TIPA

TIPA stands for the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. It’s a small little school that focuses mainly on Tibetan song and dance, which in turn is a common way for Tibetans to tell stories, especially of their homeland in Tibet.

Julia and I hiked up to the school randomly one day just to see what it was like. When we got there it seemed pretty empty, but you could hear someone off in the distance practicing their Tibetan guitar. We went into the main office and talked to someone there who said there wasn’t really anything to see during the day, but that we should come back that evening for a performance they would be putting on.

So we came back that evening and for a hundred rupees each bought a ticket into the auditorium. There was a big turnout, including a lot of monks and nuns that appeared to be on a field trip.

The kids, or more like teenagers – young adults, came out on the stage all dressed in traditional Tibetan clothing. Because Tibet is generally so cold, traditional Tibetan clothing is very heavy and thick and warm. India however is quite warm itself, so I’m not sure how they could stand to be wearing those kinds of clothes on that hot summer evening, but they managed it somehow.

Most of the performances went something like this: Traditionally dressed guys and girls would trot out onto the stage. The guys would play instruments and both guys and girls would sing and dance. I couldn’t understand what they were singing because it was in Tibetan, but before each performance an announcer would give a little announcement about the next performance saying what region of Tibet the dance would represent and sometimes what the song would be about.

My favorite performance we saw was an all-guy performance with just four guys playing their Tibetan guitars, singing, and dancing all at the same time. Included in their dance they would do a lot of stomping on the stage, laying down a beat for the song. I was extremely impressed at all they could, especially since I probably couldn’t do any of those things even by itself.

Sometimes Tibetan song and dance can go on a little long, and the seats were rather hard, but they kept this performance to a pretty good length.  It was a fun night and we enjoyed ourselves.