By Brooke Heriges, "Sufi music highlights ‘Dervishes’" - The Daily Beacon - University Of Tennessee - Louisville, TN, USAMonday, February 16, 2009
The endurance it takes to run for 30 minutes is one thing, but it is entirely another to be able to spin continuously for 30 minutes — and is definitely something that deserves applause.
The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi performing at the Cox auditorium on Thursday night, definitely made for an interesting, cultural experience.
As most UT students have little experience with Rumi, let alone his Whirling Dervishes, it came as a pleasant surprise to many to find the night not only filled with men spinning around in white robes seemingly endlessly, but also other Sufi music and a short educational movie. The Knoxville Turkish Cultural Center and the Turkish Student Association of UT had their audience in mind when they thought to add these elements, as many did not know what was in store for them.
“I didn’t really know what it was, or what to expect,” said Kathryn Dabbs, junior in math. “I came because I saw the poster, and they had cool-looking hats.”
Ruth Dike, freshman in anthropology, similarly did not really have much background with any dervishes.
“You know, Whirling Dervishes, just sounds kind of cool … and the spiritual trance part seemed interesting, too.”
The evening began with speeches from different organizers of the event — one of which was in Turkish. Evidently no one had planned for a translator, so the speech turned into something silly when an on-the-fly translation was attempted.
The comic value of this presentation, however, nicely contrasted with the next performance, which was a presentation of traditional Sufi music.
The music began extremely hauntingly — one instrument at a time was introduced to a sad, melancholy tune. After a time, particularly nasal-sounding voices were added. The music was beautiful in an intriguing, and radically different way from what most (Western) students are used to.
After a brief intermission, there was a movie detailing the life and work of Rumi, along with a brief description of what the twirling of the Dervishes means. This short movie added very helpful background for the Whirling Dervishes show.
At the conclusion of the movie, the Dervishes finally made their appearance. Beginning with the ritualistic bows towards different areas on the stage, the entire performance appeared to be steeped in mysticism.
The spinning really does seem to transcend normal dancing, keeping in mind all of the previous information provided about Sufi music and Rumi. Of course, it was also quite entertaining to watch for pure pleasure, with their flowing white skirts, as David Safdie, senior in graphic design, explained.
“It’s like spinning tops, but better,” he said. And, in reference to the music, “It was like traveling through the desert.”
The entire night, beginning with the first encounter with Sufi music, and ending when the last of the Dervishes put his black robe back on, giving one the feeling of watching an ancient scene that could have taken place hundreds of years ago.
The music and dancing did go on for an uncountable length of time, which has both positive and negative aspects. The repetitive nature of the music and dancing did bring home the spirituality of the show, but at the same time, also verged on the monotonous. However, the rituals presented come from a culture and history both older and slower.
Overall, the night was one worth remembering (and probably deserving of bucket lists) for its “broadening horizons” effect.
[Visit the Knoxville Turkish Cultural Center http://knoxvilleturkish.org/dervish.htm].
The endurance it takes to run for 30 minutes is one thing, but it is entirely another to be able to spin continuously for 30 minutes — and is definitely something that deserves applause.
The Whirling Dervishes of Rumi performing at the Cox auditorium on Thursday night, definitely made for an interesting, cultural experience.
As most UT students have little experience with Rumi, let alone his Whirling Dervishes, it came as a pleasant surprise to many to find the night not only filled with men spinning around in white robes seemingly endlessly, but also other Sufi music and a short educational movie. The Knoxville Turkish Cultural Center and the Turkish Student Association of UT had their audience in mind when they thought to add these elements, as many did not know what was in store for them.
“I didn’t really know what it was, or what to expect,” said Kathryn Dabbs, junior in math. “I came because I saw the poster, and they had cool-looking hats.”
Ruth Dike, freshman in anthropology, similarly did not really have much background with any dervishes.
“You know, Whirling Dervishes, just sounds kind of cool … and the spiritual trance part seemed interesting, too.”
The evening began with speeches from different organizers of the event — one of which was in Turkish. Evidently no one had planned for a translator, so the speech turned into something silly when an on-the-fly translation was attempted.
The comic value of this presentation, however, nicely contrasted with the next performance, which was a presentation of traditional Sufi music.
The music began extremely hauntingly — one instrument at a time was introduced to a sad, melancholy tune. After a time, particularly nasal-sounding voices were added. The music was beautiful in an intriguing, and radically different way from what most (Western) students are used to.
After a brief intermission, there was a movie detailing the life and work of Rumi, along with a brief description of what the twirling of the Dervishes means. This short movie added very helpful background for the Whirling Dervishes show.
At the conclusion of the movie, the Dervishes finally made their appearance. Beginning with the ritualistic bows towards different areas on the stage, the entire performance appeared to be steeped in mysticism.
The spinning really does seem to transcend normal dancing, keeping in mind all of the previous information provided about Sufi music and Rumi. Of course, it was also quite entertaining to watch for pure pleasure, with their flowing white skirts, as David Safdie, senior in graphic design, explained.
“It’s like spinning tops, but better,” he said. And, in reference to the music, “It was like traveling through the desert.”
The entire night, beginning with the first encounter with Sufi music, and ending when the last of the Dervishes put his black robe back on, giving one the feeling of watching an ancient scene that could have taken place hundreds of years ago.
The music and dancing did go on for an uncountable length of time, which has both positive and negative aspects. The repetitive nature of the music and dancing did bring home the spirituality of the show, but at the same time, also verged on the monotonous. However, the rituals presented come from a culture and history both older and slower.
Overall, the night was one worth remembering (and probably deserving of bucket lists) for its “broadening horizons” effect.
[Visit the Knoxville Turkish Cultural Center http://knoxvilleturkish.org/dervish.htm].
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