We Captured the Soul of The Sufi Tanoura Dancers and Here’s How Mesmerizing they are!
By Febronia Hanna
As the shimmering lights get dimmer, members of the Tanoura show team prepare themselves for their daily routine. A routine that is far from boring and far from being soulless. This one guy puts on his white galabiya on and the shiny “Sagat” in his hands. This other guy has his mint tea to cleanse his throat so that he would call out God’s name in glory while a third guy is sitting in peace trying to power up for the spiritual show.
The audience is sitting there silently, not knowing what they are about to behold. They think they are about to see the Tanoura show they are accustomed to seeing at hotels and cafes. They are, however, surprised to see the performers dressed in different clothes, quieter than the screaming colors they were expecting.
To their surprise, there were two types of Tanoura; the performative Tanoura and the Sufi Tanoura. What they were about to witness is the Sufi Tanoura, it’s the type of Tanoura that is actually considered a kind of prayer and a spiritual connection. You can tell by the colors of the Tanoura, the songs played and sung by the musicians and the “Monshed” as they are very religious and spiritual while the performative Tanoura only has musical instruments.
These guys take their job very seriously, the looks on their faces show the fondness, the dedication and the effort put into it. But the most obvious thing is that they have a clear passion for what they do and a pure love for their creator.
We interviewed Ismael Muhammed, a member of the Tanoura Heritage Team; he said: “The Tanoura dancing movements aren’t random, every slight expression or gesture means something”. He smiled, excused himself and handed the Tanoura to one of his friends, then he resumed “I can’t just put the Tanoura aside, it has God’s name written on it, you know!”.
“Umm, as I was saying, when the spinner raises his hands to the sky, he’s praying to his God, when he points one arm to the sky and the other to the ground; he’s trying to make a link between Earth and Heaven. The spinner symbolizes the Sun and the dancers around him are the planets.”
The Tanoura team doesn’t just do Tanoura performances, they also have dancing, precautions, and singing shows. They have a “Sagat” dancer that is very light-hearted with a lively spirit.
After all the spinning, the singing, the dancing and the playing, the audience was mesmerized, they were shocked they actually watched something so authentic and so well done.
Photo credits: Aly Hegazy
