidarity, and pride. Female involvement is also seen in performances like al-badawiya dances, whose practitioners wear conventionally highly colored embroidered attire and engage in synchronized rhythm to music on social celebration events. They act as agents of oral tradition and memory of communal values.
Storytelling, or the MAKAWATI, constitutes the second of Omani intangible heritage pillars. Recited and composed of legendary characters, moral tales, and history, it is passed primarily in cycles of family events, public ceremonies, and festivals by professional storytellers who build the audience’s interest using dramatic characterization and emotive recitation. Oral recitation is a rich method of information transmission between generations, ensuring cultural continuity and social cohesion.
Omani culture featured much more during the last ten years. Music, dance, and folklore were revived and popularized by culture centers, local artists, and even the government by incorporating these arts into school curricula, festivals, and new media. New recording studios and social networks have provided Omani artists with medium of speaking to more people in Oman, and the world in general. These events like Muscat Festival and Salalah Tourism Festival used to conduct cultural events because the country is interested in retaining culture.
This new recreation is just one element of this greater renaissance culture, where the timeless forms are not conserved but reunderstood in service to the moment. With a gap in centuries of precedent, Oman remains a keeper of regional tradition. The persistence of music, dance, and recitation testifies to a survival of identity—something that spilled out of history into the here and now, and enriches the fabric of world art-making.
