Dancing for Dunhuang

Experts pass down a moving art inspired by Mogao Caves murals, Cheng Yuezhu and Ma Jingna report in Dunhuang, Gansu.

On some of the murals inside the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu province, is the iconic image of flying apsaras, celestial beings draped in diaphanous attire and billowing ribbons.

The elegance exuded by these airborne fairies inspired artists to translate their poses into dance moves, particularly in the 1970s when the Gansu Song and Dance Ensemble captivated the Chinese dance scene with the original dance drama Flower Rains Along the Silk Road.

Dance experts like Gao Jinrong, a pioneering scholar, have been researching the murals and sculptures, and Dunhuang dance has evolved into an important Chinese classical dance genre.