Tanoura Dance (Whirling Dervishes)
Published: 09/01/2009
Tanoura Dancing or the Whirling Dervishes is a kind of Sufi dance. Sufism is a semi mystical branch of Islam with somewhat unorthodox approach of prayer. Urged on by hypotonic pulse of drums and pipes, the dancers spin in a blur of multicolored skirts (tanoura).
Originally the dance had the ideal of attaining a trancelike union with God. It may not now be wholly authentic, but it is a great spectacle.
Every Wednesday and Saturday evening a group of Whirling Dervishes puts on a 90 minute display of Sufi dancing at Al-Ghouriyya (admissions is free).
Photo Gallery
Dervish Tanoura Dancer
