Tibetan Song and Dance

Tibet is named"sea of song and dance". Tibetans are good at singing and dancing. Every holiday, no matter where you are, you can see Tibetans are dancing,hand in hand and kicking feet. When the harvest seasons come, peasants work, sing and dance in circle. In agriculture area, there often hold campfire party, people sing and dance all the night. In the town, when the weather become warmer, family will go to Lingka, drink barley wine, dance the folk dances, from morning to night and back with satisfaction. In Tibetan, song and dance are not only showed on stage, but mass hobby and recreation. We can say: in Tibet " every family will dance, and everyone can dance".

Tibetan Song and Dance – "Goraxa" and "Guozhuang"

Goraxa, or Guozhuang is one kind of circle dance which is popular in the three districts of Tibet. In general, people in Lhasa, Lhoka, Shigatse and Yarlung Zangbo River area named this circle dance "Goraxa"; but people in Qamdo, and the Tibetan area near to Sichuan and Yunnan named it "Guozhuang".

Goraxa, or Guozhuang is a kind of group dancing. When people dancing, they hand in hand and arm next to arm, dancing and singing, stepping the earth as the rhythm, singing in different parts and make out the rhythm like" xiuxiuxiu" or "quququ". People dance and sing around the bonfire, with one row is male and one row is female, from evening to night, from middle night to morning. People use dancing and singing to relax themselves, express their love to their hometown and nature. Young girls and boys use dancing and singing to pour their love.

Tibetan Song and Dance – Drum Dance and "Geba"

Drum dance is named "Zhuo" in Tibetan. It is a kind of dance popular in Lhoka district, with boorish and robust actions and  it requires the dancers own high skills. The dancers in colorful clothes, with a big drum on the waist, they whisk the drumstick, walk front and back and their pace is nimble and with a beautiful rhythm.

In Tibet Nyingchi, Tibet and Sichuan, Yunnan, there is a kind of tambourine dance which is named"Geba" in Tibetan. Male hold the brass bell and female hold the drum walk and dance in a circle. The actions of this dance are very strong. When the dance reach climax, male will turn around by one foot like an eagle fly and female with a circle drum in one hand and the drumstick in the other hand, raised over the head and turning her body to dance. In general, it is a family journey both in northern and southern, making living as performance.

There is another group dance which has lost the mass characteristic, become a performance dance, and dancers are organized by the temples. This dance is a change form of witch dance in Bon religion period. Bon religion use the sound made by shaking the drum, add incantation to thank god, drive away evil forces and beg for good luck. This dance is danced in  religious ceremonies and dancers will dress masks.

Tibetan Song and Dance – "Duixie" and "Lexie"

"Duixie" was a kind of country group dance with the boorish and simple features. Later, it was processed and abstract by artists, formed more dancing postures, like tap dance which emphasis footwork and the romance dancing posture.

"Lexie" is a kind of work dance. In Tibet, you can see people who are working and singing coordinate with his actions, feel like work song. But the song who is singing very harmonizes with the work tool in hand, and rhythmed actions. That makes the work become a singing and dancing form.