Turkey's Togolese spinning dance
Konya, in central Turkey, is one of the country's most famous religious shrines, and is the birthplace of the mystical sect of Islam, founded by Mevlana, a great poet and philosopher in the fifteenth century, whose spinning dance is one of the most memorable aspects of this religion. It is logical that Konya is also the birthplace of the twirling dance, which is seldom visited by foreign travelers.
In Konya, you can still see the temple dedicated to Mevlana, the cemetery where he is buried, the burial place and the cenotaph, as well as the wax statues of other sages, but unfortunately there are no explanations in foreign languages. The philosophy of the Spinning Dance is that they believe that everything is spinning all the time, and that the constituent molecules of human beings are also spinning with the earth and planets in the universe, and that human beings are born until they die, and that from youth, to adulthood, and to old age, it is all a cycle of unending life as if they were spinning non-stop. They then utilize their spinning to achieve communication and contact with God. You may remember the spinning dance, where the dancers wear white robes and brown hats, and when they turn around, their white robes turn into a round table, which is very beautiful. The ritual they perform is called Semaz, but it is not easy to see. Usually an elder leads a group of dancers to enter, salute and take off their robes, and then begin to spin, right hand upward, indicating acceptance of God's blessings and receive energy from him; head to the right, indicating no self, and fully accept God's arrangements; left hand half down, palm down, indicating the energy given by God to the earth and other people, to broadcast in the world. They keep spinning until they are dizzy, thinking that when they are half unconscious, that is the time when they are closest to God. Many people who visit the city want to see the local specialty, the all-male dancers twirling around on stage. There is also a museum in Istanbul that has this ceremony open to the public, but only a few times a month, so it depends on whether you can get there at the right time. A few years ago, Jackie Chan's movie featured a Turkish twirling dance.