The Dervish Turners Dance

An example of sacred dances in Islam: the Dervish Turners Dance in the Sufism movement

Sufism is a particular religious movement of Islam that was born around the 14th century. It refers to people who considered that the aim of religion is to reach the fusion with the Supreme Being.
Asceticism, god’s contemplation, love, poetic and philosophical activities are considering as the best way to get on it. The idea is that the intention you put on your act and the love you feel for god is more important that the religious rite itself.

The turning Dervish dance is one the way Sufism adepts use “to feel one with god”.
It is a mystic dance that makes the Dervish get to a conscious state of mind and it modifies its perception to be in phase with Allah. Each detail of the celebration has a religious and philosophical symbolism. The dark coat that the dancers take off before starting represents the material envelope that Man refuses in order to make one with Allah when he’s dead. The large dresses represent the “suaire” and the conic hats the sepulchre.
With their head a bit switched to the right, their right hand toward the skies and the left one to the land, the dancers make a slow and circling movement to evocate the movement of the planets in the universe. Along with the dancing, come the music and a song (called dikhr) invocating the name of Allah.

Source: http://www.treklens.com/gallery/Africa/Tunisia/photo176879.htm