Ritual of whirling a prayer for peace
Turkish practitioners dazzle for diversity
By Tim Kane | Special to the Tribune
October 30, 2007
Ahmet Cengiz figures he can spin on one foot for two hours, so his recent half-hour performance in Crystal Lake with a group of other whirling dervishes was barely a warm-up.
Their white gowns billowing like umbrellas as they spun on stage, Cengiz and three other dervishes demonstrated the beauty and endurance of a Muslim sacred ritual that dates to the 13th Century.
Cengiz, 47, the owner of a cosmetic shop in Konya in central Turkey, said he thinks "Allah" every time his right foot touches the ground as he whirls, pivoting on the ball of his left foot.
The whirling dervishes drew more than 600 people to the Raue Center for the Arts on Sunday for an event sponsored by First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake and the Chicago-based Niagara Foundation.
"We wanted to show the rest of Chicago that there is diversity out here in McHenry County," said Rev. Budd Friend-Jones, the church's pastor.
In deference to the Muslim religion of the dervishes, all advertisements for alcoholic beverages were taken down from the lobby walls, said Roman Jahnke, who is in charge of lighting at the center. "There was a question of the lighting too," Jahnke said. "We wanted to make it look artistic without being disrespectful."
The Niagara Foundation is a non-profit group founded by Chicago's Turkish community that works at improving relations with Turkey. Hilmi Cinar, the foundation's associate director, said the event was meant as a multicultural celebration.
At a Niagara-hosted forum weeks ago, Friend-Jones volunteered his church as a venue for the performance. "The whirling is actually a religious ceremony, and I thought we should have it in a religious place," he said. "Because of fire codes, we couldn't have it in our church because too many people would be attending."
Being a whirling dervish is a lifestyle, not a profession, Cengiz said. The physical demands of spinning are intense.
A white, fragrant powder was sprinkled on the stage's surface so the dervishes could spin more easily. Before the performance, they carefully examined the stage -- and the 12-foot drop to the orchestra pit.
"That first step is a dandy," said Don Aeverman, the Raue's house manager, cautioning the performers to watch their steps.
"Only if it is the will of Allah," said Cengiz, through an interpreter. The dervishes' spiritual guide is Jelaluddin Rumi, a Sufi poet born in the early 1200s in what is now Afghanistan.
Rumi wrote about promoting harmony, reaching out beyond war and strife, and ignoring geographical and political boundaries.
October 30, 2007
Chicago Tribune
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