Type of show
The sema is a Mevlevi religious ceremony of about an hour, watched in silence. A Turkish night dinner show is a different thing.
The sema is the ritual of the Mevlevi order, a Sufi brotherhood founded in Konya after the death of the poet and mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi (Mevlana) in 1273. It is a form of dhikr, the remembrance of God, performed through music, recitation and turning. UNESCO listed the Mevlevi sema ceremony as intangible cultural heritage in 2008. In Istanbul it is presented to visitors in cultural centres and historic buildings, including former lodges.
A ceremony lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. Musicians and singers open with a eulogy to the Prophet and a ney improvisation. The semazens then walk the floor three times, drop their black cloaks and turn through four sections called selams, the right palm facing up and the left down. It closes with a recitation from the Quran. Nobody explains the ritual while it happens. Seats are in rows or around the floor, and no food is served.
This is different from a Turkish night, and ticket pages do not always make the distinction clear. A Turkish night is a dinner show in a restaurant or on a Bosphorus boat, with belly dance, regional folk dances and sometimes a short dervish turn between them. That turn is a staged excerpt, performed as entertainment. If you want the ceremony, look for a ticket that names the sema on its own, with no dinner and no other acts.
A boat, not a theatre: three hours on the Bosphorus from Kabataş with dinner and a Turkish night show, from €29.90.
The most-reviewed sema in the catalogue: daily at 19:00, one hour, no photos, minimum age 8. From €26.
A Turkish night without the dinner: about 70 minutes of folk and belly dance, three nights a week. From €35.
A 45-minute sema in an underground Byzantine cistern. From €29, minimum age 7, non-refundable, only 14 reviews.
You book on Civitatis, the ticket platform, under its own terms.
It is a religious ritual. The Mevlevi lodges were closed in Turkey in 1925, and since the 1950s the ceremony has been performed in public as cultural heritage. Venues do not always say whether the semazens are members of the order or trained performers.
About 45 minutes to an hour, without an interval. Some venues add a short concert of Sufi music or an introduction before it begins.
Several venues set a minimum age, because the ceremony needs a silent room for close to an hour. The age rule is on the ticket page.
A sema ceremony is the complete ritual, with nothing else on the programme and no meal. A Turkish night is a dinner show with several dance acts, in which a dervish number, if there is one, lasts a few minutes.
