Dadon (Zla sgron), name Dadon Dawa Dolma (born in Tibet in 1968) is a Tibetan singer and actress.
In 1985, she obtained a music degree at Music Department of
Central Institute for Minorities in
Beijing.
In 1988, she studied voice at the
China Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Representing Tibet at national Chinese music competitions in 1988 and 1990, she won a silver medal each time.
She made five albums in Tibet. Her music, which is characterized by a mixture of traditional and popular folklore, was also critical of the situation in her country, which is considered by the Chinese authorities as a threat to the state.
Inspired by the Taiwanese singer
Teresa Teng, Dadon also incorporated some styles of Tibetan rock band
Rangzen Shonu Rangzen Shonu (: "Freedom Youth") was a three-member rock band formed by Tenzin Choesang, Norbu Choephel and Tsering Paljor Phurpatsang. Tibetans in Dharamshala, India.
They released their debut album ''Rangzen Shonu'' in 1987, with a lyrics bookl ...
after hearing a tape smuggled into Lhasa in 1988.
In 1992, she decided to flee and was granted political asylum in the United States (Middletown, Connecticut).
Her defection was cited in an internal speech by the Secretary of the CPC Tibet Committee
Chen Kuiyuan in 1997, as well as the TV journalist Ngawang Choephel and director of the Tibet Hotel in Lhasa Jamyang Choegyal, son of Minister
Kashopa Chogyal Nyima, two other government employees.
In 1997, with her 3-year-old son Tenzin Tashi, she participated in a march for Tibet led from Toronto to New York, by
Thupten Jigme Norbu
Thubten Jigme Norbu () (August 16, 1922 – September 5, 2008), recognised as the Taktser Rinpoche, was a Tibetan lama, writer, civil rights activist and professor of Tibetan studies and was the eldest brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gy ...
, and the
Tibetan Freedom Concert
Tibetan Freedom Concert is the name given to a series of socio-political music festivals held in North America, Europe and Asia from 1996 onwards to support the cause of Tibetan independence. The concerts were originally organized by the Beast ...
in New York.
By 2021, She Was a First-time Fan of
South Korean Boyband: BTS.
Film
Dadon has worked in several films.
In 1998, she played Dolkar, the leading role in a film directed by
Paul Wagner
Paul Alan Wagner (born November 14, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1992–1997), Milwaukee Brewers (1997–1998), and Cleveland Indians (1999).
Amateur career
Wagner atten ...
,
Windhorse, partly based on her life story.
In 2001, she composed the music for the film
Samsara directed by
Pan Nalin.
In 2006, she composed music and was a narrator of the documentary
Vajra Sky Over Tibet
The Vajra () is a legendary and ritual weapon, symbolising the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force).
The vajra is a type of club with a ribbed spherical head. The ribs may meet in a ball-sha ...
led by
John Bush.
[ Ty Burr]
Vajra Sky Over Tibet' presents beautiful scenes and a dark side
'' The Boston Globe'', 18 August 2006
References
{{authority control
20th-century Tibetan women singers
Tibetan actresses
1968 births
American people of Tibetan descent
American musicians of Tibetan descent
Tibetan dissidents
Living people
