Womens Thoughts

Egyptian dance has a history of fluctuations in its popularity and acceptability: Over the years dancers have been lauded or persecuted according to the prevailing mood of society. Some years ago its popularity in Britain started to rise, as more people travelled to the middle east and were entranced by what they saw.

At first, anyone wanting to learn often had to travel long distances, even back to Egypt, for classes. But more recently classes have started up all over, and with the development of the internet and particularly Youtube, access into the world of bellydance have never seemed easier. However this has brought its own problems: a search on Youtube reveals a vast array of varied styles and skills, liable to confuse more than inform. It was against this backdrop, with an ambition to raise the standards and understanding throughout the area that SAED was formed.

Sirocco Academy of Egyptian Dance (SAED) is a coalition of dance teachers who have all studied Egyptian Dance to a high standard. They are experienced dancers and performers. All of SAED teachers continue to train with Caroline Afifi, one of the UK's leading teachers and performers, who has the rare distinction of being celebrated in Cairo as well as her home city of Liverpool. SAED was brought together to promote Egyptian dance in its truest form. All of the teachers are dedicated to the art and believe it is accessible to women of all ages, abilities, shapes and sizes. We would like this opportunity to share this intoxicating and beautiful dance with our students, providing four different venues across Liverpool and Wirral. There are 10 teachers in SAED, ensuring students can access supportive and enjoyable dance lessons.

Belly dance as we recognise it today is less than 100 years old. The performance style of Egyptian dance was stylised for the cabaret stages of Cairo around the 1920s. Prior to this, the local dance, known as Baladi, was a social dance which was performed by women in local cafes, meeting places and festivals.

The stylised version of Egyptian dance took the basic baladi movements and embellished them creating a more theatrical style of dance. Costumes were created for this new style of dance drawing on the fashions from around the globe at that time and the dance took on a new glamorous image... and is the one we recognise today! Many of these new stars of the stage became icons in Egypt and went on to become huge film stars whose dancing is still iconic in Egypt now.

SAED classes launch on 16^th January 2012 in four venues in Merseyside, Wirral and north Cheshire (see website for details) They focus on fundamentals, the basic movements which underpin all variants of Egyptian dance, without which it is not possible to progress.

As part of the intent to educate as well as have fun, SAED also offers the opportunity for dance-tailored trips to Cairo which offer (in addition to the major tourist sites) insight into the culture and “feel” of Egyptian music. A trip to a Cairo nightclub is a memorable experience! We can also give students the chance to purchase beautiful handmade dance costumes from top Cairo ateliers at highly competitive prices

Rosie Sedgwick – Teacher & performer with SAED

For more information, contact SAED at saeddance@hotmail.co.uk or visit the website www.saeddance.com

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