A Chinese theatrical dance show depicting the beauty of an ancient landscape scroll painting won acclaim from New York audiences as the show was staged at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts from Friday to Sunday.
Titled "A Tapestry of a Legendary Land," the show previously gained widespread popularity across the country after parts of the show were staged during the 2022 Spring Festival Gala, quickly making it a hit.
The dances were inspired by a painting from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126) depicting a panoramic view of mountains and rivers. The millinium-old masterpiece is celebrated as a hallmark of blue-green landscape painting, a style that uses mineral-based pigments like malachite (green) and azurite (blue) to create bold, vibrant colors.
In the show, a cultural relic researcher who, while immersed in studying this nearly 12-meter-long scroll, travels through centuries to connect with the artist and understand how the masterpiece was created.
New York audiences were stunned by the skillful performance and the artistic production, as well as the significant cultural meaning that the show intends to deliver.
"[The] performers were incredible, the music was great, and, you know, it's artistic interpretation," said an audience member.
I just love the way how the painting came to life and how the process really just showcases their beautiful culture," said another attendee at the performance.
The cast and crew of the dance show expressed deep gratitude for the opportunity to present such an intimate peek into Chinese culture for U.S. audiences.
"The enthusiastic responses from the New York audience went beyond my expectations, and when we were answering the curtain call, I heard their cheering becoming louder and louder. So, I was really lucky and really proud to be able to come to New York and to have the opportunity to showcase Chinese culture," said Zhang Han, one of the leading actors.
"A larger audience came to watch the dance show than we had expected. So, presenting the show in the United States, I think, meets the anticipation of both sides," said Han Zhen, the chief choreographer.
Chinese dance show awes US audiences with roots in ancient culture
Researchers from the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have made new progress in invasive brain-computer interface clinical trials, with the second successful case involving a paralyzed patient.
According to the research team, the patient suffered a spinal cord injury in 2022 that resulted in high paraplegia. After more than a year of rehabilitation, only head and neck movement was possible. In June this year, the patient underwent implantation of a BCI system.
Following two to three weeks of training, the patient was able to control electronic devices such as a computer cursor and a tablet. To meet further needs, researchers expanded the application from two-dimensional digital screens to three-dimensional physical devices. An intelligent wheelchair and a robotic dog became new control targets.
This shift required the system to not only decode simple intentions such as "left" or "right," but also to deliver continuous, stable, and low-latency precise control to cope with complex real-world environments and interactive tasks.
According to an expert, as the patient became more proficient, the level of mental concentration required was significantly reduced.
"The experience is very close to how we normally control our own bodies. Once you are very skilled, it doesn't require much mental effort -- just like being able to chat while driving," said Zhao Zhengtuo, researcher from CEBSIT.
To achieve this, the team made multiple technical breakthroughs.
At the data source level, they developed high-compression, high-fidelity neural data compression technology and innovatively combined different compression methods. This allows effective information to be extracted efficiently even in noisy neural signal environments, improving overall brain-control performance by 15 to 20 percent.
The team also replaced traditional calibration methods with an "online recalibration" technology that silently and continuously fine-tunes decoding parameters in real time to maintain high system performance. Control speed has also been significantly improved, with intentions and actions now almost synchronized.
Notably, the research team has partnered with a local federation for persons with disabilities to enable the patient who can control a computer via the BCI to participate in online data annotation work, such as verifying the accuracy of AI recognition in vending machines. This makes the patient China's first paraplegic to earn income through labor using a brain-computer interface.
Researchers revealed that a third patient has now had a BCI implanted for nearly two months. Future applications will focus on more refined movements.
"[The next step is] to use the intention of finger movements to control robotic fingers to interact with the external world," said Poo Mu-ming, scientific director of CEBSIT, and also a CAS academician.
Chinese researchers complete 2nd successful case in invasive brain-computer interface trial in Shanghai
