“As soon as he started to grow, he saw us all whirling, his uncles and cousins. When he first started to walk when he was about one year old, he started to whirl. I started to teach him how to move ...

In the heart of Damascus, a group of men and boys dressed in long, white robes and tall headpieces stood in a semicircle. Their chants filled the courtyard of a traditional Damascene house that was ...