Celebrating the life of a lama

Photo provided to China Daily

A production by an ethnic music troupe, titled Tsangyang Gyatso, aims to shine the spotlight on a legendary spiritual leader. Chen Nan reports.

The taste for romantic poems and love songs written by Tsangyang Gyatso (1683-1706) never seems to go away. Yet few know much about the legendary sixth Dalai Lama, who lived for just 23 years. A dance drama by the China Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble, titled Tsangyang Gyatso, aims to delve into his personal life apart from his religious and political identities. It will be staged in Beijing in the last weekend of the month. Director Ding Wei says he knew almost nothing about Tsangyang Gyatso besides his artistic work until he started to prepare for the performance a year ago.

"That's true of many people, including the cast and creative team behind this show. We want to introduce this legend as a human being, who had to deal with life as we do," Ding says.

The idea of the dance drama came from Ding, who has been working with the ensemble for decades. It's the first dance show by the ensemble in its 63-year history.

Since it was founded in 1952, the ensemble's main job has been to perform for people living in remote regions across China, Ding says.

"We want to produce a dance drama which represents us," he says.

"The ensemble has performed in the Tibet autonomous region many times. We'd heard lots of stories about Tsangyang Gyatso and we were surprised to find that he is still an icon among the Tibetan people today. His legacy goes far beyond his poems and love songs."

Ding invited Danzhu Angben, a Tibetan scholar with the Minzu University of China, to be the art consultant for the show and to also contribute to the script.

Tsangyang Gyatso was identified as the new incarnation of the Dalai Lama at age 14.

During his research, Ding found that as a teenage boy, Tsangyang Gyatso was also eager to live a free lifestyle.