Modernized Tibetan opera eyes world stages(2)

Tseten Dorje, a veteran actor in Tibetan opera, can recall the old days when most people in his trade were destitute performers traveling the countryside and putting on shows with only primitive tools and techniques.

"We used to describe spectacular scenes like expanses of barley in Nangsa Obar or the boiling sea of blood in Sukyi Nyima all in asides, but now we have LED screens and verisimilar settings like rockworks and castles," says the 77-year-old.

Tseten Dorje is a former member of the Tibetan Opera Troupe, which China established in 1962 in an effort to preserve and promote this cultural heritage.

In 1987, the troupe sent him and eight other members on its first overseas tour, to the United States. In the following two decades, the troupe has performed in nearly 30 countries and regions outside China.

"The advances in technology, for one thing, have helped non-native audiences understand the opera's contents and supported its performances abroad," says Tseten Dorje.

In 2012, cultural authorities in Tibet completed the filming of eight classic Tibetan operas that had been orally passed down and were threatened with oblivion. The DVD versions were released in April with subtitles in Tibetan, Mandarin Chinese and English.

"Tibetan operas have moved from open-air platforms to theater stages, now there are digital versions, so people from across the world can watch them at home. It means more audience and a bright future for the opera," says Migmar, leader of Tibet's Nyangrain Folk Opera Troupe.