SAIDI
Saidi is a folk dance from the Upper Egypt region of Said. This style was introduced on stage by Mahmoud Reda. I mentioned the male version of this dance with the cane called tahtib in the previous post – saidi is it’s female version. It can also be danced with a cane made of bamboo, called assaya (the saidi dance with a cane is called in Arabic raqs al assaya). Female saidi dance is more delicate and cheerful than tahtib. Of course saidi can also be danced without assaya.
Region of Said is famous for horse breeding – and that can be noticed in the dance. There are, for example, shows in which two dancers are dressed as a horse and one dancer is dancing with assaya: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv5QG0-Uqxs , we can also see ‘dancing horses’: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGMSUAJk9ME
The costume used for saidi is a long galabeya/saidi dress with long sleeves and a hip scarf.
Music for the saidi dance is played on a mizmar, a mijwiz and a darbuka and it contains saidi rhytm.
You can watch SAIDI DANCE here: