(b Pa-snam dBang-ldan, 1917/18; d Lhasa, 1998). Tibetan gar master. He was selected at the age of nine to be a gar dancer at the court of the 13th Dalai Lama and became teacher of the troupe at 21 and director at 32, while studying literature with dGe-‘dun Chos-‘phel. He worked as a lay official (zhol-drung) in the ‘old’ (pre-communist) Tibetan government and was the first gar master to be promoted to the seventh rank of its administrative hierarchy. He developed the instrumental technique of the gar tradition. In 1982, after more than 20 years in prison, he initiated the resurrection of gar music and dances and was appointed music teacher at Tibet University (Lhasa). With bSod-nams Dar-rgyas Zhol-khang, he was regarded as an authority on various kinds of folksongs, sitting at most of the government conferences on traditional Tibetan performing arts. In 1985 and 1997 he went to India to teach gar to Tibetan exiles. The dances that he and Rig-‘dzin rDo-rje (1927–84) taught at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (Dharamsala) are still performed today before the Dalai Lama. He edited two books, made a series of recordings of gar and wrote a series of articles in Tibetan journals.
mChod-sprin gar-rol [Clouds of offerings of dances] (Lhasa, 1985)
‘Gangs-ljongs kyi gar-phrug-pa'i gso-sbyong sgrig-gzhi dang lte-ba'i gar-gyi lo-rgyus mdo-tsam gleng-ba’ [Brief discussion on the training organisation of the Snowland's gardrugpas and main historical features of gar], Bod-ljongs sgyu-rtsal zhib-'jug [Tibetan arts studies] (1988), 43–7
‘Gar-glu La-dvags stag-mchong las 'phros te gar gyi rang-bzhin la dpyad-pa’ [A study on the character of gar from the ‘Ladakh leaping tiger’ style gar songs], Bod-ljongs sgyu-rtsal zhib-'jug [Tibetan arts studies] (1990), 35–9
sDe-srid Sangs-rgyas rGya-mtsho, gNa'-bo'i lugs-bzang ya-rabs srol-gtod-pa'i deb-ther Mig yid rna ba'i dga'-ston 'gugs-pa'i lcags kyo zhes bya-ba bzhugs-so [Music history from the great ancient tradition, the feast for the eyes, mind and ears, that attracts people] (Lhasa, 1991)
‘Rang nyid gar-pa byas-pa'i 'brel yod gnas-tshul rags-rim’ [Overview of my experience as a garpa], Bod kyi lo-rgyus rig-gnas dpyad-gzhi'i rgyu-cha bdams-sgrig [Materials for the study of Tibetan history and culture], viii/17, ed. Bod rang-skyong-ljongs srid-gros lo-rgyus rig-gnas dpyad-gzhi'i rgyu-cha zhib-'jug u-yon lhan-khang [TAR CPCC Research Committee for study materials on Tibetan history and culture] (Beijing, 1994), 219–25
Gangs-can gna’-bo’i dbyangs-snyan (Tibetan classical music), ed. dGe-‘dun, Bod-ljongs sgra-brnyan par-skrun-khang (Tibet music and video publishing house) (1985) [incl. ‘sTod-gzhas nang-ma’, perf. Zhol-khang bSod-nams Dar-rgyas, and ‘mChod-sprin gar-rol’, perf. Gar-dpon Pa-sangs Don-grub]
ISABELLE HENRION-DOURCY