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Samba show shakes up Saudi Arabia

Samba show shakes up Saudi Arabia

Authorities investigating a samba performance by dancers 'too scantily clad' for the country.
Updated 10 Jan, 2022

Authorities in Saudi Arabia were investigating on Sunday after a samba performance by dancers some considered too scantily clad for the conservative country, which has been diversifying its entertainment options.

Over the past week videos on social media have shown three foreign samba dancers displaying their moves in a main street of Jazan, in the southwest.

The women, who were taking part in the Jazan Winter Festival, wore coloured feathers emblematic of the Brazilian tradition with their legs, arms and bellies uncovered.

But they did not show as much flesh as samba dancers during Rio de Janeiro’s annual carnival parades.

State-run El-Ekhbariya TV aired footage of the festival, but blurred images of the women.

“Shows are for entertainment, not to attack good ways and to go against religion and social morals,” one Jazan resident, Mohammed al-Bajwi, told the channel.

On social media many others were indignant, demanding punishment for those responsible for the event.

One Twitter user, Ahmad al-Saneh, said however that he did not consider the dancers’ dress excessively immodest.

In Saudi Arabia, most local women still wear traditional cloak-like robes in public.

Faced with the conservative backlash Jazan’s governor, Prince Mohammed bin Nasser, early on Saturday ordered an inquiry and “necessary measures to prevent all abuse.” He did not elaborate.

For the past five years Saudi Arabia, where two-thirds of the population is younger than 30, has been introducing a wide range of entertainment and sporting events from music concerts to cinema and a Formula One Grand Prix auto race.

