Against a backdrop of undulating silk threads, dancer Li Yiran breathes new life into a 1,300-year-old tradition this Lunar New Year. The Huxuan dance – once frozen in time on the walls of Dunhuang's Mogao Caves – now whirls across modern stages through a groundbreaking collaboration between CGTN and mobile gaming giant Honor of Kings.
This year's Spring Festival special program, Whirling on the Silk Road, merges cutting-edge stage design with meticulous historical research. Li's performance channels the dance's signature continuous rotations, originally created by Sogdian immigrants along the ancient trade routes. 'Each spin carries the weight of cultural exchange that shaped civilizations,' the principal choreographer noted during rehearsals.
The production's silk-threaded visual narrative serves as both artistic element and historical metaphor, tracing connections between Tang Dynasty cultural fusion and modern China's creative industries. For global audiences, the program offers streaming options with augmented reality features through Honor of Kings' platform – a digital bridge between heritage preservation and technological innovation.
