Whirling Dervishes

After I bought my ney flute, I was on a mission to hear it actually being played live.  The easiest way to accomplish that was to see a whirling dervish ceremony.

When it comes to the whirling dervishes there are two choices: the ones for tourists and the legitimate ones.  Sadly I was unable to fit one of the legitimate ones into my schedule so I had to settle for a tourist version.

The ceremony I saw took place in the old Sirkeci Train Station.  Perhaps not the most authentic location, but it was a cool space nonetheless.

To start off the performance, the musicians come out first and play.

Then they go back and get suited up and the actual ceremony starts.

Yes playing the ney is as weird and difficult as it looks!

I am not sure that I fully understand the significance of the ceremony, but it goes a little something like this.  One guy seems to be the overseer.  He does a lot of praying and also checks up on the whirling guys.  The whirling seems to be if not choreographed at least timed to the music.  And the actual whirling is not so fast that they lose balance and fall down.

I believe that the whole thing is supposed to bring them closer to God.

I took it as a chance to get some fun long exposure shots!

Now I mentioned the two different varieties for a reason.  The tourist version allows people to not only take photographs, but also apparently stand up and move around to get that perfect shot!  I freely admit that I took a few pictures and videos, but I did not move from my spot.  The constant standing up was really annoying.  In fact I could not tell if the looks on the performer's faces were them trying to be solemn or them trying to mask how irritating doing this for tourists is!  My guess is both.  When you go to an actual ceremony, there is no picture taking.