Dervish Dance ‘Rumi’ Combines Dance, Gymnastics To Create Whirling Dervish Effects
When the six dancers of the Robert Davidson Company leap, twirl and fly over the stage at North Idaho College Saturday, it will be no mere coincidence that they resemble whirling dervishes.
The 75-minute dance the company will perform, “Rapture: Rumi,” is inspired by the poetry of Jalaluddin Rumi, a spiritual mystic of the 13th century who founded the Sufi order of whirling dervishes.
The dervishes sought union with the divine through continually turning on their feet, although some parts of the order also use chanting.
Junior Cadillac percussionist Steve Flynn composed the music for this dance, choreographed by Robert Davidson. And, to best replicate the whirling and celebrate the circle motions of the dervishes, Davidson put his dancers in the air on trapezes. Hence, this performance is a unique combination of modern dance and gymnastics.
“Rapture: Rumi” was given its world premiere in June in Seattle, where the dance troupe is based. Of that performance, the dance critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, R.M. Campbell, wrote: The dancers “assumed a variety of postures one would not have thought possible and sustained one’s interest beyond any ordinary range.
“The movement was liquid grace, harmonious and beautiful, but also sharply pointed and intense at times… .
“Davidson is known for his work on the trapeze: He has made it the most identifiable part of his choreography. His newest work takes full advantage of the unique expressive possibilities of this instrument in the air.”
Mark Lynd will dance the role of Rumi, who, as the story goes, met a wandering holy man named Shams ad-Din in 1244 in the region that is now Turkey. Rumi developed a consuming passion for Shams and spent three years with the holy man, an infatuation that, as the story goes, drove those around Rumi to murder Shams.
“Rapture: Rumi” celebrates the moments of passion and coupling between these two men as well as the circling motion of the dervishes. Davidson will dance the role of Shams.
Robert Davidson moved to Seattle in 1968 from St. Paul, Minn., to study dance at the University of Washington. He is now on the graduate faculty of the university’s School of Drama.
The North Idaho performance is sponsored by the Contemporary Arts Alliance and the Kootenai County Arts Council.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Color photos
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DANCE The Robert Davidson Company will perform “Rapture: Rumi” at 8 p.m. Saturday at North Idaho College’s Boswell Auditorium. Tickets are $16, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets and the NIC box office.