Ting Su
MA ’16, Center for Chinese Studies
I am proposing a study on the Tibetan cultural heritage from the perspective of Tibetan dance by examining how professional dance artists passed knowledge on to both their students and respective offspring through their oral histories. Rather than presenting a chronological narrative of the artists’ personal experiences, my research is organized temporally and geographically, analyzing the relationships among cultural heritage, choreography, self-identity, and space. By choosing an artist as a case study to link their own narratives and historical events happened in China over the past decades, I am suggesting that the crucial roles of these dance individuals as a vehicle carrying Tibetan cultural heritage through their performing, learning, teaching, directing, choreographing as well as researching process. This digital collection can be an interesting and unique source for both U-M students and faculty members and scholars in the North America who are interested in Tibetan culture and Chinese ethnic minority dance. Other than receiving funding from U-M Library, I am also grateful for the general financial supporting from Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies, The Center for World Performance Studies and Rackham Graduate School. This project will also be an crucial part of my MA thesis.
Library Mentor: Liangyu Fu