00:00Artist Afnan Shahar captivated a crowd in Cairo on Friday, spinning to traditional music to celebrate the holy month of
00:08Ramadan.
00:09Drawing on Sufi traditions of whirling dervishes, Shahar says she's often criticized for taking on a male-dominated practice.
00:19The criticisms I receive are the same ones directed at all differences on earth.
00:26So we need to be ourselves to be who we are, because if we all become alike, nothing will happen.
00:35It will be as if we're repeating the same pattern or reliving the same experience. God did not create us
00:43for this.
00:49Whirling is a devotional ritual symbolizing a spiritual journey towards closeness with God.
00:56Rather than leave the practice to men, Shahar wants more women to learn and to perform it.
01:07What do I want to reach? I want to travel the world. I want all the women on earth to
01:14know what spinning is, and how it helps them reconnect with their bodies, themselves, their souls, and God's presence within
01:23them.
01:34It was so incredible, and I was honestly really impressed by how much she was spinning, because she was spinning
01:38for like an hour long, and I was honestly really, really impressed.
01:41Like, she was absolutely incredible. Her vibe was just contagious, and her smile, like I can really feel the genuineness
01:48of the performance, and I really loved it.
01:49It's a night in the love of God, the love of ourselves, the love of freedom, and it's a night
01:55for improvisation.
01:57Today we will let our souls express without a specific plan or style for the performance.
02:02We're all here to improvise and let ourselves express.
02:11Whirling Shahar has said is a way to melt into the universe without disappearing.
02:20OK.
02:20We're OK.
02:20Rob weiss.
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