Dharamshala: For those who say the real Tibetan culture survives not in Tibet but in exile, the most tangible proof of it may be the way Tibetan folk songs and dances have been preserved, polished and promoted by the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.
Unlike the dazzling cultural events relayed through the Chinese XYZ TV, where the Tibetan folk songs are sung in high-nasal twang, and the dances resemble more of Chinese acrobatics, the cultural shows of TIPA stand out for being a 100% pure Tibetan entertainment.
The highlight of its year round cultural events is the summer festival (Yar-kyi), in which the artists from its two houses, Ngonpa and Gyalu, compete in various categories of traditional songs and dances.
In their zest to be new and different, preparations and research by the two rival groups of about 20-odd artists started months ahead of the event staged here yesterday on the occasion of 48th founding anniversary of the institute.
"This year we have focused on the traditional songs and dances of Amdo and Utsang regions of Tibet," said Pema Tenzin, the group leader of "huntsmen"(Ngonpa), which ran away with the trophy by a convincing win in yesterday's competition before an exclusive audience of a wide array of Tibetan dignitaries.
Another prominent member of the group, Tenzin Yonten, who starred as Richard in the movie Richard Gere Is My Hero, said that their research works primarily involved doing extensive interviews with scores of 50-plus Tibetans in and around the town.
Addressing the packed hall of TIPA yesterday afternoon, Chief Guest Kalon Tsering Phuntsok said that since its inception in 1959, the institute has secured outstanding accomplishments in the field of promoting Tibetan cultural identity.
The Kalon for religion and culture further said that the medium of performing arts has been instrumental in achieving the two main objectives of the exile Tibetan Administration: to resolve the Tibet issue through dialogue based on the Middle-Way Approach of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and, until the day the Tibet issue is resolved, to ensure the sustenance of Tibetan religious and cultural heritage in exile.
Yesterday’s event also turned out to be a valedictory function for the outgoing director of TIPA, Kesang Youdon Dagpo, who will take up the post of the secretary of Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, w.e.f. 3 June--while the additional secretary of the Department of Health, Wangchuk Phasur, has been assigned the new director of TIPA.
Under the directorship of Mrs. Dagpo, the institute has witnessed tremendous growth, said Tenzin Lhaksam, the secretary of TIPA. In the last five years, TIPA has performed cultural shows in places across the length and breadth of India, apart from the 50 shows that it performed in about 40 cities of over 13 other countries.
The institute has also built a multi-media center and a recording studio, in addition to producing 13 videos/vcds, and a dozen-odd print materials on the traditional Tibetan songs and dances. The institute was particularly successful in its numerous initiatives to revive the traditional folk opera of Tibet, as per the expressed wish of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
