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Teaching Tibetan folk culture via kids’ theater
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LONGTA (“wind horse” in Tibetan) with gods on its back patrols the mountains, woods, grasslands and valleys, protecting the Tibetan tribes against monsters and evils. The colorful Longta flags, hung in every temple and aobao (heap of stones), help expand the protection whenever the wind rises.
“I hope that the magic of wind horse will not only help protect the people, but also protect their cultural heritage,” says Wang Wan, president of China’s first private, non-profit Tibetan children’s theater — Feng Ma Youth Theater.
She named her theater after the divine Tibetan creature, called feng ma in Mandarin.
Initiated in 2009, the Feng Ma Youth Theater aims to provide a stage for Tibetan children to present their traditional art to the world as a way to protect the fading cultural treasures.
Fifteen Tibetan children from Yushu Prefecture of Qinghai Province recently got their “wind horse” ride to Shanghai, ready to present their beautiful voices and dreams to audiences on the east coast of China.
Original Tibetan-language children’s musical “Duo Jie,” featuring a seemingly absurd dream of a 7-year-old Tibetan boy, will be staged at Shanghai’s Ke Center for Contemporary Arts on March 4-8.
“Though dreams may only be dreams in the adult’s world, they are reality for children. They may seem magical or even absurd to us, but they are what the children believe in,” says Zheng Chenting, director of the musical. According to Zheng, the 7-year-old boy in the musical who dreams of creating an underground world together with the animals is displaying his strong attachment to the pasture facing grassland degradation.
Aged from 8 to 13, none of the performers in the musical have been professionally trained for the stage, yet their naturally beautiful voices impressed the composers on their first encounter.
“You just cannot help picturing the clear blue sky and grand pasture when hearing them sing,” says Su Junjie, composer of the musical. “Their language and voices so perfectly match the melodies. I told myself that I have to make their voices work as perfectly in the musical.”
All 21 songs in the musical are based on folk songs in the Yushu region, with some changes made to help them to fit into the story.
“The songs are a bit different from what we used to sing, but they sound great, and I like them,” says a 13-year-old performer surnamed Gengqiu, who plays “cattle” in the musical. He says he tends to sing the Tibetan folk songs when pasturing in his hometown.
However, as the theater president Wang discovered seven years ago, many Tibetan children in the Yushu region knew very little about the folk songs or stories.
“Many children at the time didn’t have a thing for their own music, but preferred the pop ones,” says Wang, who worked for student-aid programs of the Xinhuo Love Fund in the Yushu region in 2007.
She also found that almost all of those who could tell the region’s folk tales were over 60 years of age. Only three older men could play the traditional niujiao hu (a Tibetan stringed instrument made of ox horn).
“The beautiful treasures of the group are disappearing, which will be a great loss for all of us though not yet realized by many people,” says Wang.
A Tibetan musician friend told Wang that his mother, who traditionally gathered all the children around her in a tent at night before sleep, was the major source of his knowledge about the folk culture — including songs, tales and dances. “However, few Tibetan children can get that access today as 95 percent of the local schools are boarding ones that focus on hammering knowledge rather than culture into the students,” says Wang.
So Wang decided to shift some of the funds to a grander stage — preserving and spreading the traditional Tibetan culture in the region.
She initiated the Feng Ma Youth Theater in 2009 and started collecting traditional songs, tales and dances. Apart from producing three records of the regional folk songs, the theater also initiated lessons at local schools with the help of some older traditional singers. More importantly, the theater insists on providing stages for the audiences outside the mountains, hoping people there will continue the culture.
“The songs and tales are in their blood, just like how they were in their ancestors,” says Xue Ming, vice president of the theater. “All they need is to recognize that the songs and tales are good and precious. Recognition from the outside world will definitely help.”
The young man, who graduated with a degree in drama in education from Shanghai Theater Academy, recalls the unique response of the children in Yushu when he gave a drama topic: “How do you make the white-mask man happy when he is surrounded by colorful-mask people?”
He tried the topic among children in different regions and cities. While most children provide suggestions like helping paint the white masks into more colors, only a number of children in Yushu said that they would like to paint their own masks white if that can cheer the sad white-mask man.
“I was so touched by the general love in the children,” says Xue. “I believe that it must have been somehow rooted in them by their traditional culture, and we have to protect that.”
The theater started annual folk song competitions in the Yushu region in 2009, and selected 10 to 12 children each time to stage in big cities. The musical “Duo Jie” will be the fourth time the theater has presented the children and their songs in Shanghai.
When Xue went back to the Tibetan region, many children who had participated in the previous concerts told him they wanted to sing again in Shanghai. Winning his second chance to come to the city, 13-year-old Ejin says he can’t wait to step onto the stage.
“I feel so happy on stage, especially when hearing so many people applauding,” he says. “They told me that they like my songs and so do I.”
Musical “Duo Jie”
Date: March 4-8, 7:30pm
Address: 613 Kaixuan Rd
Tickets: 360 yuan (including donation)
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