I'm pretty sure when people think of the country Turkey, whirling dervishes aren't far from the imagination, unless, of course, you are Rick Perry, who thinks Turkey is a country of terrorists. For those who don't know, the whirling dervishes are a branch of Sufi Islam, the mystic branch of Islam. The group we saw, the Mevlevi Order, are followers of Rumi. I'm a huge fan of Rumi the poet, but he was also a theologian, which I didn't know about. For some random perspective here's my favorite Rumi poem:
Any who... the whirling dervishes are a religious activity that Wiki could explain better than I can, it roughly looks something like this:
Cais got the tickets to go, after being implored by his dad. We went to a culture center, as opposed to the other places that offered it, like bars, and restaurants. The show, which included live music, was really good. It starts with an orchestra of 7 people, 3 singing, 1 drummer, 1 on the lute, 1 on this stringed instrument like a small cello. There were 5 dervishes, performing for 1.5 hours.
Sufi music is really calming and the trance like effect could be felt by everyone. For the capoeira people out there, it's really like capoeira angola music, it's simple, but something about it makes you go into this trance. The feeling is really hard to explain, but everyone should experience it. Chalk it up to cultural understanding and exchange.
We went to see it at a cultural center. It was a Turkish bath from the 1500's converted into a culture performing arts center. It has belly dancing, cultural dance, and dervish shows going on all during the nights. The whole performance was about 1.5 hours long, which, from just a time perspective, is impressive to be rotating, always counterclockwise, for that long. It was also very calming, even though I couldn't understand the lyrics being sung.
What struck me was that even in this cultural center, there were 2 shows a night, seating about 70 people per show. Considering that this is a deeply religious event, can a group do 2 shows a night? Is there still religious significance or are they just commercializing off of this? It can be argued that it is less religious in this sense, and more of a "cultural show", that show cases the "cultural" aspects of it. We started walking back to the hostel and realized that a lot of restaurants also had these shows, granted with only 2 people as opposed to 5. On one poster, we realized that the person on it, was the same guy from the Mevlevi Order we just saw. I don't have a problem with this idea of showing off the culture, but I do have some qualms about having religious rituals repeated over and over again for commercial gain or pure entertainment. I feel it disrespects the religious tradition and cheapens the process for everyone.
I guess it's slightly hypocritical of me to say that I disagree with the commercialization and then go see it, but I felt that at least it was at a cultural center that not only put on a show, but also educated the audience as to what was going on. I believe that there should be a movement to not only preserve these arts, but also to spread throughout the world. More cultural understanding prevents idiots like Rick Perry. I just wish that people don't try to commercialize it at the expense losing the meaning and beauty of the art and turning it into a caricature.
When I am with you, we stay up all night,When you’re not here, I can’t get to sleep.Praise God for these two insomnia!And the difference between them.
Any who... the whirling dervishes are a religious activity that Wiki could explain better than I can, it roughly looks something like this:
 |
| Everything about what they are doing, from clothes to posture is symbolic of the ideals of Sufi Islam. Read about it on Wiki, it explains it much better than I can |
Cais got the tickets to go, after being implored by his dad. We went to a culture center, as opposed to the other places that offered it, like bars, and restaurants. The show, which included live music, was really good. It starts with an orchestra of 7 people, 3 singing, 1 drummer, 1 on the lute, 1 on this stringed instrument like a small cello. There were 5 dervishes, performing for 1.5 hours.
Sufi music is really calming and the trance like effect could be felt by everyone. For the capoeira people out there, it's really like capoeira angola music, it's simple, but something about it makes you go into this trance. The feeling is really hard to explain, but everyone should experience it. Chalk it up to cultural understanding and exchange.
We went to see it at a cultural center. It was a Turkish bath from the 1500's converted into a culture performing arts center. It has belly dancing, cultural dance, and dervish shows going on all during the nights. The whole performance was about 1.5 hours long, which, from just a time perspective, is impressive to be rotating, always counterclockwise, for that long. It was also very calming, even though I couldn't understand the lyrics being sung.
What struck me was that even in this cultural center, there were 2 shows a night, seating about 70 people per show. Considering that this is a deeply religious event, can a group do 2 shows a night? Is there still religious significance or are they just commercializing off of this? It can be argued that it is less religious in this sense, and more of a "cultural show", that show cases the "cultural" aspects of it. We started walking back to the hostel and realized that a lot of restaurants also had these shows, granted with only 2 people as opposed to 5. On one poster, we realized that the person on it, was the same guy from the Mevlevi Order we just saw. I don't have a problem with this idea of showing off the culture, but I do have some qualms about having religious rituals repeated over and over again for commercial gain or pure entertainment. I feel it disrespects the religious tradition and cheapens the process for everyone.
I guess it's slightly hypocritical of me to say that I disagree with the commercialization and then go see it, but I felt that at least it was at a cultural center that not only put on a show, but also educated the audience as to what was going on. I believe that there should be a movement to not only preserve these arts, but also to spread throughout the world. More cultural understanding prevents idiots like Rick Perry. I just wish that people don't try to commercialize it at the expense losing the meaning and beauty of the art and turning it into a caricature.
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