Istanbul: Cerimonia dei Dervisci Rotanti e Mevlevi Sema

Educational and interesting. However, it was very long and not much dialog on what was happening. Nonetheless, cultural!

What a unique experience. Music and performance was spectacular. Location is in the heart of it all.

Not something I would recommend... Starts with 35 min of music then 15-20 min of whirling dervishes then done. The whirling was cool I guess but it would also be just fine as a street performance you walk by

You can’t go Istanbul without adding the dervishes show to your to-do list. Very amazing and relaxing show. One hour of enjoyment for the music and the whirling dervishes. What a great combination. I highly recommend.

+1

Interesting experience lasts 1 hour

The Whirling Dervish performance was good. However, there is no explanation beforehand. Since the show is geared towards tourists, I felt that a review of what we would be seeing would have been very beneficial.

We were all mesmerised watching the whirling dervishes and listening to the beautiful music. We read about the practice before we went to the ceremony, so it was more meaningful.

The center should have explained the ceremony and dance significance - we did not understand and were very bored

Arrive 25 minutes in advance for the best seats. The first half hour is music only. Not 100% sure that this is a real ceremony and not just a performance (i.e not sure they are real Derviches)

The show is cute, with great musicians (no flute, strange because it would be the most traditional instrument). The three dervishes rotate slowly and only in the last quarter of an hour. The audience is quite rude, with so many children making noise. Convenient to reach by tram.