Centenary of Gallipoli – Turkish Sufi Ensemble and Whirling Dervishes of Konya. Presented by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and the Turkish Embassy in Canberra. Llewellyn Hall, ANU, Wednesday, October 14, 7pm. Bookings: oztix.com.au.
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A dazzling dance dating back centuries is a highlight of a free performance in Canberra commemorating the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign.
The Sufi Music Ensemble and Whirling Dervishes of Konya will perform a traditional Mevlevi Sema ceremony dating back to the 13th century as part of a cultural exchange between Turkey and Australia to celebrate the two countries' enduring relationship that overcame the tragedy of war.
Murat Yucel is the Turkish/Australian producer of the tour, which includes Melbourne and Sydney as well as Canberra.
He says that in the first half the Turkish Sufi Ensemble – an ensemble of seven singers and seven musicians that formed in 1991 – will perform.
"You could describe it as meditative music, in a way," Yucel says.
They will play traditional instruments including the ney (a flute), the oud (a lute), the bendir (a percussion instrument) and the tambur (a stringed instrument).
In the second half the ensemble will accompany the Whirling Dervishes of Konya, which is one of the purposes it was established for, as well as to commemorate the 13th-century Persian Islamic Sufi mystic Hazrat Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Mohammad Rumi. His followers founded the Mevlevi order in 1273 in Konya, spreading throughout the Ottoman Empire and becoming renowned for their whirling dances. In 2008 UNESCO confirmed it as being among the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
The Sema ceremony of the Mevlevi Order of the Sufi is, Yucel says, a way of venerating God by forgetting worldly things during the whirling dance. It represents a mystical journey of spiritual ascent through mind and love to the "Perfect" before returning a more mature and better person.
This performance represents a rare opportunity to see it, performed by the largest Mevlevi group from Konya to appear in Australia.
Yucel, who came to Australia nearly 20 years ago, says it is part of the Year of Turkey in Australia to mark the Gallipoli centenary, reciprocated by a Year of Australia in Turkey, that all began in November 2014. His band Bashka travelled to Turkey to perform as part of the centenary year.
