I was in Şanlıurfa when some time in September 2005 an international dance festival was held with performers from, it seemed, Turkish speaking countries. Among them the famous "dancing dervishes" one so often sees. I ran into the group when they were preparing, adjusting their clothes, spinning trial rounds, then doing some more adjusting. Later I saw them on the stage. I promised them that in a month or so they would see their pictures here, but due to the huge amount of pictures I took I underestimated this terribly. So, with my apologies, here the first of what should have been many more. I am off to Turkey the day after I put these pictures on, and will not have the time to edit some more and publish them until, well, let's not make promises. I thank the group for their patience and for letting me take all those pictures and wish them all the best.

It may be nice to see a Dervish museum in Istanbul. For more on Mevlana, see my Mevlana museum gallery.