The China Media Group (CMG)'s Spring Festival Gala delivered a spectacular dramatic dance performance themed on galloping horses, as audiences welcomed the arrival of the Year of the Horse on Tuesday.
The hours-long gala had began earlier on Monday evening on the eve of the Chinese New Year, with a carefully curated line-up of performances and variety acts guiding viewers towards the new year.
Echoing the gala's main theme of "Galloping Steed, Onward Unstoppable," the dance sequence was led by an acrobatic dancer dressed in white depicting a horse, supported by others delivering powerful movements amid the sound of drumbeats, representing the perseverance and free spirit of a horse that enables it to channel its raw power into an enduring spirit of progress.
Through innovative, narrative-driven choreography, the act brought a sense of the elegance, strength and vitality of horse imagery to life.
The CMG utilized advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality and extended reality in its stage design for the gala, creating immersive, three-dimensional visuals where performers and scenery interact dynamically.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, is the most important traditional holiday for the Chinese people, and watching the Spring Festival Gala, also known as "Chunwan," is a cherished part of the celebrations every year in hundreds of millions of Chinese homes.
Since first being broadcast in 1983, the gala has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-watched annual television program on the planet.
The Spring Festival itself was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2024.
The 2026 Spring Festival falls on Tuesday this year, ushering in the Year of the Horse.
Dramatic horse-themed dance sequence lights up Spring Festival Gala
