IDNO

DG.144914.SHP

Description

"Five dancers dressed in dark red "plus-fours" with grey striped home-spun blouses and cloth boots. Some wore blue triangular masks with red slits. Their skirts were decorated with string and pompons."

Place

S Asia; Tibet; Samada

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Shepheard, Ken

Collector / Expedition

Date

18 August 1938

Collection Name

Shepheard Collection

Source

Shepheard Rogers, Patricia

Format

Album Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Related Archive: Noted in Shepheard's diary 'Some Notes of Ken Shepheard on his expedition to Lhasa, Tibet, in September - October 1938' p.19,
"18 August 1938 ...
Arrived Samada - where a river at least 2,000,000 galls./hr flows down cultivated valley about 1 mile broad. This river starts in ponds and before being joined by the Thumba Rub Chu is about 300,000 galls./hr.
Found a dance going on in the village and after lunch went and had a look.
Were welcomed by the local and made to sit in seats of honour and drink “chang”. The dance performed by five professionals and a band of one drum and one cymbals player was a mixture of Khuttack, Scotch and Russian.
Locals much amused at our expense especially the belles of the village. Appeared to be ignorant of cameras and had great fun looking through the view finders of ours.
I invited the leaders of local society to tea and rum punch at 8 a.m. tomorrow.
“Chang” served out of priceless brass flagon and the server drank some to show it was O.K. All village there -- near the largest chorten -- and eating tsambo and drinking tea and chang out of lovely Tibetan cups with lids.
The “Raja” in a grand lamp shade hat in dark orange colour with cord edging and his wife (?) was the cleanest and comliest of the belles. The dancers dressed in dark red plus fours and grey-stripped home spun blouses, Tibetan boots and three of them, in masks -- triangular in shape and blue background with red stripe for a nose and eye slits. A skirt covered with strings ending in pompons over the plus fours made rapid whirls most effective.
Most of the locals ever so dirty but very cheerful.
Peas grown all down this valley as well as barley and mustard." [JD 26/01/2020]