Where: Mandeville Auditorium, UCSD

P.S. This is event is not organized by House of Turkey

Rumi, the thirteenth-century Sufi mystic, ended one of his fervent poems with a prophetic line: “Dazed by the marvels of love, our whirling endures.” The Mevlevi Order, founded in his name, has kept the tradition of whirling alive for 800 years.

The rituals of Rumi’s followers (known to the Western world as ‘the Whirling Dervishes’) are among the most enduring and exquisite ceremonies of spirituality. The whirling of the dervishes is an act of love and adramatization of faith that possesses a highly structured form in which gentle turns become increasingly dynamic. Chanting of poetry, rhythmic rotation, and music create a synaesthesia that induces in many a feeling of soaring, ecstatic, mystical flight. In 2007, the world will celebrate the 800th Anniversary of Sema culture.

Please visit UCSD Art Power for more information and purchasing tickets.