(TibetanReview.net, Mar22’26) – China is to mark its full annexation of Tibet in Beijing on Mar 28 with theatrical presentations of a Sinicized version of the Tibetan tap dance produced with the involvement of Chinese propaganda and dance bodies and a Tibetan dance group under an “arts-aid program” from Beijing, according to China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Mar 22.
A landmark dance production inspired by Tibetan folk traditions will debut in Beijing on Mar 28, coinciding with Serfs’ Emancipation Day in Xizang, the report said, citing the event’s organizers at a news conference in Beijing.
The so-called “Serfs’ Emancipation Day” marks China’s tearing up of the “17-Point Agreement” of May 23, 1951 in the name of “democratic reform” following the Mar 10 Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa in 1959. The agreement had promised Tibet a sort of one-country, two systems autonomy. With this action, China announced the dissolution of the “local government of Tibet”.
“Xizang” is Sinicized name used by China in a recent policy shift to avoid mentioning “Tibet”, as it connotes a civilization and culture that is distinct from its own.
China began commemorating this day after the large-scale protests against its occupation rule which engulfed much of the Tibetan Plateau region in Mar-Apr 2008. Following it, China launched a more aggressive policy to assimilate Tibet, which President Xi Jinping has termed as Sinicization.
The report said that the production, titled as Tashi Shabdro—meaning “auspicious dance”— will run from Mar 28 to 29 at the China National Opera House.
Billed as China’s first full-length Tibetan tap dance drama, the production is rooted in Lhaze Doishey, a folk-dance from “Xizang” that is recognized as part of the China’s national intangible cultural heritage. It also incorporates elements of other traditional dances from the region, the report said.
The organizers have said the work follows a cross-generational narrative linking “Xizang” with other parts of the People’s Republic of China. The story is stated to center on an aid doctor, his daughter and a Tibetan family, using dance to explore themes of solidarity, devotion and cultural inheritance.
The report said the production is a joint effort involving several cultural bodies, developed as part of an arts-aid program. It is guided by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and co-produced by regional publicity authorities, the China Dancers Association, a “Xizang”-based cultural investment group and a Beijing aid program office.
Huang Doudou, vice-chair of the China Dancers Association, has said adapting Tibetan tap dance into a full-length theatrical production posed significant challenges. He has noted that the project took three years to complete and involved multiple choreographic teams, in part due to the practical difficulties of working at high altitude.
He has described the production as an initial step toward bringing Tibetan tap dance to the stage in a longer dramatic format, while preserving its cultural roots and distinctive artistic style. That all remains to be seen.