Highlights in the dances are as follows;

SHANAG (The Black Hat Dance): This is the dance of the tantric yogi who through his knowledge and practice of tantric arts destroys negative forces of evil. In the 9 th century a spiritual practitioner disguised himself as a Black Hat Dancer, carried his bow and arrow under the long sleeves, and assassinated Langdarma, the 42 nd king of Tibet who was anti-religion. Ever since, this dance has remained popular as a symbol of victory of good over evil.

Music instruments: (Giant telescopic horn, Drum and Cymbal)

SHA-CHAM (The Deer Dance): The sacred deer represents one of the messengers of the protectors. Legend has it that 1000 years ago, Gyalpo Digchen (a notorious character) was killed by a person practicing the tantras. In this dance the start emanates from the very heart of the person, thus becoming the living symbol of a miraculous power able to destroy negative forces. The deer performs a dance in which he symbolically cuts an effigy of evil into pieces and turns them into positive forces and throws them in all directions.

Music instruments: (Giant telescopic horn, Drum and Cymbal)

SENG-TSE (The Snow-lion Dance): The snow lion is a mythological creature. It is said that the milk of the snow lioness contains special elements to restore the body to health and harmony. Some of the holy medicinal pills are believed to contain some essence of such milk. The snow lion is symbol of the majesty of Dharma and freedom of Tibet . The idea of the snow lion is present in the psyche of every Tibetan. It is a dream, fantasy and piece of reality that connects all Tibetans with their faraway homeland.

Music instruments: (Drum, Cymbal and Flute)

DRANYEN SHABDRO (The Dance of the Lute Players): The young lute players perform a variety of quick foot-stepping dances to the rapid catchy music of the Tibetan lute. This dance is typical of Lhasa , the capital of Tibet . The songs, which accompany the music and dancing, are still very popular among the Tibetans. It is a romantic love song from the streets of Lhasa former times about a working-class boy singing to a girl from an upper-class family.

DROPA DRODUNG(The Drum Dance): The drum dance is one of the oldest dances of Tibet ; the origin of which is popularly ascribed to a famous eccentric saint called Akhu Tonpa. It was said that this form of dance was performed at the historic inauguration of the construction of the first Tibetan Buddhist Monastery Samye in Tibet . While dancing, the performers sing a song in praise of His Holiness Dalai Lama. This particular dance style is from Lhoka, district to the south of Lhasa .

Music instruments: (Drum and cymbal)

TASHI SHOELPA (Song of Good Luck): The song and dance of good luck is from one of the oldest opera (Lhamo) in Tibet . Although this form of opera is now extinct in the full form, a portion of the ritual performance has been retained. After the dance the performers toss (or release flour) handfuls of barley, in the air as an offering to the spirits of the environment for their protection and blessing.

Music instruments: (Drum, cymbal)

RALPA (The Dance of the Gypsies): In eastern Tibet or Kham, there were groups of wandering gypsies who travelled from place to place singing and dancing. Most of their songs were praise of the great yogi Milarapa and his disciple Re-chun-ga. Their dances were usually very acrobatic and robust.

Music instruments: (Drum, cymbal and piwang)

NGONPA DHON (The Ritual Dance of the Hunters): This is a ritual purification dance that is performed before the commencement of every folk opera. The mask characters are called Ngonpa or hunter and are supposed to represent the deity Vajrapani. The girls wearing five panelled crowns with large rosettes at the ears serve as a chorus. They represent Dhakinis or Goddesses. The saint Thangtong Gyalpo founded the Tibetan opera in the 15 th Century.

Music instruments: (Drum and Cymbal)

CHAM (Mask Dance of the Queen): This mask dance represents a symbolic spiritual performance by Tsunmo, the queen of all wrathful deities. The wrathful appearance of her face symbolises Tsunmo's displeasure of unworthy acts and encourages practitioners to be compassionate and kind to all beings. Tibetans believe that in a period of violence like today, when evil is tormenting virtue, when people are in a state of madness and when people damage and destroy nature and the environment with passion and hatred, it is important to invoke Tsunmo to help the world.

Music instruments: (Giant telescopic horn, Cymbal and Drum)

SUKYI NYIMAI CHULEN: This is an extract from one of the Tibetan opera called Sukyi Nyima and shows how the exceptional beauty of Sukyi Niyima, the heroine of the opera, enchants the hunter who lost his way in the forest. The saint Thangtong Gyalpo founded Tibetan opera in the 15 th Century, and traditionally a performance would last the whole day.

Music instruments: (Drum and Cymbal)

YAK-TSE ( A Nomadic Sene): This is a nomadic sene extract from a Tibetan folk opera. Achi Lhamo. The yak is the main beast of burdeb and most useful animal. The Yak is used for transportation and also ploughing farms. The female of this bread is known as Dre which give milk, from which many delicious items like cheese are prepared.. It is gentle, gracious and the most beneficial to the people of Tibet .

Music instruments: (Drum and Cymbal)