Last night the Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery came to town. I went with a few of my co-workers. It was... interesting. Since they were doing religious rituals, which isn't really a performing art, it wasn't as engaging as I had hoped. I had hoped they would do more of a performance oriented thing based on the Tibetan and buddist cultures. Several of the selections were the monks standing in a line, doing their weird chant and banging a few instruments together. There were some very animated and visually exciting rituals including a 15 foot snow lion costume and a very lively debate. Those were great to see. Also, their robes and costumes were brilliantly and beautifully colored.
An amusing association from the evening:
The Dance of the Rainbow Space Travelers - This makes me think of a tv show with the opening sequence, "...on it's mission to explore new worlds and new furniture arrangements. To boldly go where no queen has gone before."
A disturbing tidbit of knowledge from the evening:
The monks chant in multi-phonic tones, meaning one monk can produce two different tones when they sing. When they sing it sounds a lot like a didgeridoo. The disturbing part is that they practice to achieve this skill to the point that their throats bleed. They continue practicing until the bleeding stops and they are able to produce multiple tones. Listening to this freaky form of chanting made my throat hurt.
| October 17, 2004 09:47pm | 
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