Originally published in Dawn, January 10, 2022

Comments

Careless Whispers Jan 10, 2022 11:48am
1st invite then investigate .... Ironic isn't it
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john Jan 10, 2022 11:51am
3 women with exposed hands and bellies become national news .. what a pathetic cult
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Ajmal Jan 10, 2022 12:12pm
Good for Saudi Arabia.
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ST Jan 10, 2022 12:17pm
Saudia is trying to compete with UAE i guess. I am just perplexed
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Laila Jan 10, 2022 12:20pm
Well it is Saudi Arabia so this is expected. What would be unexpected is women given the right to travel and make their own life decisions like who they can marry (incl non Saudi foreign Muslims), and if they want to work, study without getting permission from their male guardians. What would be even more surprising if Saudi Arabia lifts the ban on Saudi men marrying Pakistani women. But its much more important to control vulgarity than to give citizens and foreign menial workers their basic human rights.
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Nads Jan 10, 2022 12:22pm
What can we say except”tauba , tauba!
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Saif Zulfiqar Jan 10, 2022 12:32pm
Very soon the Saudi kingdom will vanish like Iraq.
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Khalid Jan 10, 2022 12:33pm
@john Try to respect the cultural norms of a country.
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Qaisar Khan Jan 10, 2022 12:35pm
@john It is not as pathetic as some countries where common women cant's cover heads but nuns can.
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Gary Jan 10, 2022 12:38pm
@Laila How would you control vulgarity on the internet which is available to the saudi men and women?
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Gary Jan 10, 2022 12:39pm
@john They are hypocrites.
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Sam Jan 10, 2022 12:53pm
@Laila And also marry non Muslim women or men....!!! Is religion not a personal choice??
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FAZ Jan 10, 2022 01:29pm
Right to travel, study, marry, do business, jobs, take part in politics etc is all good and true liberalism. Showing skin in the name of freedom is not. Hijab will never be a hindrance to anything other than wishes of few lustful men! Period.
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Naseer.K Jan 10, 2022 01:37pm
after having entered into a bromance with the US Saudi Arabia cannot avoid accommodating the Western permissiveness - nudity.
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Fact Jan 10, 2022 01:43pm
@Saif Zulfiqar and Iran too
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Syed Jan 10, 2022 01:51pm
Why Saudis do not let Yemenis to live in peace? They must stop war on Yemen.
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Anonymouseee Jan 10, 2022 02:23pm
Thanks to king salman for turning Saudi Arabia into a crapshoot that it has become. End of time is near indeed.
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Hawk Jan 10, 2022 02:59pm
I feel very sad for such dance. Because KSA is the country where Islam sprang. It does not allow women to dance openly.
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Chrís Dăn Jan 10, 2022 03:32pm
@Syed it is Iran who had initiated expansion targeted proxy war in yemen.
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Chrís Dăn Jan 10, 2022 03:32pm
@Qaisar Khan why you call it pathetic?
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Chrís Dăn Jan 10, 2022 03:41pm
@Saif Zulfiqar not likely. Joining the 21st century on planet is a positive sign. Who wish extremism in saudi arabia,they can follow their rigid ideas and same equal rights others do have. Why you are imposing extremism on everyone?
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the MIRROR Jan 10, 2022 04:03pm
Hi writer, do you see your biasness in choosing your words regarding who willfully chooses to wear "cloak". Have some respect.
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Hanna Jan 10, 2022 05:56pm
@Qaisar Khan you're lying!no county forbids women from wearing headscarf but some countries of a particular religion enforces hijab and male guardianship on women,what can be worse than that....
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Truth be told Jan 10, 2022 05:58pm
@Laila so your proposal fell through because of local laws?
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Hanna Jan 10, 2022 05:59pm
@Khalid you mean respecting gender based exploitation in the name of culture?sorry no sane person would support that agenda
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AK Jan 10, 2022 06:14pm
Surely the end of time is near...
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Sandeep Jan 10, 2022 06:54pm
@Qaisar Khan Both nuns and common women are free to wear what they want.
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VoiceOfReason Jan 10, 2022 07:32pm
@john Who are you to judge?
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Arij Khan Jan 10, 2022 08:10pm
@Sandeep Not in European countries like France where burqa or hijab is banned
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Iqbal Jan 10, 2022 08:17pm
@Hanna vulgarity is ten times worse
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Gopal Patel Jan 10, 2022 08:48pm
Saudi Arabia is changing. It is trying to keep pace with its European and American societies.
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Alam Jan 10, 2022 08:50pm
@Hanna You are totally naïve !
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Alam Jan 10, 2022 08:51pm
@Syed What it go to do with exposed body ?
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Zulfiqar Jan 10, 2022 11:26pm
Saudi is changing too fast for its own good.
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Mojo Jan 10, 2022 11:48pm
@john what are you trying to prove here? To them it's well out of norm hence it's a news. There is no need to use the word pathetic here, as you might be the same to many!
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Laila Jan 11, 2022 12:10am
@Truth be told I genuinely feel sad for you, that all you offer to this debate is a personal attack; the last refuge of those who have nothing to say. When you grow up and come prepared to talk like adults, let me know.
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Ibrahim S Jan 11, 2022 12:14am
@Saif Zulfiqar - Brother worry about your own country and its sins,
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Syed Hafeez Imran Jan 11, 2022 01:58am
@Hanna you seem to be not at all aware of the conditions in the world. There are many couniries and regions which ban wearing the hijab. France, some provinces of Canada among them also possibly Holland
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Raheel Jan 11, 2022 02:04am
Saudi Arabia is the new Amsterdam of the Middle East. After Umrah or Hajj, we can attend concerts and night clubs.
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Joe Jan 11, 2022 03:25am
@john is it also pathetic to ban modest clothing in Europe?
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Iqbal rangoonwala Jan 11, 2022 05:12am
A crow can never become peacock
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Iqbal rangoonwala Jan 11, 2022 05:17am
While I was in England Iraqi and Irani and syrian were too modern and me pakistani they consider simple but we're my friends I was am simple person, no clubs no smoking or drinking no with girls these crows today could not become peacock
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Iqbal rangoonwala Jan 11, 2022 05:19am
What a shame for the crooks who did this show
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Za Jan 11, 2022 05:48am
They are developing and getting modern. That is the secrets that blessed with black gold.
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Zara khan Jan 11, 2022 08:20am
Modern Saudi Arabia?
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Iftikhar Rehman Jan 11, 2022 08:24am
No difference between Saudi Arabia and Rio de Janeiro.
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Hafiz Abdul Rauf Jan 11, 2022 09:07am
With this Samba show, MBS actually checked how deep waters are in KSA
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SATT Jan 11, 2022 09:39am
Somebody peeked through the curtain.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 01:43pm
@Arij Khan I presume, you are not very familiar with French laws or France? Home to millions of Muslims, France in 2004 banned ALL RELIGIOUS symbols from PUBLIC SCHOOLS incl the kippah, cross and headscarf. But the ban is only for public schools. Not private schools or other public spaces. In recent times France banned face cover (niqab/burka) in public. All in line with their secularism. If it was so bad millions of Muslims would not stay. It is however interesting that even a few religious scholars and clerics indirectly support Frances ban on face cover saying face veils are neither Islamic nor obligatory. Also interesting is Muslim countries like Senegal and Chad have banned the face veil. In Iran and Saudi Arabia females have to cover their bodies and heads. I guess the easy solution is not to live in such countries if their dress restrictions are objectionable. It's not like they force us.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 01:52pm
@Hanna well said. But facts are nor popular for many. Instead sensational hearsay is passed of as facts like headscarves allegedly being banned in France, unnamed Canadian provinces etc when it's catagorically incorrect. No country bans headscarves. Its amazing people don't even bother educating themselves on simply facts which are a click away.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 02:00pm
@Syed Hafeez Imran Actually Hanna is fully aware of the conditions of the world. France, Holland and unnamed Canadian provinces do not ban headscarves. In France students of public schools can not wear headscarves. But others can. You must distinguish between face veil and head scarf. The face veil is prohibited even in some Muslim countries. If you believe otherwise then you must cite proof thereof.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 02:01pm
@Saif Zulfiqar Iraq has not vanished.... Still live, kicking and screaming. And bleeding.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 02:04pm
@Qaisar Khan no country bans grown adults women from covering their heads. Now face veil (niqab and burkas) is a different matter. Even certain Muslim countries prohibit that.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 02:12pm
@Joe one of our family friends is settled in Europe. She has travelled throughout Europe wearing modest clothes including headscarf and has never been met with the demand to dress otherwise or remove her headscarf. Not once. Spain, Germany, france, Belgium, Scandinavia, UK, Holland, Italy, Austria, etc.
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Laila Jan 12, 2022 02:25pm
@the MIRROR what respect do you mean? Is it the use of the word "cloak"? If yes, then I can refer you to Ahl al-Kisa or the hadith of Mubahala or just Qurans chapter Al-Muddaththir. Cloak is not a derogatory word at all or even biased.
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Dean Jan 12, 2022 02:40pm
John if you don't respect the counties norms then go somewhere else !! Simple
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Dean Jan 12, 2022 02:44pm
Laila !1Iraq has not vanished.... Still live, kicking and screaming. And bleeding. and yes as the US is still looking for mass weapons of destruction !!
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Laila Jan 13, 2022 01:08am
@Dean yes US looking for what was never in Iraq. The war on Iraq was a sham. As was the war in Afghanistan. Both countries destroyed and left in a miserable mess. They both bleed.
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TPA Jan 13, 2022 08:06am
MBS is the best. Long live the crown prince
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Pindi Boy Jan 14, 2022 03:55am
@Dean leave Iraq to the Iraqis. Don’t worry about them. Its none of your business.
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