Posted in Wordless Wednesday

As requested by most of my blog buddies, I’m adding a short description on…

Tanoura is an Egyptian folk dance (form) performed by Sufi men, Darawish. The dance is similar to the Sufi whirling in Levant and Turkey.
There are various ways of dancing the ‘Tanoura’.The different elements of ‘Tanoura’ stand for various messages. As I’ve been told, it is a story that connects men to the divine; a dance that refers to the relationship of land and the sky, man and God.

The performers’ round skirts and swirling actually refer to the circle of life or the universe. When the tanoura dancer moves himself, he is like the sun and the dancers around him is like the planets. The dancer unties and removes four different skirts during the finale. Their various roundabouts symbolize the succession of the four seasons and their anti-clockwise movement is exactly like the movement around the “Kaaba” (the holy Shrine in Mecca). When the dancer raises his right arm up and points his left arm down, this represents the joining of earth and heaven together. When he turns himself around, it is said that he enters a trance-like state, trying to become light and go up to heaven.

In this occasion, the guy was wearing long colorful skirts (some where illuminated with led lights), where each color on the skirt represents one Sufi order.The word “tannoura” may refer to the dance, the dancer, or the large skirt used in the performance.

25 Comments

  1. latebloomerbuds

    Interesting. Would like to know what this is? Margie

    Reply
    • WildBlack

      Thanks Margie 🙂
      Tanoura is an Egyptian folk dance (form) performed by Sufi men, Darawish. The dance is similar to the Sufi whirling in Levant and Turkey.

      Reply
  2. mj@cardamomhills

    Its a superb picture if you know what is tanoura….I suggest you put in a small description 🙂

    Reply
    • WildBlack

      Hi Mj,
      Thank you so much for your comment.
      It was posted for this week’s Wordless Wednesday. That’s why I didn’t scribble anything in my post.

      I’ve added short note on my post!

      Reply
  3. Steve

    Beautiful light painting!

    Reply
    • iMaddy

      Nice light painting!

      Reply
  4. Ed

    Excellent shot! Is this what we refer to as the whirling dervish from Turkey? 🙂

    Reply
    • WildBlack

      Thanks Ed! Yes it is similar.. but this is an Egyptian folk dance 🙂

      Reply
  5. Kame

    Ow wow!!that’s amazing!! It looks like a human spinning top

    Reply
    • WildBlack

      Thanks Kame! Yes it is indeed 🙂

      Reply
  6. Dancing Leaves

    I have seen this dance form… and its truly divine!! Great shot! 😀

    Reply
  7. KatiesCameraBlog

    Oh, I’d love to see this dance in person. And just from looking at the image, the lights really look like dancing, so just a wonderful photo. Great post!

    Reply
  8. Fergiemoto

    Wow, this is a great capture of the lights!

    Reply
  9. Leslie

    Beautiful, glad you added the description. Thank you for visiting my blog..

    Reply
  10. ladyfi

    A superb shot – as always!

    Reply
  11. Janette

    Amazing photo the light and the movement are captured so well!

    Reply
  12. firasz

    It cant be perceived in this form by natural eyes. Amazing shot!
    Good you made a description 🙂

    Reply
  13. Cardinal Guzman

    I saw dervishes in Turkey. It’s a fascinating dance.

    Reply
  14. Ronnie Isacsson

    Well done , nice shot ! Like the colours and form .

    Reply
  15. Eric

    It is always great to come to your site as topics like Tanoura is what keeps me interested and coming back to read more, thanks.

    Reply

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