Deep in the Wuling Mountains of southwest Hunan, China, a 3,000-year-old ritual, the huan nuoyuan , is performed by the Miao people. The elaborate event is the conclusion of many years of preparation; it evokes and embodies the mythical forces that are central to the worldview of the politically and ethnically marginalized Miao.

This is one of two articles in this TDR about Tanzanian perfor-mance. Riccio asks, What has been the “journey of Tanzania” from tribalism through colonialism to Marxism, and then to capital-ism and globalization as represented in performance?