Egypt's Tanoura Puts Kaleidoscopic Spin on Dervish Tradition

Egypt's kaleidoscopic whirling dervish performance, known as 'tanoura', is a world away from those of Turkey, who trace their origins to the teachings of Sufi poet and mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi Khaled DESOUKI AFP

In a 500-year-old stone theater in the Egyptian capital, two young dervishes spin ceaselessly. Slowly, then all at once, they are consumed in a flurry of vivid fabrics.

Born into a lineage of whirling dervishes, Mohamed Adel, 20, takes great pride in the uniquely Egyptian interpretation of the centuries-old ritual known colloquially as "tanoura", or skirt in Arabic.