The Whirling Dervishes of Istanbul
November 19th, 2007
This 2007 event has passed
What this is
I remember hearing about the Whirling Dervishes when I stared my healing journey and now here’s the chance to see them live. It’s going to be a real treat. The show it at 8:00 PM with Coleman Barks at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts – Zellerbach Theatre.
Description
Since I haven’t been to see this show yet I’ll let the presenters speak [from the Philadelphia Society for Arts, Literature and Music website] with my headings:
"Experience the divine in an ecstatic performance by the Whirling Dervishes of Istanbul, Turkey, coming to Philadelphia with special guest host Coleman Barks, on Friday, December 14th, and Saturday, December15th at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts – Zellerbach Theatre at 8:00 pm each evening. Penn Presents will also host a special pre-show, middle-eastern dinner and guest lecture before the Friday evening performance at 6:00 pm.
800 Years of Rumi
The gala performance entitled “One House – Many Doors” is a celebration of the UNESCO 2007 International Year of Rumi, marking the 800th anniversary of the ancient ceremony of the Sema, a visually stunning meditation in motion by the Whirling Dervishes, accompanied by an ensemble of Turkish master musicians playing traditional instruments. The turning ceremony originated with the 13th century poet, scholar and Sufi mystic Jelaluddin Rumi, as a means to demonstrate and affirm the intimate relationship between the human being and the divine source of life.
Your host
The evenings will be hosted by Coleman Barks, highly acclaimed author and foremost popularizer of the mystical love poetry of Rumi
Afternoon colloquia (Free)
“Rumi in the 21st Century”
Afternoon colloquia entitled “Rumi in the 21st Century” are free and open to the public and will feature the noted authors and Sufi scholars Jamal Rahman, Pardis Minuchehr, Michaela Ozelsel, Sheikh Ahmed Tijani, and Coleman Barks. Ashok Gangadean will moderate the panel. Each panelist will speak from personal experience about how Rumi’s teachings on the path of personal transformation can be practiced in modern times, and then open the floor to questions from the audience. The format of the colloquia is in the manner of "sobhet" or intimate spiritual conversation, a technique used by the teachers of Sufism, allowing for deep understanding and authentic spiritual experience.“Rumi – the Way of the Heart”
The actress TAMIR will present her one-woman, sacred theater piece entitled “Rumi – the Way of the Heart”. The musical duo, HuDost, with Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade Hines will also perform. Nasrin Marzban will read from Rumi’s Mathnawi in the original Persian.
The colloquia will take place on Friday the 14th, from 2:30 to 5:30 pm at Haverford College’s Stokes Auditorium, and at the Studio Theatre of UPENN’s Annenberg Center on Saturday the 15th, also from 2:30 to 5:30pm. Michaela Majoun, host of the WXPN Morning Show, will host the Saturday session.
Presenters
The event is co-presented by the Philadelphia Society for Art, Literature & Music and the Philadelphia Dialogue Forum, a Turkish-American organization devoted to interfaith understanding. Penn Presents is co-sponsoring the event, with generous support by the Middle East Center of UPENN, The Global Dialogue Institute, the Department of Religion and the Margaret Gest Center for the Cross-Cultural Study of Religion of Haverford College, and the Turkish American Friendship Society of the United States (TAFSUS).
Tickets for the Penn Presents pre-show dinner/lecture on Friday evening are $17. Tickets for the performances are priced $30, $40, $45, $55. All tickets are available at the Annenberg Center box office at 3680 Walnut Street, by phone at 215-898-3900, or online at pennpresents.org."
Book tickets for the dinner
View the Whirling Dervishes in action
Buy tickets from Penn Presents website
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