The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday, November 8, 2013 -- 5A
Spiritual dance
troupe honors poet
Whirling Dervishes
to translate Rumi
work in performance
By GIANCARLO BUONOMO
Daily Arts Writer
"Poetry is what gets lost in
translation" - a cliche yet pro-
found statement. This is cer-
tainly true
when translat- The
ing from one Whirling
language to
another. How- Dervishes
ever, whatifone of Rumi
translates lan-
guages beyond Friday at 7 p.m.
the written
word? On Fri- Rackham
day, the Whirl- $15
ing Dervishes
of Rumi will be
coming to campus to translate
the works of the Persian poet
and mystic Jalal ad-Din Muham-
mad Rumi, known as Mevlana or
Rumi, into dance and music.
The dance troupe .performs a
unique ritual known as Sema, in
which the spirit of Rumi's poetry
inspires a dance of graceful spin-
ning, accompanied by drumbeats
and recitations from his poetry
and from the Koran. This is not
mere entertainment; in fact, the
Dervishes ask that there be no
applause until they have left the
stage, for they are performing
a sacred act. The Rumi Club of
Michigan, which is bringing the
Whirling Dervishes to campus,
views this performance as educa-
tional as well as spiritual.
"We try to engage people
through dialogue - interfaith
and intercultural dialogue," said
second-year Ph.D student Ziah
Dean.
Far from being an insular dis-
cussion group about the poet
himself, the Rumi Club, much
like the Whirling Dervishes,
applies the values that Rumi
espoused in his poetry to the bet-
terment of the intellectual, spiri-
tual and social culture of campus.
"We basically derive our mis-
sion from Rumi's perspective, in
the sense that he sought to engage
people through love (and) com-
passion, and he really thought
that the sort of connection with
God was through those," Dean
said.
In even a brief look at some of
Rumi's poetry, this multifaceted
approach is apparent. Consider,
for example, his poem, "Light
up the Fire," in which he states,
"Light up the fire of love inside /
And blaze the thoughts away." In
these lines, for Rumi, as with Sufi
thought, the divine infuses the
personal.
"When he does write his poet-
ry, he's basically talking about his
personal journey to reach that
realm of divine existence," Dean
said.
The Whirling Dervishes take
all of these ideas and convert
them into the ritual Sema. Each
Sema contains four different
musical movements anchored by
a whirling dance.
"Whirling in of itself is sort of
trying to connect oneself to the
heavenly bodies that also whirl,
like the earth that rotates," Dean
said.
One does not need to be per-
forming the Sema, or even believe
in its theological affirmations, to
appreciate the Dervishes' perfor-
mance.
"Even if you are a spectator of
the whirling, you can also benefit
in the sense that you also sort of
put away all of the problems and
troubles you have, the things that
are going on around your world,
and just focus on this beautiful
music. And you can also experi-
ence that same sort of ascension
that they're trying to seek," Dean
said.
Rumi's work might be unfa-
miliar to many students, but that
is precisely why the Rumi Club
of Michigan is bringing the Der-
vishes to campus.
"It's really important that we
sit down and get to know each
other, especially because we
are living in this turbulent time
where there's a lot of strife going
on between people who are not
sitting down and getting to know
each other," Dean said.
So, in the words of Rumi:
"Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of
leaving. It doesn't matter."
Introducing the new Urban Outfitters male line.
Diving into Ocean s
past with 'Lonny' tape
Britney Spears reveals personal
heartbreak on Perfume' track
By GIBSON JOHNS
Online Arts Editor
It's no secret that the first
single from Britney Spears's
upcoming eighth album, Brit-
ney Jean, "Work Bitch," vastly
underperformed across the
board, so it was imperative
that Brit Brit deliver something
bigger and better ahead of the
album's release. She needed to
reassert her power over pop
music - fast. Enter "Perfume.";
It has been a decade since
2003's "Everytime," Spears's Scratch n' sniff.
last truly iconic power ballad,
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By ALLENDONNE is who Frank Ocean was'before
Daily Arts Writer hecoming "Frank Ocean."
