Tanoura puts kaleidoscopic spin on dervish tradition

In a 500-year-old stone theatre in the Egyptian capital, two young dervishes spin ceaselessly. Slowly, then all at once, they are consumed in a flurry of vivid fabrics.

Born into a lineage of whirling dervishes, Mohamed Adel, 20, takes great pride in the uniquely Egyptian interpretation of the centuries-old ritual known colloquially as "tanoura," or skirt in Arabic.

"I choose the colors and the shapes that are sewn into the skirts," Adel said, pointing to the folds of his purple skirt with green and yellow appliques moments before stepping on stage to perform at a folk-art festival.

The kaleidoscopic performance is a world away from the UNESCO-listed whirling dervishes of Turkey, who trace their origins to the teachings of Sufi poet and mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi.

Distinguished by their white robes, camel-wool hats and fealty to ascetic Sufi spiritualism, the ceremonies in Turkey bear only a fleeting resemblance to the psychedelic performances popular in Egypt.

Sufis in Egypt, who number more than 15 million, with nearly 80 different orders, adopted the ritual, progressively adding colors and rhythms, turning the spiritual practice into a folkloric art in its own right.

Every time it is the same: Adel steps into a counter-clockwise twirl. As his skirts bloom, he raises his right arm to the sky, to receive divine blessing, and reaches his left arm to the ground, delivering the blessing to the public.

Then he picks up the pace.

His steps grow faster, and he unties the cords that hold his different skirts together, raising one high above his head.

The topmost tanoura represents the sky, the one below the earth.

As he spins the first above his head while the other forms an undulating disc around his...