ISLAMABAD, Sept 23: The Pakistan National Council of the Arts and Embassy of Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have jointly organized a cultural performance by Saudi cultural troupe on September 25 at 7:30pm here at National Library Auditorium.

The visiting troupe, consisting of 19 male artists, is headed by Sasir M Al-Hamidi.

The troupe will perform four folk dances and the first one is the Saudi Ardha. Ardha is one of the oldest folk dances, which was used in the past during wars to raise enthusiasm and patriotism of warriors.

The dancers stand in two parallel rows, holding souls and guns, and echo enthusiastic and bravery poems. Some of the dancers perform parade dances in the middle either with sword or gun.

The drums at the back are called Takhmeel Drums whereas those exhibitions are called Irkab and there is flag holder in the dance as well. Recently, Ardha is performed during official celebrations, feasts and on different occasions and the dances are performed with drums and swords.