Tibetan Performing Artist Tupden: a Carrier of Tibetan Traditional Culture

Melbourne, November 26 ---- At Lhasa Nationality Arts Troupe's two-day successive performances in Melbourne of Australia, Tibetan performing artist Tupden joined four programs. With his 56-year performing experience, Tupden was awarded warm applause for his narration, songs and dance.

When head of the Chinese delegation to the "China's Tibet Culture Week" Tsering Drolkar explained that Tupden, a major actor in presenting the Tibetan epic "King Gesar" through songs and narration, is now 68 years, the Australian audience just could not believe their own eyes and ears! Earlier, when Tupden performed an excellent segment of Tibetan drama "Zhaxi Shoba", a well known white mask Tibetan opera, with his quick and difficult dancing, clear narration and songs, people just could figure out who is the senior artist of Tupden among the eight performers.

Together with the Tibet Nationality Arts Troupe, Tupden has been to countries like Britain, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province. While in Britain, Tupden held a 55-minute individual special performance in the British Queen's palace by presenting the Tibetan epic "King Gesar", and the performance was a complete success.

During Tupden's performance in Sydney in the past two days, many audiences were attracted by his excellent narration skills, songs and dancing, looking intoxicated and stupefied. When Tupden performed a "Stroll in the New City" to describe Lhasa's new outlook, many overseas Chinese said the play deeply touched their heart, and they burst into thunderous applause.

Born in Lhasa in 1934, Tupden is now vice-chairman of the Chinese Ballad Singers Association, honourary chairman of the Lhasa Nationality Art Troupe and is one of China's first-class actor. He said: "I have been a lama when I was a child. Since I began my performing career when I was just 12, I have been on the stage for 56 years. This is unprecedented in Tibet's history of nationality art performance."

Since he joined the Lhasa Nationality Art Troup in 1960, he has helped to write, design 495 Tibetan plays and he played a leading role in more than 90 per cent of these plays. Besides his 14 major awards from the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Central Government also commend him with a certificate in 1992, praising his excellent contribution for China's performing arts.

Over the years, Tupden has made five records in Tibet's art stage. The first is that he put the Tibetan epic "King Gesar" onto the stage. The second is that he held a 55-minute individual special performance in British's Buckingham Palace. The third is that he joined colleague Losang Samde to put Tibetan Buddhism music "Auspicious Heaven" onto the stage, and its copies were sold well at home and abroad. The fourth was that he helped to organize Tibet's first large-scale singing-and-dancing evening party "Random Thoughts on Snowy Region's Ocean of Arts" with Tibetan ethnic dress. And lastly, he was the first person in Tibet who performed arts on the stage for 56 years.

Tupden noted: "I firmly believe that one's ever-lasting arts life depends upon a persistent pursuit for arts and a solid foundation on arts. I'm an arts worker loved and esteemed by the people. Whatever the changes may be in the future, I will never change my life aim, and that is: striving to serve arts and serve the people all my life."