《Tashi Xiazhuo》The curtain opens in Beijing: Seven Hundred Years of Tap Dance Enters the Dance Drama

 China's first tap dance drama - Tashi Xiazhuo - opened at the Happy Oriental Theater in Beijing on the evening of September 29.As the core repertoire of the 2026 Beijing Lhasa Heart to Heart Art Week, the work begins with the aid to Tibet in the 1980s, connecting Beijing and Lhasa through the encounter between two generations spanning twenty years, and brings the Lazi Duixue, which has a history of more than 700 years, into a complete dance drama narrative.

The first generation characters in the story are Xia Xia, a doctor who aids Tibet, and Dorje, a Tibetan musician.Xia Tian left the familiar city and came to the plateau, and became close friends with Duoji through medical work and daily interactions.Their relationship carries with them the choices made by those who aided Tibet in that era: their personal lives were placed on a broader land, and their youth also left traces in concrete actions.

Many years later, Xia Zhuo, Xia Zhuo's daughter, followed in the footsteps of her fathers and came to Tibet, and met Dorje's son Tashi again.The two young people got to know each other from their parents' experiences, and also re-understood that period in their own lives.The dance drama thus forms two timelines, with old memories and current choices appearing alternately on the same stage.

“Tashi Xia Zhuo” is not only a combination of the names of two young people, but also makes the relationship between the characters the title of the work.The fathers guard the plateau with their lives, and the younger generations continue their emotions with dance steps.The story does not stop at reviewing the past. The second generation characters must face their own path, and the inheritance changes from oral narration to visible actions and choices.

The most distinctive stage language of the work comes from Lazi Duixue.This national intangible cultural heritage has been handed down for more than 700 years and is known for its powerful steps and distinctive rhythm.The dancers' footsteps can not only form a neat group sound, but also express the characters' emotions through speed, intensity and formation changes.Rhythm on stage thus has musical, action and narrative functions.

On the basis of Lazi Duixue, the creative team incorporated Tibetan folk dances such as Guoxue, Reba, Xianzi and Zhuowu.Different dance types have their own rhythms and body textures, and you need to obey the characters and plot after entering the dance drama.Group dances can be used to expand the space in gathering scenes, and when characters are alone, emotions can be contained through movement density and rhythm changes, allowing traditional dance to truly participate in storytelling.

The addition of modern tap art gives the work another set of body language.Both native ethnic dance and modern tap emphasize the rhythm of the feet, but the focus of movements, music relationship and stage temperament are different.The creative team looked for a location where the two could have a conversation, so that the sound of footsteps connected the two eras, and also corresponded to the people and memories that constantly traveled between Beijing and Lhasa.

Dancer Huang Doudou serves as the artistic director, Guo Lei serves as the artistic consultant, Wei Dong serves as the chief director, and Tan Weiwei sings the theme song.The work was jointly produced by multiple organizations, and the Lhasa Song and Dance Troupe (art troupe) completed the performance.The creative lineup spans dance choreography, stage direction and pop music, providing a variety of voices for traditional materials to enter contemporary theater.

《 Tashi Xia Zhuo 》 was also selected into the “Great Drama in Beijing·2026 Beijing International Theater Festival Season”, and is also a key support project of the “Beijing Zangheming” Literary and Art Quality Creation Project.When the play came to Beijing from Lhasa, the performance environment and the composition of the audience changed.Dance that originally grew up in the snowy land was placed in the Capital Theater. The life experience carried in the movements needs to reach the audience without relevant background through the plot and stage beauty.

The dance drama adopts a structure that spans twenty years. The stage needs to clearly distinguish time, but the narrative cannot be interrupted by frequent scene changes.Repeated actions of characters, musical themes, and specific scenes can serve as connecting points between time.When Xia Zhuo and Tashi step into a rhythm that echoes their parents, the audience can feel the continuation of memory through body movements.

A total of five performances are scheduled for this Beijing performance: one in the evening on September 29th, one in the afternoon and evening on September 30th, and one in the afternoon and evening on October 1st. The venues are all at the Happy Oriental Theater in Dongcheng District, Beijing.The audience includes previous cadres and talents who have aided Tibet and their families, representatives of the people from various districts in Beijing who have provided support to Lhasa, and audiences from all walks of life in the capital.

In addition to performances, the Art Week also simultaneously set up a themed photography exhibition on the achievements of ecological civilization construction, and organized symposiums and creative exchanges between literary and artistic workers from Beijing and Lhasa.The stories in the theater and the real-life images in the exhibition complement each other, allowing the audience to not only experience the years of aiding Tibet through the characters, but also see the current development of Lhasa.

The key to incorporating folk dance into dance dramas is to retain its connection with life.The sound of footsteps can constitute a spectacular group dance, and it should also express a person's hesitation, longing and decision.《Tashi Xiazhuo》Placing Lazidui in the fate of the characters, through the relationship between two generations, gives the ancient rhythm a new narrative position.

From the plateau to Beijing, actors bear both technical and emotional responsibility every time they set foot.More than 700 years of dance tradition, memories of the aid to Tibet in the 1980s and today's stage creations met on the same night.Whether the work can make the audience remember Tashi, Xia Zhuo, Xia Tian and Duoji will also test whether this fusion can truly get into the characters.