イスタンブールのホッジャパシャ文化センターでワーリング・ダービッシュ・ショー

I highly recommend booking through the association's direct website as it has the best price and a beautiful show. Don't get "ripped off" by the many local places that offer it at very high prices

Attending the sacred Sema ceremony, the Dance of the Whirling Dervishes of the Mevlevi Order, is certainly a unique experience. The ceremony is performed at the Hodjapasha Cultural Center, a beautiful restored former Turkish bath. You enter the dance hall through a museum exhibit where the meaning of the ceremony, the clothing, and the history of the brotherhood are explained. The ceremony, during which it is forbidden to applaud and take photos and videos, lasts about 1 hour and is structured in two parts: the first exclusively musical, the second with the whirling dance of the dervishes with their characteristic white tunics that "open" with the frantic spinning. For some it may seem like a repetitive and boring ceremony, but it depends on the point of view from which you experience it. It is certainly not a show but a precise ritual that has "lived" for 800 years, where the clothes themselves have a precise symbolic meaning, as do the gestures during the dance. 4 phases (Selam) of the ceremony. Definitely an experience to have.

This was an impressive show but I am not sure whether it was performed by actors or religious Dervishes. The whirling lasts only about 30 minutes - not surprising when one of them looked exhausted. The remainder is taken up by music and chanting. You are very close to the stage so feel part of it. There is a small museum and explanation in the waiting room although it is crowded.

A humbling reminder of our spiritual journey as humans depicted through the whirling dance. Beautifully done.

Wonderful experience both culturally and spiritually. The history added meaning and understanding to the moving experience.

Beautiful, solemn, hypnotic. The subtitles are excellent, allowing one to follow what is more of a religious expression than a true show. The musicians are also very talented. Time seems to pass in seconds.

Mystical experience, the dancers with their rotary movement hypnotize you. The structure is ancient. I recommend this experience absolutely.

It is a show that deals with a lot of openness of mind is totally religious and the dance is only circles... but it is worth it.

The mystical journey of Whirling dervishes is part of a long tradition of Turkish culture! This unique, amazing show including the ecstatic dances, music takes place in a small historic room of Hodjapasha center; the addition of the exhibit was very useful in understanding the history and symbolism of the whirling dervishes! Overall unforgettable experience!