EGYPT: CAIRO: WHIRLING DERVISH DANCE IS A HIT WITH TOURISTS (1)

(28 Dec 1997) Arabic/Eng/Nat

An ancient Sufi dance of whirling dervishes is wooing visitors to Egypt.

The spectacle dates back to the 13th century and is one of the oldest rituals of the Sufi tradition of Islam.

As well as entertaining the tourists, for those performing the ceremonial dance it is a means of achieving spiritual enlightenment.

The whirling dance, sometimes called the skirt dance, is more than just a show for tourists.

For those practising the Sufi dance it is a way of praising God and His prophets through the symbolic ritual.

Much meaning lies behind the different movements of the dervish and the musicians.

The spinning of the dancer, and the circling of the musicians around him, represents the circling of the planets and the sun.

It also has significance for Muslim pilgrims to the Kaaba at Mecca.

Even though many visitors do not understand these symbols, they are still impressed by the spectacle.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Absolutely brilliant...I've never seen so much colour and so much experience, the technical experience is just fantastic. I was just saying, not even a ballerina can spot and twirl for that long."
SUPER CAPTION: Josephine Cumming, Australian spectator

A whirling dervish can twirl for up to three hours non-stop.

In the process he gets into a state of trance, the objective being to concentrate only on God.

The founder of the dance troop, Galal Addin Al-Rumi, a scholar of 13th century Turkey, explained the idea behind this spinning dance.

SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"I search for you everywhere and I look for you everywhere, but I only found you within myself. So the idea of the whirling is that the dancer does not see anything but God, who is inside of him. He (the dancer) is the beginning, the centre and the sun."
SUPER CAPTION: Salah Anani, director of the dance

The aim of Sufis in life is to achieve spiritual purity, closeness to God and inner peace.

They strive to rid themselves of worldly desires and refine the mind, the body and the spirit.

The dance helps to clear the mind - it is an energetic form of meditation.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"But the constant idea is to drive every thought out of your mind except the name of God and therefore it is done by swaying, by dancing, by sitting absolutely...you know the techniques vary, Zikr Allah, remembrance of God, the invocation of God, the mentioning of
His name in you heart, in your head, on your lips, in your mouth. And that's the method."
SUPER CAPTION: Abdallah Schleifer, an expert and convert to Sufism

The first order of dervishes were formed in the 13th century and became known as the Mawlawi.

They have continued to flourish ever since.

Four more tekkiyas, or lodges, were founded in Turkey and one in Fatimid Cairo, where the forefathers of some of today's whirling dervishes performed.

Today, the influences of the Fatimid period, the region and the Egyptian society are felt in the show which seems to never cease to impress tourists.

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