Shang Shung UK and Khaita at Oxford University

Jamyang Oliphant

Last April I was visiting Oxford in the hope of setting up a collaboration/partnership between the University of Oxford and Shang Shung UK institute. I met with Ulrike Roesler, the professor of Tibetan and Himalayan studies, and Dr Lama Jabb, a very jovial Tibetan from Amdo who is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Tibetan literature. They were very cordial and told me about the upcoming International Seminar of Young Tibetologists which would be held at the University of Oxford. This is the largest gathering of scholars and enthusiasts of Tibetan culture, which happens every four years, in different venues around the world. The event attracts a diverse audience of scholars and practitioners from prestigious institutions worldwide, including monasteries from India, Tibet, and China, as well as universities with strong academic ties to Himalayan studies.  It is comparable to the Olympics of Tibetan studies, where everyone comes to present their research and to listen to other scholars’ work.  

I spoke about this to Mark Farrington, who is responsible for having set up the Ati Evolution Foundation (https://www.atievolution.org/), and we managed to secure funding for this event. We discussed that it would be a good occasion to present Khaita to all the international enthusiasts of Tibetan culture, and so a grant was arranged for Ati Yoga Foundation, Khaita Division. Then I contacted Adriana Dal Borgo and Lena Dumcheva, and we discussed how best to proceed. Lena took on the task of coordinating a team of international dancers and preparing the show and the presentation of Khaita.

In a remarkable collaboration, Shang Shung UK, Khaita, and the ATIF came together, and this culminated at the beginning of September, with Khaita dance performances and explanatory talks about Khaita, as well as hosting an art exhibition on a series of paintings about the Bardo made by Drugu Choegyal Rinpoche. 

The Khaita dance performances were very engaging, many from the audiences joined in the dances and many professors and scholars were very curious of Khaita – yet another remarkable facet of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s vast repertory of a lifetime of projects and studies. The talks about Khaita were also translated into Tibetan, making them accessible to all those attending, including the many participants from numerous Tibetan monasteries and institutions. These talks and dances highlighted the cultural richness of Khaita, which combines Tibetan folk traditions with messages of harmony and unity. Dr Eva Leick spoke in depth about the Dzamling Gar song. Lena Dumcheva introduced the whole Khaita mission initiated by our late beloved master.

In addition, Shang Shung UK showcased a unique exhibition of paintings by the renowned Tibetan artist Drugu Choegyal Rinpoche. Many of you may be familiar with his panel in the Gönpa in Merigar, just above where Rinpoche used to sit. His works, which reflect the profound spiritual and artistic traditions of Tibet, captivated the audience, adding a visual layer to the cultural presentation. The paintings are centred around the themes of death, birth and the bardo, and are based on Buddhist and native Bon beliefs. The exhibition was well attended and I provided some brief explanations about the underlying philosophy of some of the paintings, as well as a background introduction of the artist. We had a second exhibition in London a few days later and a Khenpo from Nepal, Sangay Dorje, gave a more thorough explanation of some sutra texts on which two of the paintings are based.  We are working on a catalogue on this Bardo Series and if any organization or ling is interested to host an exhibition, please do contact me.

It was an exceptional opportunity for Shang Shung UK and Khaita to introduce their activities to a global audience with a shared passion for Himalayan culture and spirituality. The seminar provided an invaluable platform for our organizations to engage with young Tibetologists and cultural enthusiasts, demonstrating the vibrancy of Tibetan art and dance.

My heartfelt thanks go out to all the dancers, to Lena Dumcheva and Eva Leick, to Mandarava and Trinley from the Shang Shung UK team, to AEF that made this possible and to all involved.  

I felt very satisfied by this collaboration between our organizations, as hundreds of attendees left with a deeper appreciation for the efforts of Shang Shung UK, Khaita, and the ATIF Foundation in preserving and promoting Tibetan culture and wisdom.

Eva Leick

From 2^nd– 6^th September 2024, the International Seminar of Young Tibetologists took place at Wolfson College, Oxford University. I was honored to present my academic work on Khaita there. On Tuesday evening, at the Leonard Wolfson auditorium, I gave a 20-minute talk on “Dzamling Gar Song and Dance: A Khaita – Joyful Dances Manifesto” followed by Q&A. It was exciting on many levels! 

Coming from an academic background in Dance Studies, it was a unique experience for me to speak at a conference of Tibetologists, with predominantly Tibetan researchers present. It was the perfect setting to present Dzamling Gar Song and Dance. The song and dance are remarkable Dzogchen teachings by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu – written, composed and choreographed by him on the occasion of Dzamling Gar’s birth in 2013. As such, it was important to present Dzamling Gar Song and Dance appropriately at the conference, respecting its spiritual value while highlighting its representative qualities for the whole Khaita project. Having an audience of Tibetologists familiar with Buddhist paths and concepts allowed me to build this bridge, highlighting the song’s academic and spiritual importance. 

