By Vik Jolly - Orange County Register - Orange County, CA, U.S.A.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Hypnotic Sufi mystic dancers in flowing white robes from Turkey known as the Semazen or dervishes will take to the stage Tuesday [April, the 10th] night at the Irvine Barclay Theatre at UCI in a dance that resonates of human beings’ oneness with nature.
The Semazen are known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes because of the spinning-around-the-stage style of their dance.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization or UNESCO is commemorating the 800th birth year of the Sufi poet Rumi in 2007.
Rumi is considered the father of Sufism, which “espouses a well-founded and thoroughgoing interpretation of Islam, which focuses on love, tolerance, worship of God, community development, and personal development through self-discipline and responsibility,” according to the website of Global Cultural Connections, a largely Turkish group dedicated to fostering cultural understanding with a chapter in Irvine.
GCC is sponsoring a six U.S. cities tour of the whirling dervishes, including a performance tonight [Monday, April the 9th] at USC and on Tuesday at Irvine Barclay. Both performances start at 7:30 p.m.
We asked Atilla Kahveci, Interfaith Dialogue Coordinator for GCC and Irvine resident, to give us some insights into the whirling dervishes and the symbolism of their dance.
Who qualifies to be a whirling dervish?Everybody can qualify, a practitioner that is willing to follow Sufism.
Why do the dervishes whirl?Every person (and thing) in the universe is whirling: from the subatomic particle to the galaxies are revolving around one center point and they do it unconsciously.
What can people expectThe way (the dance) changes life is it gives some kind of relief from daily stresses and the movements of the dervishes and the music are very fulfilling.
Why do the dervishes whirl?Every person (and thing) in the universe is whirling: from the subatomic particle to the galaxies are revolving around one center point and they do it unconsciously.
What can people expectThe way (the dance) changes life is it gives some kind of relief from daily stresses and the movements of the dervishes and the music are very fulfilling.
To learn more about Rumi, the whirling dervishes and for tickets to the performances, visit www.gccfoundation.com and www.whirlingworld.org
[Picture: the Whirling Dervishes, photo by Global Cultural Connections]
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