Though the weekly dance at a local playground might look like fun, it actually has a much deeper meaning for its participants.
and other centers of the Tibetan diaspora. And while it might look like mere fun to casual observers, community members say what they’re doing is actively engaging in resistance in the face of cultural erasure – part of an ongoing campaign that combines mass gatherings with digital platforms like TikTok and YouTube.Since the 1950s, when Chinese forces overthrew the Tibetan government, the people of Tibet have fled their homeland for the safety of other nations.
“For me, Gorshey means everything,” said Tsetan Namdol, a student at American University who was born and raised in Queens but whose grandmother lives in a refugee settlement in India. “We don't have a country, so Gorshey really brings us all together.” At the same time, he said Lhakar was a “voluntary, flexible and one-size-fits-all kind of movement,” in which someone could spend an hour on Wednesday — or any day for that matter — listening to a Tibetan radio program or wearing traditional clothes, or doing something more overtly political, like calling a Chinese consulate and complaining about their government’s treatment of Tibetans.
“So young kids were taught on Sundays how to dance, and then on Wednesday they would be dancing all the choreographed dances,” said Lhamo, who wore an all-white chupa — a traditional Tibetan dress worn by men and women — to Elmhurst's Gorshey. “It's just a beautiful wave coming together.” All of them collectively break for butter tea and quietly listen as a community member chants a prayer, followed by the singing of the Tibetan national anthem, a moment of silence for Tibetans who died resisting Chinese rule, and then more dance.
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