Chaksampa wows the Bay Area

News :: 2007

By Susan Shannon
Photos by David Huang

OAKLAND, USA, 23 February 2007 — After a full Losar day of pujas, parties and picnics, the Bay Area Tibetan Community and many friends of other nationalities showed up in force to show their support, love and appreciation of Chaksampa, the renowned Tibetan Dance and Opera Company.

The fundraising concert was held in the heart of Oakland, California, in a wonderful old dance theatre ballroom, which included a bar, catering by Caf� Zhambala, a generous stage and a huge dance floor. Dozens of volunteers had adorned the stage with the honourable throne holding a large photo of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in front of the classic Chaksampa backdrop of the Potala. Prayer flags lined the high decorative ceilings. Two rows of seats were reserved in front for the many long-time supporters of Chaksampa and the Tibetan Community. Though the hall sat several hundred, it was soon clear that the incoming crowd was surpassing the expectations of the organisers.

The well-thought out programme began with a video history of Chaksampa, showing photos of all the members from years ago. Techung, co-founder and Artistic Director of the band addressed the audience eloquently in both Tibetan and English. The commentary understated the long road these Bridge Builders have been on.

Though this evening was aimed at being a benefit fundraiser for Chaksampa, it was amusingly unclear as to who was giving the most, the audience or the performers. No strangers to the Bay Area Tibetan Community, Chaksampa once again enthralled, entertained, educated and lovingly acknowledged their local audience with a warm and original performance of each number on the programme.

As the night went on, the performers and the crowd met each other with the joyful appreciation they showed each other. The audience was served rice, tea, and sweets. The infectious spirit of the performances quickly enlivened the foot stomping, hand clapping crowd, who were growing rapidly in numbers. People wandered over to taste the exquisite dinner catered by Caf� Zhambala, or to the bar for another celebratory drink.

Dozens of young Tibetan kids in their Losar brocades ran around happily � a true testament to the solid growth of the Tibetan community in the Bay Area over the past almost 30 years. And to think that in 1980 the entire Tibetan community of the Bay Area fit into a small back yard in Palo Alto to celebrate Losar! Not only has the Tibetan culture survived in the Bay Area, it has flourished!

This was a celebration on so many levels; art, music, dance, song, tradition, community, young and old, several nationalities meeting to celebrate the same thing. The costumes were bright as all our hopes for the New Year. The singers and dancers, all experts in their professions, infused their individual performances with impeccable style, humour, precision and animation. Many members of the local Nepalese community were on hand to share in the celebrations common to their Himalayan traditions, another clear, strong bridge of community bonding under the auspices of mutual understanding.

The band was expanded this festive evening from regulars Techung, Tsering Wangmo, Nyima Gyalpo and Tsering Dolma to include current Bay Area resident Tibetan actor Tsering Dorjee Bawa and the lovely Tsering Sangpo. Narration was shared throughout the evening by Ngodup Tsering, former Secretary of the Department of Education in the Tibetan Government-in-exile as well as former TIPA Director and Ms. Yangchen Lhamo, a student of Stanford University.

In the spirit of traditional Losar style, Chaksampa will continue their celebration this coming weekend the Tibetan Association of Northern California (TANC) in another rich and exciting programme. See TANC's website for more details: www.tanc.org