Guangzhou, November 16 – Charming Asia is a cultural feast rolled out to coincide with the Guangzhou Asian Games and Asian Para Games.
At the Lingnan Convention Hall of Guangzhou, Syrian Sufi musician Nourredine Khourchid and his “Whirling Dervishes” group share the same stage with Christian singer Ghada Shbeir from Lebanon.
At the same night, in the Huanghuagang Theater of Guangzhou, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia performs a dance drama based on a Khmer mythical love story between the half-bird, half-woman Monorea and prince Preah Sothun.
Both performances are from the Charming Asia, a programme of Asian music and dance dedicated to the ongoing 16th Asiad. The programme presents performing arts from various Asian countries that Chinese audiences will have rarely seen before.
“I’m honoured to be here. I think this programme shows both the unity and variety of Asian arts. Sharing the stage with artists from so many different countries is an amazing experience for me,” said Reem Kelani, a Palestinian singer who performed at the first concert of the series on Nov 8.
It is the first time the whirling dervish dance of Islam’s Sufi tradition has been staged in China, but cultural differences were not a problem for Khourchid and his musicians and dancers.
Originally a religious ritual, the dance of the whirling dervishes involves continuous whirling and is said to represent a mystical journey of man’s spiritual ascent through love to “perfection”.
Although the audience seemed a little dazed at first, the dancing and mesmerizing music elicited storms of applause after each song – GZ 2010