Due to last minute changes from the organizers’ side, my talk ended up as the only one not scheduled in a parallel session (usually two talks happened at the same time) and stood alone as its own panel. This meant that no one spoke directly before or after me and the audience was significantly larger than during other talks. I found the opportunity auspicious and decided to integrate the complete dance as the introduction to my lecture. On the beautiful auditorium stage, Elia, Nicola and I then danced the Dzamling Gar Song to provide a first-hand visual and auditive impression of the explanation to come. I was the only conference speaker to include a performative contribution. I thought it fulfilled its purpose perfectly. The audience, amongst them serval Buddhist monks, were visibly impressed and touched by hearing Chögyal Namkhai Norbu’s voice singing the song, watching us dance and finding out about the Khaita project in this way. 

It was wonderful to have the support of the Khaita team for my talk and the conference itself. I was happy on a personal level – imagine how much nicer it was to dance together with my friends than going through this experience alone – and I was also excited for the Khaita project to be represented in such a ‘serious’ setting. After my talk in the auditorium, we went outside to the college’s lawn to perform as part of the conference’s evening program. It brought everything to life and the organizers thanked us several times for being there. Many conference participants complemented our dancing skills and costumes. We finished the long conference day dancing Gorshey until 10pm led by local Tibetans along with the other conference participants.

Chögyal Namkhhai Norbu always highlighted two main reasons for Khaita: the preservation of Tibetan culture and the promotion of presence, awareness and harmony in life. With our participation at the International Seminar for Young Tibetologists, I hope to have contributed to both, presenting Khaita as method for cultural preservation as well as a profound Dzogchen practice, simple in its appearance and deep in meaning. 

I would like to express my gratitude to the organizers of the International Seminar of Young Tibetologists for inviting us as a performance team and me as a speaker, to the other dancers, to Lena for coordinating the Khaita activities and to Jamyang for making everything possible. Without his incentive I would never have thought to be considered a “young Tibetologist”. Our trip to Oxford was joyful, surprizing and promising for future activities in this direction! 

Lena Dumcheva

It’s been an amazing opportunity for Khaita to explore its full potential. As the dances are the most visible and immediate aspect that people connect with, Khaita is often reduced to circle dancing. However, there is so much more to Khaita than that. In particular, Rinpoche’s extensive work on the lyrics of the songs — which seem to be the largest existing comprehensive collection of Tibetan songs — as well as the related commentaries that cover various aspects of Tibetan language, culture, and history, bring together in a very accessible way the diverse fields of knowledge Rinpoche was working on. I noticed that, while many seminar participants were well-acquainted with and held Rinpoche’s work on Tibetan culture in high esteem, very few were aware of the Khaita project. Therefore, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to present Rinpoche’s Khaita work to both the international academic and Tibetan communities at the seminar. I hope this lays the foundation for future collaborations in this direction.

Our dance performances received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many attendees filming us and sharing the dances on social media. A few short video clips of our dance performance went viral on social media, including the Chinese ones. As someone from the University said, “Apparently your dance in Wolfson is a social media hit in Tibet!” We reached over 1,600 shares and 240 comments on WeChat, and almost 8,500 shares and 600 comments on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) – definitely the biggest visibility we ever had. As someone from the University said, “Apparently your dance at Wolfson is a social media hit in Tibet!” — the clip currently has over 1,500 shares and 230 comments. One person commented, “This is called art without borders,” which couldn’t express it any better!

The performance at Wolfson was followed by circle dances led by the Oxford Tibetan community. These were recent Gorshey dances, some of which we knew quite well as we have studied these with Salima and Yangcen. Thanks to that we could follow the dances quite easily and I felt it really made a difference in connecting to people — after two hours of dancing together, everyone became friends!

I am deeply grateful to our international dance team, who did an outstanding job preparing the performance in just three days of rehearsing together. I’m especially proud of our male dancers, who I believe have made great progress and delivered their best performance yet. We were also fortunate to have Tenzon Phakdon, the leading UK dancer, performing with us. I hope we were able to pick up some of her elegant dance style, as well as learn the art of wearing a chupa. Without Tenzin’s help, putting on our costumes would have been nearly impossible!

While only six of us dancers were visibly present at the event, I am well aware of the many people who contributed to this success. I hope our international Khaita family can rejoice in this event — from the song translators, commentary editors, music editors, and choreographers to all the Khaiteros who keep it going. From Elena Kalistova, who helped me choose and manage the costumes; Edith Casadei, who made a great Khaita business card design at a last-minute request; Tatiana Magdieva, who suggested and designed the new “search by topic” feature for the Khaita app; and Tatiana Arzhakova, who implemented the design and worked on improvements until the night before the presentation; to my mom who is now helping to deliver the rest of our costumes from the UK, as they were too heavy to transport all at once — just to name a few!

Lastly, my endless gratitude goes to the entire Shang Shung UK team, especially Jamyang, and to the Ati Evolution Foundation, without whose financial support this event would not have been possible.

Featured image: Eva Leick, Jamyang Oliphant and Lena Dumcheva