I placed the silver DVD labeled "Whirling Dervishes" into my laptop. A haunting, Middle-Eastern melody resonated from the speakers, providing the perfect accompaniment to the twirling white figures on the screen. Each robed man was illuminated in a different color and the scene created a montage of vibrancy and harmony.
The disc belongs to the technical director of Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium and catalogues both the placement of the performers and all the lights and microphones necessary for the upcoming performance. While this is more fascinating information, the beauty and intricacy of the routine is most impressive.
The resolution of the screen of my laptop offered little more than pixilated flashes of brilliant motion, yet I was captivated by it. I can only imagine what the ceremony is like in person. Soon the ASU community will have the chance to experience it. The Whirling Dervishes are coming to Gammage Auditorium.
The Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue is sponsoring the show. Ismail Karatus, an ASU student and group president, created the foundation "to promote racial and cultural equality through dialogue."
It has hosted events such as an interfaith Ramadan dinner at the Hotel Sheraton and an on-campus seminar that allowed students of varying cultures to express their opinions. Ramadan is the Islamic month of blessing marked by fasting and prayer.
Karatus invited the Whirling Dervishes to perform at Gammage Auditorium to "show Arizonans that there are different cultures."
The Whirling Dervish is a "very unique show, both spiritually and culturally," he said.
The Whirling Dervish is a ritual performed by Sufis. Sufism "is the mystical dimension of Islam," said Mark Woodward, an ASU professor of religious studies.
According to Woodward, the very ancient culture's most visible faces are "mystics trying to use whirling to create an altered state of more consciousness to establish a direct, personal contact with God."
Dave Damrel, an ASU professor of Islamic studies, said the Whirling Dervish order arose from the example of Jalal al-Din Rumi, "a religious scholar and mystical poet in Turkey famous for ecstatic dancing filled with praise and love for God." He also added that the Whirling Dervish is "a performance that combines music, dance, and literature in a highly stylized production. It's a popularized version of mystical rituals that date back to the 13th century."
"Sufism was very popular in the Muslim world - Iran, India, Indonesia, even Africa," Damrel said. "It was popular and wide spread until the late 1700s when conservative reaction to Sufi practices and beliefs arose."
Some orders of the Sufis became involved with politics while others "remained aloof from political involvement," Damrel added. "Today, that tension is still present."
People may choose to attend the show for a variety of reasons. Sonya Seif-Naraghi, a bioengineering freshman, said she would like to watch the Whirling Dervishes to "expand knowledge of cultures and experience something new that looks cool."
According to Damrel, the show promises performers dressed in "symbolic costume with tall hats and black cloaks over white garments." The music features exotic instruments like the drum-like kudum, flute-like ney, guitar-like ud, and lyre-like kanun, all set to traditional Turkish vocalists.
The Whirling Dervishes will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets cost between $22 and $42. Kara Osburn, a Gammage box-office teller, said that as of last Wednesday 700 seats had been sold which is "a good response for a show of this kind."
Damrel said that when watching the Whirling Dervishes "there's always a kind of ambiguity whether you're watching a performance or a religious ritual."
Karatus added that the Whirling Dervish is a "journey to reach perfection" and when the performers are "done with the spiritual journey they reach maturity."
When asked why he chose to invite the Whirling Dervishes to ASU, Karatus said, "Rumi emphasized universal love to all humans and that is why this show is so important."
Reach the reporter at jesjes@asu.edu.
