Barbs dancers attract Saudi youths, rake up storm

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Barbs dancers attract Saudi youths, rake up storm

Dubai - Youths imitate satirical dance style in the video, conservatives call for action against dancers.

by

Mustafa Al Zarooni

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Published: Sat 23 Jan 2016, 6:41 PM

Last updated: Sat 23 Jan 2016, 8:48 PM

A musical video by a Saudi group of youths slugged 'Barbs', showing them dancing in a funny and satirical manner, has gone viral over the past few days and creating an uproar against it among the conservatives. Many youngsters in the region imitated the group and posted dance videos on social media.
Recently, the Abu Dhabi Public Prosecution registered a case against two people for performing Barbs dance wearing military uniform. The prosecution said the act 'did not show any respect to the military uniform and degraded the value of the national service.
Conservatives in Saudi Arabia came up against the group, alleging such trends are odd to the Saudi society and asked the government to take action against the group. The video clip attracted over five million views on YouTube.

Barbs or Barbsah, derives from the Saudi Najdi dialect, which means untidy and messy work.
Over the past few years, gulf youths have been coming up with videos at par with Gangnam Style and Harlem Shake.
Barbs dance was created by Saudi youth Majid Al Essi, an artist cum director, who has been keen on featuring the vocabularies of the Saudi culture in a modern style.
Those who object Al Essi's video include columnists and social media critics, who name the videos as a proof to western influence called upon people to boycott such acts that 'spoil the society.


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