Saidi

If you are dancing belly dance, you will at some point come across the Saidi rhythm. It is a good idea to know a little bit about the rhythm, instruments and which steps to use. Egyptians love their Saidi, it fills their hearts with national pride.

Saidi is the name of the music, the dance and the people who come from As-Said. This is an area in upper Egypt, in the south end of the country. Saidi people are the farmers in Upper Egypt, and they are famous for being tough and concerned about protecting their honour and dignity. Men will wear the same outfits both for parties and everyday life: Long underpants, 2 galabias on top of each other, a big shawl around their shoulders and a turban wound around a little hat on their head. This is also the outfit when men perform Saidi dance on stage.

Women perform Saidi in long dresses. Saidi (and other folkloric styles) are not to be performed in a 2 piece cabaret style badla. Often women will dance wearing a galabiya, which is a long and wide dress. The sleeves are also often wide. A belt is tied around the hips, and often the hair is hidden under a scarf. It is common to wear a necklace in the shape of crescent moons, or to have the crescent moons embroidered onto the dress. One can also perform Saidi wearing a Tob. This is more of an evening gown style dress, and can be used if the dancer is performing on a cabaret stage.

Saidi music is characterised by its rhythm. It is a 4/4, and says: dum-tak-dum-dum-tak. Traditional Saidi is most often played on tabla (drum), mizmar and rababa. Tabl Beledi (big drum beaten with sticks) and zills (finger cymbals) are also used.

Mizmar is an old Egyptian wind instrument that looks a bit like an oboe. The musician pulls air in through the nose and stores it in the cheeks, before exhaling through the mouth/flute. (A person playing Mizmar looks a little bit like a hamster with food stored in their cheeks). The Mizmar is a widespread instrument throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, the instrument is called Zurna. In Morocco and Algeria it is called Ghaita. Traditionally the mizmar was made of apricot wood, but these days it is most often made of metal.

Rebaba is a string instrument that is widely spread throughout North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The instrument is known from about 800AD. Its tones are limited to around 1 octave. The rebaba is played with a bow, and is thought to be the precursor to the European violin. The Egyptian rababa is made of coconut shells and 2 strings made of horse hair.  

Both the mizmar and the rababa can be a bit difficult to appreciate for a Western ear, and some effort and goodwill might be required before you become a sworn aficionado. But it can be achieved! Metqal Qenawi is the biggest star in Saidi music these days, and he is a virtuoso on the rebaba. Amongst his most famous songs are “Farawla” and “Salamat, salamat”.

Saidi dance is a very important part of Egyptian folklore. It is heavy, earthy, elegant and powerful. One usually dances with a stick. Men commonly use two sticks at the same time, women tend to settle for one. Men and women use the stick in very different ways. The men’s dance, Tahtib, is a martial art dance style. Two opponents battle it out, trying to win over the other. The stick is rather large and heavy, unlike the smaller and decorated stick that women dance with. The men’s Tahtib is said to have evolved from old Egyptian martial arts. As with all Arabic dance, it is hard to find hard evidence of exactly where and when Tahtib was invented. It is said that people were fighting with sticks as far back as Pharaonic times, both as entertainment and on the battlefields. At that time Tahtib was simply considered to be arms training for soldiers in the army. Hieroglyphs indicating that young royals were trained in Tahtib from a very young age have been discovered. They were trained to ward off possible assailants.

The stick (tahtib) is heavy and can do a lot of damage if so desired. I have read that Egyptian farmers under the Turkish Ottoman rule trained tahtib as a martial art, disguised as a dance. The Turks obviously didn’t want their subjects to be knowledgeable in the art of combat, running the risk of uprisings. Apparently they didn’t understand that the dance was in fact combat training. I personally fail to see how this very apparent aspect of the dance could possibly have been missed. But who am I to argue?

The stick is regarded to be a masculine symbol, and has been an important part of farmers’ tools through the centuries. It can be used to protect your sheep, defend your women from strangers and if necessary to beat up somebody who had it coming… Today the tahtib dance is a highly choreographed dance that can be seen in both belly dance and folklore shows. At the same time, it is a strong and living tradition in As Said, where men still dance and ‘fight’ at different celebrations, parties and festivals. This style is more raw and wild than the stylised dance you will see on stage at night clubs and theatres. While there are strict rules, one definitely runs the risk of a real knock to the head in these games.

There is a separate style of tahtib performed on horse back. The sticks used for this are 4 metres long, and look more like lances than sticks. 

Raqs Assaya is a style that focuses more on acrobatic skills with the stick, than on the combat element of tahtib. Raqs Assaya is danced by both men and women.

Women’s dance
Women dance with a lighter and smaller stick than the men do. This stick is called assaya. Where the tahtib is straight, the assaya is curved at one end, and often decorated with gilded paper or sequins. Women’s dance is not as aggressive as the men’s dance, even though they can copy the men’s steps and movements, and make fun of all the macho pride the men display. Women dance more flirtatiously, and show off their excellent skills with the stick, doing all sorts of fancy tricks. They can also use the stick more seductively, by framing their body, and lead the audience’s attention to their hip, shoulder or other intriguing body part.

Saidi steps
Saidi has several typical steps, for instance Saidi jumps and horse steps. The dancer will often imitate a horse by lifting her knee at a 90 degree angle. In the traditional folklore the dancer will perform very simple movements and steps. On a cabaret stage it is usual to add some wow factor by adding intricate hip work and beautiful shimmies. In Egypt it is very common for a belly dance show to have a folkloric part, and Saidi is very popular with the crowds. The soloist dancer is all of a sudden accompanied by at least two, but more often many more men who dance tahtib, with special Saidi musicians.

Dancing horses
Arab stallions of noble blood will dance when they hear Saidi music. For a pure-bred, it will simply be impossible to resist the call of the music, and he MUST dance. Dancing horses are very popular in Egyptian folklore, and provide cherished entertainment in weddings, both in the country and in the city. One of the most famous dancing horses, Sukkar Ma’qood, was valued at 5 million Egyptian Pounds in 1997! That is a fair bit where the monthly salary for a female teacher was about 300 Pounds at the same time. One of the most famous horse handlers in Egypt was Hussein Mahgoub. In 1963 he had about 200 dancing horses. His star horse “Amr ibn Shahlool” danced for President Nasser himself, and Hussein rose to superstardom overnight. 

If you don’t have a horse available, you go with the second best option: two men dress up in a horse costume, and dance. Clowning is an important part of these acts. A fake horse like this is often handled by a woman, and she and the ‘horse’ do comedy together. She can for instance use the whip and smack the ‘horse’ on his backside, and the ‘horse’ will kick and object.

The Saidi rhythm is a rhythm you will encounter when listening to Egyptian music, even if you only do cabaret, and don’t do folklore. Very many Madjensis have a Saidi part, and even though you dance Oriental in a 2-piece costume, you should do some typical Saidi steps in this part. That shows that you know the rhythm, you know which movements to go with it and that you have knowledge and respect for the dance. As foreigners, it is very important that we take the time to learn more than just the steps, we need to learn the background and history of the dance as well.

Sources:
-Ashraf  Hassan
-Numerous classes with Raqia Hassan, Ulrika Hellqvist and Kay Artle
-Hossam Ramzy
Al Gawhara #2, April 1997