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Whirling
Dervishes of Damascas: Sacred Sufi Music and Ritual
In the early ninth century, when Muslim mystics organized
their Sufi brotherhoods, they adopted music for their
meditation as a way of accessing states of ecstasy.
The Luckman Fine Arts Complex presents Sheikh Hamza
Shakkur, the Al-Kindi Ensemble, and the Whirling Dervishes
of Damascas in rare concert of devotional turning music.
Sheikh Hamza Shakkur is one of the finest liturgical
sings in the near East, a man of towering artistic and
physical presence with a commanding baritone voice.
The Al-kindi Ensemble's performances on traditional
instruments are posed and measured, a perfect musical
setting for the dialogue of voices, qanun, oud, ney
flute and dancers as they spin, palms held upward, a
whirl of white cloth skirts floating around their turning
bodies.
MEDIA ALERT
WORLD FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC
Los
Angeles, 16 September 2002-The World Festival of Sacred
Music-Los Angeles announces that acclaimed Syrian music
ensemble-the Whirling Dervishes of Damascas-has
abruptly canceled its concert appearance in the United
States due new visa policies initiated by the Bush Administration
as part of Homeland Security.
The
ensemble was scheduled to perform September 28th at
8pm at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex on and Sept 29,
2002 as part of the World Festival of Sacred Music Closing
Benefit Concert at the Greek Theatre. Festival Director
Judy Mitoma regrets that the World political situation
has threatened cultural exchange programs such as the
Festival. "It is an irony that in our desire to
promote peace and cultural understanding, the very people
we turn to as ambassadors of good-will are not being
admitted to the United States."
As
a result of this disappointment, a powerful consortium
of Middle Eastern artists (who are participating in
the festival at other events) have agreed to appear
on the Greek Theatre stage on the 29th. Joined in spirit
and outraged by world events, the group will include
Mamak Khadem and Loga Ramin Torkian of Axiom
of Choice, Ahmad El Asmar, Omar Faruk Tekbilek,
and Yuval Ron.
The
first international disappointment was the cancellation
of Najwa Gibran for Yuval Ron's program at the UCLA
Hammer Museum-followed by the last minute cancellation
of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for the Opening Concert on the
14th at Royce Hall. Fortunately, Lakshmi Shankar graciously
and masterfully appeared in his place. As Mitoma said
from the Royce Hall stage, "We are reminded by
the absence of Rahat, of the situation facing people
in many parts of the world, another indication of how
much work remains to be done."
The
World Festival of Sacred Music is a sixteen-day celebration
of the rich sacred music traditions of the people of
Los Angeles, with fifty-five musical events produced
in venues ranging from the city's major stages to intimate
places of worship. Recognizing music as an expression
of humanity's most profound aspirations and as a way
to transcend borders of all kinds-linguistic, national,
cultural, ideological, racial and religious-the 2002
festival is the result of an outpouring of interest
and enthusiasm from community partners and artists who
participated in 1999's World Festival of Sacred Music-The
Americas initiated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
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