Dharamshala: On 31 July 2025, in the main auditorium of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, the closing ceremony was held for the successful completion of the summer cultural immersion course. The chief guest of the event was Honourable Dolma Tsering, Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, and special guests included former Artistic Director of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, Lobsang Samten, and the retired dance teacher Tsultrim Dolma.

This summer Immersion programme at Tibetan Institute of performing arts ran for 31 days from 1 July to 31 July 2025, with 20 young students participating – 4 boys and 16 girls – coming from America, Canada, Europe, and England.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Dhondup Tsering, the Director of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, expressed appreciation and heartfelt gratitude to the families and teachers for their great care and dedication that led to meaningful and excellent results during the intensive training. Following this, the students who participated in the training presented about nine different cultural performances to the distinguished guests and host families, including lhamo, traditional Tibetan songs, instrumental music, and folk dances, which received great praise from everyone. Then the chief guest presented gifts, mementoes, and ceremonial scarves to the students and parents on behalf of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.

The chief guest, Honourable Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile stated that watching the students performances brought back many memories from her own school days. “The dances Golden Wheel of Fortune and the lyrics of Treasury of Eloquent Sayings are very meaningful as they were composed by great scholar-masters, depicting the content of Tibetan royal history and historical narratives” she said. She highlighted, lyrics that students has sung contain Tibetan history and how the ancient Tibetan kings helped flourish the Buddhist teachings. She lauded the students hard-work by stating, “Today’s performance, combining vocal with physical movements and gestures, were extremely well done and deserve praise.”

The speaker said that Tibetan dance has its own ethnic characteristics – it is gentle with graceful body movements, includes vocal singing with joyful spirit, and can express the friendly relationships between male and female dancers.

Subsequently, special guest and former Artistic Director Lobsang Samten expressed his joy at being able to attend the closing ceremony. He spoke briefly on the history of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and its purpose and objectives. He expressed great satisfaction that the teachers here provided detailed instruction to the students during training program, and the students participated with great attention and enthusiasm, resulting in today’s accomplished performances. He thanked all the teachers and students and provided guidance for the teachers to continue their instruction for unlimited future development.

Finally, Secretary Sonam Chophel of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts concluded the event with vote of thanks.

-Report filed by Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts