Why Honor Temdey but Omit Ga-Ga-Kyi-Kyi on Losar.

Dear TANC Community & Friends,

On February 4, 2010, the Office of Tibet in NYC circulated an important notice from the Kashag (Tibetan Cabinet of Ministers) asking all the Tibetan Associations and its members to refrain from “joyous celebrations” during the upcoming Tibetan Losar (New Year) while honoring Losar tradition with the necessary ceremonial prayers and rituals.

Last night, TANC Board met and discussed this matter in length after careful due diligence. Most TAs that have called off all celebration arrangements such as picnics, dance, singing, etc. in response to the Kashag letter.

After careful review and discussion among our board:

TANC WILL CANCEL THE EVENING LOSAR LOVE FEST PROGRAM & CHANGE THE MORNING PROGRAM TO A SHORTER TRADITIONAL LOSAR RITUAL/PRAYERS CEREMONY WITHOUT POTLUCK.

The MORNING CEREMONY….

WHERE: BERKELEY ADULT SCHOOL on 1701 San Pablo (between Virginia & Delaware), Berkeley, CA 94701 – (moved from Marina due to bad weather forecast on Sunday)
WHEN: Sunday February 14th 10am sharp
WHAT: Traditional Losar rituals and ceremonies (TANC will serve traditional desi and tea)

POTLUCK LUNCH – TIME TO SHOW OFF YOUR BEST COOKING!!!

The Kashag letter forces Tibetans to rethink a provocative question: What reason do Tibetans have to celebrate Losar?

Consider the following:

a. The situation for Tibetans inside Tibet continues to be extremely dire,

b. 100s of Tibetans continuing to be persecuted and tortured in Chinese prisons or kept under close surveillance, and
c. Executions, disappearances and imprisonment of Tibetans in Tibet continued throughout last year.
There appears to be growing indications that Tibetans inside Tibet are once again being FORCED to CELEBRATE Losar this year [along with Chinese new year] by the Chinese government with goods and money being doled out to encourage Tibetans to party and showcase to the world that Tibetans are “happy” under the Chinese occupation [perhaps the timing of the 9th round of talks has something to do with their plans?].

A question you might be asking is: Why these changes 10 days before Losar, given the Tibet situation has been ongoing?

OUR interpretation on the timing of the Notice is as follows:

a. Kashag needed to wait till the talks were completed so they could gauge what the appropriate “next steps” to take are [an official call for limiting Losar to traditional ceremony only is very telling in-and-of-itself.], and

b. Envoys needed to return safely.

TANC Board decided that as a Tibetan organization and as Tibetans, TANC must honor Kashag’s Notice to show our solidarity with our brothers/sisters inside and make a global statement once again by peacefully resisting Chinese leadership’s ongoing attempts to portray a false picture of reality for Tibetans inside Tibet.

If WE want  the world leaders to defy Beijing’s political pressures, then it seems only fair to ask that of ourselves, too. So, let’s Honor Temdey, Omit Ga-Ga-Kyi-Kyi on Losar.

Thus, our decision above despite the many invitations to western supporters/donors that were already sent for Losar this year. Hopefully, the reasons will be compelling for them to realize just how much more support our struggle needs!

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. Please call TANC office at 510-666-1355 should you have any questions or need clarification.

Dechen Tsering
President, TANC

]]> http://www.tanc.org/tibetan-new-year-losar-love-fest/feed/ 1 http://www.tanc.org/where-is-tibet/ http://www.tanc.org/where-is-tibet/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:35:04 +0000 WebMaster http://www.tanc.org/?p=932 TANC invites you to a play: WHERE IS TIBET? co-sponsored by Asian Improv aRts and TANC. The play opens in San Francisco on Friday December 4. The play features an artist from the Tibetan community, Gyen Tsering Bawa la.

Friday, December 4, 2009 / 8pm – post-performance discussion
Saturday, December 5, 2009 / 8pm – reception to follow

CounterPULSE
1310 Mission Street (at 9th Street) San Francisco, CA  94103
Admission: $15 general, $10 students
For tickets, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/88449

or call (800) 838-3006

For venue information, visit www.counterpulse.org

Where is Tibet? focuses on the theme of cultural identity and loss, in a historic, first time interdisciplinary collaboration between Bay Area Chinese and Tibetan American artists.

Playwright/Director:  Genny Lim
Composer:  Francis Wong
Actor/Musician/Dancer: Tsering Dorjee Bawa
Dancer:  Lenora Lee
Technical Consultant:  Ellen Sebastian Chang
Presented in association with the Tibetan Association of Northern California and Kearny Street Workshop

Hebi explores the belief in the existence of spirituality in all things and the possibility of community through self-transformation.

Director:  Melody Takata
Dancers/Musicians:  Melody Takata, Sri Vishnu Tattva Das, Gen Ensemble
Presented in association with Genryu Arts

THE ARTISTS

Genny Lim is a native San Franciscan poet, performer, playwright, educator and cultural activist whose artistic vision strives to express the uniqueness and universality of her experience as the child of immigrant Chinese, deeply engaged in the civil rights and Asian American arts movement since the early 1970s.  Her two books of poetry, Winter Place (1989, Kearny Street Workshop) and Child of War (2003, Kalamaku Press) have been widely recognized for defining a distinctive Asian American voice in the Bay Area and international literary landscape.  Her award-winning play about Angel Island immigrants, Paper Angels aired on American Playhouse in 1995 and the anthology she co-authored, Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, brought national attention to institutional racism against immigrants.  Bitter Cane, a second play set in the Hawaiian sugar plantations of the 1920s, has also been published and performed nationally and overseas.  Her work has been featured on the PBS series, The United States of Poetry; and KQED’sfeature, San Francisco Chinatown.

Actor/Musician/Dancer Tsering Dorjee (Bawa) graduated from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA), Dharamsala , India in Tibetan music, opera and sacred/monastic dance in 1994. In 2000, he completed his Masters degree in advanced Tibetan Performing arts. Since then he has toured worldwide performing Tibetan music and dance and has acted in numerous films including the year 2000 Oscar nominated film- ‘ Himalaya’. (Photo by Kalsang Dolma)

Sensei Melody Takata is a taiko artist (Japanese drumming) and dancer/choreographer trained in classical Japanese dance.  In her 20+ year career she has engaged in the interpretation of traditional pieces as well as created new works in the tradition.  She has further explored the role of innovation as a means to advance the tradition as living culture, experimenting both with interdisciplinary integration of traditional art disciplines (taiko, folk dance, folk music, ozashiki music, classical dance) as well as the use of contemporary forms such as modern dance, spoken word and improvised music.

Sri Vishnu Tattva Das is recognized as one of India’s prominent male Odissi dancers and choreographers, and has received acclaim for his performances throughout India, Italy, Canada, and the U.S. He has presented hundreds of solo performances, lecture-demonstrations, and master classes. He has also collaborated, choreographed and performed with many dance artists in India and the U.S.  Vishnu is the founder-director of Odissi Vilas: Sacred Dance of India, formally known as Sri~Krishnasraya, and is a founding member of Kala Sri Sangha, a group of professional Odissi dancers in the San Francisco Bay Area whose interest is to collectively promote Odissi dance.WHERE IS TIBET?