WHIRLING DERVISHES
Whirling Dervishes are back!
As a sign of "Celebrating Tolerance", Islamic Dialogue Student Association is sponsoring Whirling Dervishes from Konya*, Turkey. They will perform their traditional Mevlevi Order** Sufi Ceremony in Austin in September 25th. They will perform Sufi Ceremony in several other cities in Texas, too. To check where else they will perform, please go to http://www.whirlingdervishes.org/.
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When: September 25th, 2003, 8pm |
SPONSORED
BY Islamic
Dialogue Student Association(IDSA)
IDSA is a student organization at the University of Texas at Austin. IDSA’s main objective is to facilitate dialog between Muslims and non-Muslims. To initiate dialog, IDSA organizes five to six meetings every semester. The primary purpose of these meetings is to provide a friendly environment where people can gather and talk to each other. There are two essential components of the meetings. 1- A presentation on a topic of interest 2- A social hour where FREE food and refreshments is served while people talk to each other. Anybody of any faith and anybody from or outside of the university are most welcome to our meetings. For more details about our group and events, please go to our website http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/idsa/
*Konya, Turkey is where Rumi spent most of his life and his final resting place. His tomb and the spiritual center surrounding it are visited by tens of thousands of tourists from around the world every year. The Konya Whirling Dervishes group was formed in 1995 by a group of businessmen. They first put on a performance at the Sakarya University in Turkey. Due to the wide and favorable reception they received from spectators, a number of different TV stations showed the performance throughout Turkey and Europe. After several performances in cities throughout Turkey, the Konya Whirling Dervishes were invited to perform in Bern and Zurich, Switzerland. Since then, the group has performed in many countries including a recent performance in Boston, the United States.
**The Mevlevi order has been established on the teachings of Mevlana Jalaladdeen Rumi, Rumi for short, in late 13th century. As a poet, Rumi has enjoyed enormous popularity in the US recently. His works has been performed by celebrities such as Deepak Chopra, Goldie Hawn and Martin Sheen. The documentary entitled “The Poet of the Heart” featuring works of Rumi was aired on PBS several times.