Local Interactions and Practices: A Case of Eastern Tibet's Reba Dance, China

The Reba dance of Eastern Tibet, a vital aspect of China's intangible cultural heritage, has been significantly influenced by national cultural policies since the 1980s. This context necessitates an examination of the practices of folk groups and local intellectuals, as practical subjects, which have been overlooked in previous studies. By using the ethnographic method and Bourdieu's concept of agency, this study seeks to analyse how these two practical subjects collaborate and interact in the practice of art festivals, performances, and teaching under the structure of national policies. By exercising their agency, the study emphasises that in the preservation process, folk groups and local intellectuals play crucial roles as primary practical subjects. This study argues that, in the preservation and inheritance process of Reba dance in Eastern Tibet, the relationship between the state, local intellectuals, and folk groups is not a one-way operation of the government and intellectuals but involves a strategic interaction of multiple subjects' practices. while the state appropriates and shapes folk dance through its policies, folk groups and local intellectuals, as the practical subjects, strategically respond to these policies, further facilitating the inheritance of Reba dance.