Some historians claim that it was invented by the Anza tribe before the advent of Islam in the Arab Peninsula.
According to history books, a small group of people from this tribe were out one night on patrol when they saw some movement.
They sent one member of the group to scout ahead and see what was going on, and he discovered a large army from another hostile tribe preparing to invade their area.
He returned from his scouting trip and told his people about the large army. The members of the tribe were few in number and could be easily overcome by the invading army that outnumbered them.
They thought of a trick to scare the big army away. They came up with the idea of this dance in which they sang songs that sounded very much like roars of lion.
They also hit their camels until they too started roaring.
The invading army, unaware of what these sounds were, got scared by the fearful sounds and ran away.
Since then, the Al-Dahha dance was passed down from generation to generation. Today it has become part of wedding celebrations.
The dance starts with the singer chanting some lyrics and the main dancer swinging the sword. He is then joined by other dancers, who make loud throaty sounds. The singers change and the dance continues.
