Ache Lhamo, the Tibetan Opera tradition, is said to have evolved from a Buddhist storytelling genre in which a lama manis, a ballad singer, presented tales by unrolling picture scrolls that depicted popular narratives. Pointing with an iron rod, the singer would highlight characters in turn. Stories were based onjataka tales about the Buddha in his previous lives or on indigenous Tibetan stories relating to Buddhist holypersons. These stories were written down and eventually presented in more dramatic form by several actors who sang individual roles while retaining narrative sections to link the scenes. This innovation is attributed to Thantog Gyalpo, a Buddhist monk who lived circa I385, and the introduction to one traditional Tibetan opera text claims that the monk spread marvelous songs and dances like a canopy over the people of all tribes and influenced their minds with holy religious teachings and the biographies of great men (Yao 1986:7). Contemporary performances are dedicated to Thantog Gyalpo, and are presented as popular entertainments and as offerings to the spirits to ensure a full harvest. Lhamo literally means goddess and, although the genre was traditionally performed by all-male troupes, Wang Yao links it to pantomimic dances performed by female masked dancers (1986:8). Many of the Mahayana Buddhist stories that form the Lhamo repertoire correspond to tales told in Manora theatre, the oldest dance-drama genre of Thailand. As in the Manora tale in which a bird-woman is captured by a clown-hunter but later flies back to her spirit home, many Lhamo stories involve a female escaping by flight to the heavens and include clowning by characters called hunters or fishermen. Flying scenes are traditionally portrayed by an actor jumping off of a chair while waving a white cloth; such images may be considered metaphors for trance experiences. This pattern-female spirit-medium-dancer who flies off to spirit realms and male shaman-clown who guides her trance while simultaneously entertaining the gathered viewers-is frequently found in neighboring