Saturday, May 19, 2007

Sema Performance at the Vatican

ANA - Turkish Daily News - Ankara, Turkey

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Mevlevi Sema dance, the spiritual whirling dance of the Sufis, will be performed at the Vatican on June 5 as part of the “Dialogue Between the Religions.”

Organized by the Pontifical Culture Council and Turkish Embassy in Vatican, the event will be attended by pope Benedict XVI, cardinals as well as top officials from Vatican and Italy.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Ömer Faruk Belviranlı, Konya Turkish Sufism Music Ensemble Director, said the promotional activities were scheduled abroad by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Foreign Ministry to mark 2007 Mevlana Year, declared by UNESCO.

“Sema dance performances have so far been performed in Pakistan, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of activities for Mevlana Year. On June 5, we will this time perform in the Vatican as part of ‘Dialogue Between the Religions'.

In this event we will gift an Italian language ‘Mesnevi,' a masterpiece by 13th century Turkish philosopher and poet Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, to pope Benedict XVI,” he said adding, “I believe that the event will be a significant and concrete one in the world especially at a time in which dialogue between religions is in focus.”

Sema performance at historic palace:
Deniz Kılıçer from the Turkish Embassy in the Vatican said the Konya Turkish Sufism Music Ensemble would perform a Sufi concert followed by a Sema dance performance in the historical Renaissance period Palazzo della Cancelleria or Chancellery Palace.

He added, “a Sema performance will be held for the first time in the Vatican. The program will be under the auspices of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry as well as the Foreign Ministry celebrating Mevlana Year in 2007, which also marks the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, spiritual leader of the Islamic Sufi order.

The whirling dervishes will perform Sema at the 300-person capacity ceremony hall of the historic Chancellery Palace, the largest and most majestic historical palace of the Vatican. The program is expected to be attended by pope Benedict XVI, cardinals as well as top level bureaucrats from Vatican, Italy and Turkey.”

Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek said that in addition to the international activities by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the municipality had also held several promotional activities abroad.

“In all these activities, we gifted Italian, German, French, English and Urdu versions of Mesnevi to foreign top level officials. This time, an Italian language Mesnevi will be given to the pope as a gift. I believe that he will be impressed with the masterpiece, which addresses all humanity,” he noted.
[picture: Rome, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Inner Courtyard by architect Donato Bramante d. 1514]

No comments:

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Sema Performance at the Vatican
ANA - Turkish Daily News - Ankara, Turkey

Friday, May 18, 2007

A Mevlevi Sema dance, the spiritual whirling dance of the Sufis, will be performed at the Vatican on June 5 as part of the “Dialogue Between the Religions.”

Organized by the Pontifical Culture Council and Turkish Embassy in Vatican, the event will be attended by pope Benedict XVI, cardinals as well as top officials from Vatican and Italy.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Ömer Faruk Belviranlı, Konya Turkish Sufism Music Ensemble Director, said the promotional activities were scheduled abroad by the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Foreign Ministry to mark 2007 Mevlana Year, declared by UNESCO.

“Sema dance performances have so far been performed in Pakistan, the Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of activities for Mevlana Year. On June 5, we will this time perform in the Vatican as part of ‘Dialogue Between the Religions'.

In this event we will gift an Italian language ‘Mesnevi,' a masterpiece by 13th century Turkish philosopher and poet Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, to pope Benedict XVI,” he said adding, “I believe that the event will be a significant and concrete one in the world especially at a time in which dialogue between religions is in focus.”

Sema performance at historic palace:
Deniz Kılıçer from the Turkish Embassy in the Vatican said the Konya Turkish Sufism Music Ensemble would perform a Sufi concert followed by a Sema dance performance in the historical Renaissance period Palazzo della Cancelleria or Chancellery Palace.

He added, “a Sema performance will be held for the first time in the Vatican. The program will be under the auspices of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry as well as the Foreign Ministry celebrating Mevlana Year in 2007, which also marks the 800th anniversary of the birth of Mevlana Jelaladdin Rumi, spiritual leader of the Islamic Sufi order.

The whirling dervishes will perform Sema at the 300-person capacity ceremony hall of the historic Chancellery Palace, the largest and most majestic historical palace of the Vatican. The program is expected to be attended by pope Benedict XVI, cardinals as well as top level bureaucrats from Vatican, Italy and Turkey.”

Konya Mayor Tahir Akyürek said that in addition to the international activities by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the municipality had also held several promotional activities abroad.

“In all these activities, we gifted Italian, German, French, English and Urdu versions of Mesnevi to foreign top level officials. This time, an Italian language Mesnevi will be given to the pope as a gift. I believe that he will be impressed with the masterpiece, which addresses all humanity,” he noted.
[picture: Rome, Palazzo della Cancelleria, Inner Courtyard by architect Donato Bramante d. 1514]

No comments: