Two female group dances depicting ancient mural art and fresh spring scenery wowed audience in China Media Group (CMG)'s 2026 Spring Festival Gala on Monday.
Through magnificent music and dazzling dance, the dance "Ancient Rhythm of the Silk Road" brings millennium-old murals to life on stage, recreating the vibrant charm of the ancient Silk Road.
"The inspiration comes from the Cave of the Musicians, which is Cave 38 of the Kizil Caves. When we visited the cave, we saw that the murals had already peeled off and become very mottled. For us, the challenge lies in how to restore the murals in our mind, expand our imagination, and make them flow with life again, despite the fact that the still images are fading off," said Tong Ruirui, choreographer of the TV gala celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Horse.
The Kizil Caves, located in Aksu Prefecture of Xinjiang in northwestern China, are among the earliest Buddhist cave complexes in China, dating back more than 1,000 years.
Tong said advanced VR technology applied to the stage design has improved the aesthetic level of the performance.
"Virtual technology accomplished a spectacle that cannot be achieved by dancers on the stage, immersing the audience into the world of murals, as if the Cave of the Musicians had come back to life. A virtual jeweled crown is presented to the audience at the end of the program, which subtly aligns with the meaning that Kizil was a pearl on the ancient Silk Road," she said.
Another spectacular dance program in the TV gala was "Auspicious Rain", inspired by the gentle rains of spring. Delicate adornments echo a soft drizzle, evoking the season’s tenderness, freshness, and quiet vitality.
"The dance was inspired by Chinese poet Du Fu's widely celebrated poem "Joyful Rain on a Spring Night", and the poem says 'Good rain knows its time.' With the beauty of this poem and the aesthetic essence of the Jiangnan region of China, we create this female dance program, blending the vividness of the spring night rain with the grace of ladies from Jiangnan, and thereby showcase the reserved beauty and elegant demeanor unique to our Eastern women," said Wang Zhenbing, dance director of the gala.
Recognized by Guinness World Records as the most-watched annual television program on the planet, the Spring Festival Gala, hosted by China Media Group, is a cherished part of Spring Festival celebrations in hundreds of millions of Chinese homes every year.
The annual gala continues to push the boundaries of artistic expression, using advanced technologies such as AI, AR and XR extensively in stage design and creating immersive audiovisual effects for the audience.
Stunning female group dances shine at China's Spring Festival Gala
