Sammi is a dance performed in Punjab which lacks popularity. It is being performed in the tribal areas of Punjab and is not expected to last much. This is performed by the women belonging from the tribe of Rai Sikhs, Baazigar, Sansi and Lobana.

This dance is pretty similar to the Giddha dance and the women stand in a circle and swing their hands by bringing them upwards from the sides to the chest and then clap their hands. They follow the rhythm and take the hand back to the chest and clap. They bend forward and back again clapping and moving in circles. They maintain the rhythm of the dance with the beat of the feet and swing their arms by moving their arms. Most of the movements of this dance include clapping and moving in circles. There is no instrument used in this dance and the rhythm is received with the help of clapping and the beats give by the feet.

Costumes

The performers of this dance apply some special type of makeup and the hair of the women is knit very differently. Their hair is tied in thin plaits over the heads and then the remaining hair is tied in a proper plait. A special ornament is fixed which is in a form of an inverted lotus which is called phul chowk. A kurta and a tehmet, which is a lower cloth, are worn and the head is covered with a cloth which is in rectangular shape. The cloth is called Bhochhan. To ensure the beat in this dance, chutki is used in which the sound is created by clipping the middle finger and the thumb together. The background song of this song is called sammi. The movements of this dance are controlled and it is believed to intoxicate the angels or Devtas as well.

Performance

This dance is also performed like Gidda and the dancers stand around in circle and swing their hands together. They bring it up and down again. They then bring their hands to their chest and clap their hands. The hands go down as per the rhythm and then they clap again. This gesture is repeated several times and the feet and the claps maintain the rhythm of the dance. The dance is performed with the hands playing most of the part. The dancers do not use any instrument along with this dance and the clapping and the feet sounds contribute to the rhythm.