Once I had decided on returning to India, my plans and paths where pretty open- except for one goal- to make it up to the incredible unique village of Leh in Ladakh in time for the annual festival of mask’s and dance. Having been brought up with a strong influence of Tibetan Buddhism I have dreamed of making it to this magical moon-like mountain land -which is one of the last places left where the tibetan buddhist culture still thrives- for many years. Banned and actively destroyed in Tibet, hidden from the world in Bhutan and increasingly commercialised in America and the west, it’s not so easy these day’s to find the authentic roots of this incredible ancient culture.
Tantric or as it is more often known, Vajrayana Buddhism is a rather more mystical and esoteric form born from a combination of Indian buddhism and indigenous Himalayan spiritual and magical practice. One of the unique aspects to this form is it’s Dance tradition which is considered perhaps the most sophisticated, difficult and mystical of it’s kind in the Himalayas.
Only the oldest and sturdiest of these hardy mountain people (let alone the westerners who are lucky enough to witness such a rare ritual) are able to sit through and entire ritual performance. Performing these dances requires and altered state of mind and the technique and movement is handed down through the monk’s ranks with the two days of masked and costumed performance preceded by five days of meditation and chanting and 15 hours of solid rehearsal.
‘The dancing itself is difficult to describe because neither its purpose nor its form has any parallel in the West. The twenty-four different dances performed over the two days vary in speed and style. Some are peaceful and fluid; others violent and so fast the monks are unable to slow down or control their bodies’ trajectory. Some dances are highly ceremonial and stately; others again depict the wrathful protection of specific deities. In all, the fundamental action is to destroy all obstacles to the purpose of life.’
With it’s origin’s over 800 years old and the choreography over 400 hundred years old the expectations of what this dance should be are high. The specific movement vocabulary is around the same as classic ballet- around 100 movements which combine to shift and meld rather like minimalist music with some so subtle they are almost invisible to the untrained eye and yet to those who know can alter the whole flavour of the performance.
The dance is generally accompanied and guided by ancient instruments of rhythm including drums, cymbals and huge ornate horns but more importantly the dances are guided by natural pulsations which are made possible by the collective consciousness formed by the community of monk’s living and sharing their lives and spirit.
Instructions for the dancer’s include:
'Ride like a piece of paper on a crashing wave'
'Walk gracefully like a tiger through the forrest'
'Fly like a Garuda, a mythical bird beast' or
'Move the head like a lion shaking a human victim in its mouth'
Cherished for the karmic imprint the leave on both the dancer and the observer these dances are intended to be the optima of mystical attainment within the Vajrayana mediative tradition which is an extensive process of forgetting the self, identifying with a particular deity and conceiving the very universe as a mandala in which the deity exists. Highly accomplished dancers even mutter mantra’s throughout the movements holding a deep mediative state which emanates the state of bliss.
Set in an ancient monastery high (over 3800m) in the himalayas…needless to say- this was a dancing experience I will not forget easily.
What a blessing <3
