While in Des Moines, Iowa, last year on my return from living in Istanbul, Turkey, I didn’t know that a Turkish population embraced my home city. While I found a small community of Turks living there, I also discovered some unique organizations which promote diversity and multiculturalism.
To my delight I found my childhood home had developed into one of the most aware places in the country.
For those of you who don’t know, Iowa sits in the American Midwest and sets the barometer for American elections of who will win the people’s vote. Many believe not much happens in Middle America. Not true.
Organized by the Iowa Dialog Center, the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi will perform at the Sheslow Auditorium of Drake University on the evening of August 13th at 7 p.m. Tickets are only $12 which is nothing compared to what you pay in Turkey to see the dervishes in mid-summer.
What more could you ask for in a night of entertainment? Drawings for classical Turkish art products. Certainly, anyone interested in Sufism should be there, but if you want to expand your spiritual side, you’ll be mesmerized by the twirling acumen of the dancers.
To quote the publicity release: “Continuing the teachings of the 13th century scholar and poet Rumi, the whirling dervishes are widely acclaimed. Accompanied by reed flutes, drums and chants used since the days of Rumi, the dervishes wearing long, flowing robes, move about the stage in a spinning meditation.”
Ebru TV, the Konya Metropolitan Municipality, Today’s Zaman and the Turkish-American Society of Chicago are all Turkish sponsors of the event and now an integral part of the heartland.
Thank you for recognizing that Des Moines, Iowa, will bring the masses to appreciate the Turkish culture and teachings of Rumi.
Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West, ...I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, outer, inner, only that breath breathing human being.
Rumi
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