Traditional song and dance are inspired by the environment - the sea, desert and moun-tains. Contact with other cultures through Dubai's trading history has brought many influences to the UAE shores. Music and dance are performed spontaneously at weddings,social occasions and family gatherings, and at various places around the city on National Day (2 December). You may be lucky to see such a performance if you're exploring an Emirati neighbourhood and come across a wedding tent, otherwise you will have to visit the Heritage Village . A good time to catch some local action is during the Dubai Shopping Festival or Summer Surprises when there are a variety of performances throughout the night. Women should make an effort to visit on a ladies' night when they will get the rare opportunity to hear local women singing.One of the most popular dances is the liwa, which is performed to a rapid tempo and loud drumbeat. It was most likely brought to the Gulf by East African slaves and is traditionally sung in Swahili. The ayyalah, is a typical Bedouin dance, celebrating the courage, strength and unity of the tribe. The ayyalah is performed throughout the Gulf, but the UAE has its own variation, which is performed to a simple drumbeat. Anywhere between 25 and 200 men stand with their arms linked in two rows facing each other. They wave walking sticks or swords in front of them and sway back and forth, the two rows taking it in turn to sing. It is a war dance and the words expound the virtues of courage and bravery in battle. There is a display on video of this dance in the Dubai Museum. The instruments used at traditional musical celebrations in Dubai are the same as those used in the rest of the Gulf. The tamboura, a harplike instrument, has five strings made of horse gut, which are stretched between a wooden base and a bow-shaped neck. The base is covered with camel skin and the strings are plucked with sheep horns. It has a deep and resonant sound, a little like a bass violin. A much less sophisticated instrument is the manior, a percussion instrument that is played with the body. It is a belt made of cotton and decorated with dried goats' hooves. It is wrapped around the player who keeps time with the beat of the tamboura while danc-ing. The mimzar is a wooden instrument a little like a small oboe, but it delivers a higher pitched sound, which is haunting and undeniably Middle Eastern. An unusual instrument and one that you'll often see at song and dance performances is the habban, the Arabian bagpipes. Made from a goatskin sack, it has two pipes attached. The sack retains its goat shape and the pipes resemble its front legs. One pipe is used to blow air into the sack and the other produces the sound. The habban sounds much the same as the Scottish bagpipes, but is shriller in tone. The tabla is a drum, and has a number of different shapes. It can resemble a bongo drum that is placed on the floor, or it can be a jaser, a drum with goatskin at both ends, which is slung around the neck and hit with sticks.