Al-Urda al-Shamiya is closely related to Damascus, as it cannot be talked about without mentioning the Damascene from the old lane and the characteristics of masculinity and gallantry.
Al-Urdah Al-Shamia is a distinctive heritage, and one of the forms of folk art that accompanies the occasions of joy among the people of Damascus, where exhibits are held at weddings and the opening of shops and others.
However, the circumstances of the war in Syria cast a shadow over this popular ritual. Most of the people of Damascus countryside were displaced to the north of Syria, as a result of the forced displacement imposed by the Syrian regime on the people, and they carried their customs and traditions with them to their new place of residence, while the Damascus neighborhoods and its countryside lacked this color. The beloved in the periods of war and siege that ravaged the cities of Damascus countryside, and they became memories of the past.
In the countryside of Aleppo, Al-Aradah had a new date to appear in a social environment that was never familiar with these social and artistic events, and was seen in drama series.
Despite the pain of the war that brought Syrians coming from all over Syria to the countryside of Aleppo, Al-Ardah returned in one way or another by the forcibly displaced Damascene.
Legacy of joy
In Afrin, in the northern countryside of Aleppo, Abu Ali al-Dimashqi (30 years old) strives with members of his "Sham El-Ezz" band to perform sham showings on the occasions of the families.
And Abu Ali inherited this heritage color from his father, as he says, as his father had a distinguished group in Damascus - and he was participating in its shows since he was 16, and he was doing what is called description within Al-Ardah, which are praise and compliment phrases for the owner of the occasion carefully and carefully selected.
Speaking about the first stages of his squad, Abu Ali says that he grew up in Damascus in 2003 to offer events at weddings and parties in popular neighborhoods and old neighborhoods, then the turnout became good for our group, and its activities expanded outside Damascus to receive the pilgrims.
As the intensity of the battles and the bombing intensified, the demonstrations disappeared in Damascus, and the voices of the singers were absent in front of the cannons and planes, before thousands of civilians were forced to relocate towards northern Syria, and Abu Ali was among them and members of his squad who were separated by the displacement.
Shortly after leaving the countryside of Aleppo, Abu Ali succeeded in regrouping his division, launching exhibits in northern Syria, and proving their presence again.
On this stage, Abu Ali says, "I gathered the friends of the past through the group's reunion, and I brought the traditional band's dress from Damascus, and the band's members became 12 people between dancers, drum flour and Al-Mizhar, and we returned to our activities in the countryside of Aleppo."
And on the most prominent shows, Abu Ali points out that the beloved dances of the people here are the ancient sword and damask dances, also called spinning with the sword and the gear.
Abu Ali believes that the people did not familiarize themselves with this type of folk dance, but over time they began asking for our group in the joys and opening of stores, and the thirtieth man hopes to one day return to his "hometown" of Damascus, he says, and the old days of glory that have passed back to his band.