Prior to his name change
don't have to be an in 2008, Ocean garnered a
e follower of music to following under the name
heard of Prank Ocean. Lonny Breaux. At first, Breaux
hose unfamiliar, Ocean intended to stay in Los Ange-
ed his debut album, chan- les temporarily to continue a
RANGE, in July 2012 to few recording projects. After
1 acelaim. This album further connecting with some
us the singles "Thinkin significant players in the music
You," "Pyrarnids" and industry, however, Breaux
I Life." Ocean also made decided to settle down. Dur-
are appearance on Watch ing .this time, Breaux helped
rone's "No Church in the compose songs for many big
the song that became name artists, including Justin
ated with "The Great Bieber and Beyonca. Breaux
" trailer. also successfully recorded some
original tracks in an attempt to
obtain a record deal.
fore Channel If you look on Ocean's official
discography list, the R&B sing-
AANGE there er only lists two main projects:
nostalgia, ULTRA and channel
s only Lonny ORANGE. There is no men-
tion of anything he recorded as
Breaux. Lonny Breaux.
Fortunately, while Breaux
sought recognition, he released
material not only to obtain that
h such rising popularity, elusive record deal but also to
is as if the sky is the limit reward loyal fans of an artist
s young R&B singer. But who was only known behind-
a lot the-scenes in the R&B com-
'ople First seen on munity. After Ocean found
now -the filter success with nostalgia, ULTRA,
the tracks he had previously
recorded were comnpiled into
a mixtape, fittingly titled, The
Lonny Breaux Collection.
Sure, channel ORANGE >and
nostalgia, ULTRA are great
albums, but fans may tire of
repeatedly listening to the same
30 tracks. Without much recent
material, Frank Ocean fans may
be eager to discover new mate-
rial while waiting for Ocean's
next album. The Lonny Breaux
Collection, then, should act as
a satisfactory treat for Ocean
fans.
Spanning 64 tracks, The
Lonny Breaux Collection pro-
vides not only an enjoyable
listening experience but also
a look at the versatile styles
Ocean experimented with
before recognition. It provides
a background to such a talented
artist. Even if you aren't a Frank
Ocean fan, the mixtape should
be a pleasant listening expe-
rience. If you're still not con-
vinced, I can only say that I've
had the tape for half a year and
"it still receives constant play.
Just trust me on this one.
- A version of this article
originally appeared on the
Daily Arts blog, The Filter, oit
Oct. 31.
RcA
and upo
diately
ready to
co-penn
was rel
and is
Britney.
We
hi
Br
in first listen, it is imme- wick, and she was feeling emo-
clear that "Perfume" is tional, y'all. But by releasing a
fill that void. The track, first single like "Work Bitch,"
ned by Spears and Sia, a banging club track devoid of
eased on Sunday, Nov. 3 any emotion, Spears confused
the second single off of her fans. Where was the con-
Jean, due out Nov. 29. nection? Where was our look
into the increasingly guarded
heart and soul of our beloved,
smell a neW down-home southern gal, Brit-
ney Jean Spears?
t single for "Perfume" answers all of
these questions and then some.
'itney Jean The revealing, declarative
record grows upon every listen
Spears. and lets us hear the rawness
Sp s of Spears's voice for the first
time since, really, ... Baby One
More Time. With little autotune
ughout her promo tour and an absence of EDM synths,
I, Spears has promised "Perfume" gives us all that Brit-
r eighth album would ney Jean has promised it would
most personal yet; she be. With lines like "Sometimes
nd recorded most of the it feels like there's three / Of us
while dealing with her in here, baby," Spears discloses
p her paranoia about her man
ex- .becoming unfaithful to her.
First seen on Relatable isn't usually a word
Cra- - the filter used to describe Spears's music,
but "Perfume" totally is.
"And while I wait, I put on
my perfume / Yeah, I want it
all over you / I gotta mark my
territory," she proclaims on
the record's chorus. Though
some of the more recent tracks
she helped write ("Mmm Papi"
and "My Baby" from Circus)
are rather questionable, Spears
shows some serious songwrit-
ing skills that put her vulner-
ability on display.
"Perfume" is a complete tri-
umph for Spears and has put her
back on track leading up to Brit-
ney Jean's release. Though air-
play isn't a given for the record,
I'd argue that fans don't even
care how it does on the radio or
the Hot 100 - with "Perfume,"
Brit Brit has given her fans (and
presumably herself) what they
want from the Queen of Pop
Music. This is her; this is Brit-
ney Jean.
- A version of this article
originally appeared on the Daily
Arts blog, The Filter, on Nov. 4.
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