The six-scene dance drama Episode on the Silk Road performed by the Gansu Dunhuang Arts Theatre (originally called the Gansu Provincial Song and Dance Troupe) has been a milestone in the history of Chinese classical dance since its debut in 1979.

The drama has a distinctive score that features elements of classical Chinese music but it is best known for its choreography. The dance idioms are largely drawn from the ancient murals now kept at the famous Dunhuang Grottoes in Northwest China's Gansu Province.

The theatre's new production - Heavenly Horse From the Silk Road - is expected to be another hit. Its debut in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, in May won the praise of local critics and audiences.

Beijing theatre-goers can see the show at the Poly Theatre from tonight until July 16. On July 19, the show will move to the city's Great Hall of the People.

Playwright Mu Yu created the four-scene dance drama after being inspired by the famous bronze galloping horse, an archaeological relic of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) that was unearthed in Gansu's Wuwei County in 1969.

The vividly modelled galloping horse has been widely considered a symbol of the Han Dynasty's tian ma, literally meaning "heavenly horse."

The legend of the heavenly horse has been handed down and spread far and wide along the ancient Silk Road to this very day.

The drama's historical background is that Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24) advocated military power and sent people to the western regions to seek for fine steeds. The dance drama tells a story of entangled love relationships, the affection between brother and sister, and hate and jealousy between rivals.

The young men rise in response to the call of Emperor Wudi and compete to look for the steeds. Biao Kun defeats all his rivals and wins Jin Mei's love as well.

But the insidious Jin Bao, Jin Mei's brother, burns with jealousy and kills Biao as the latter returns with the heavenly horse.

Jin Mei goes to look for Biao when she hears the sad news. She is so sad that she hallucinates that she and Biao find the horse and bring it back together.

Jin Bao's conspiracy is eventually exposed and the heavenly horse kills him with magic, while Biao Kun and Jin Mei rise to heaven.

The choreography has a rich flavour of Northwest China. Under the direction of Xiao Suhua, a choreographer with the Beijing Academy of Dance as well as the show's artistic director, a group of local choreographers went to Anyang, Wuwei and other places in Gansu Province to collect elements of folk and traditional dance.

Cai Hao as Biao Kun and Li Qi as Jin Mei dance delicate pas de deux while the pas de troi between them and Jin Bao also looks fresh and effectively expresses their relationships.

Some of the group dances that form a backdrop to promote the plot are a feast for the eyes. For example, in the second scene, women dance as reed catkins are in full bloom among them, while Biao Kun and the horse play happily.

After the drama's debut in Lanzhou, Liu Qiong of the People's Daily said: "The reed-catkins dance looks graceful and flowing."

In the last scene, the women dancers play charming and lovely birds flying in heaven, where Biao Kun and Jin Mei finally live a happy life.

The show also contains some dance featuring the influence of Buddhism on the Silk Road. In the third scene, women dancers imitate some movements of Bodhisattva Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, as they depict fairy maidens in the water.

Zhang Yulong's score features elements of classical Chinese music. Many traditional Chinese instruments are used, such as the guzheng, an ancient plucked instrument with 21 or 25 strings; the liuqin and pipa, plunked stringed instruments with a fretted fingerboard; and the xun, an egg-shaped wind instrument with between one and six holes.

Sixty-year-old Zhang was commissioned to compose for the dance because of his successful operas Zhang Qian and Sima Qian. Both are stories about the Han Dynasty and have a distinctive Northwest China flavour. The theatre saw him as an expert on that time and place.

Zhang himself was quite modest and said: "I was upset when I started the work early last year because it was my first time composing such a full-length dance drama, which was different from the operas I worked on before."

The musician has worked in opera for three decades since graduating from the China Conservatory of Music. He spent a long time watching both classical ballet and contemporary Chinese dance dramas as well as reading history books and legends of the Han Dynasty.

"Fortunately, the work turned out to be better than I expected and won over the local audiences," he added.

He said the two sections he himself loves best are the theme music for the two lovers and the score for the lotus-lantern dances in the third scene.

The theme music vividly portrays the faithful Jin Mei and the unyielding and upright Biao Kun, as well as expressing their touching love.

The score is strong on folk flavour and national culture, both of which are distinctive characteristics of Zhang's music. It also enhances the dramatic conflict and makes the story more exciting.

Zhang also said he had tried to make the score enjoyable for both highbrow and lowbrow members of the audience. "I hope the dance will suit popular tastes instead of only pleasing professionals with some showy techniques," he said.

Zen Li, one of the most successful set designers in the country, designed majestic and splendid settings and props for the show to depict the flourishing age of the Han Dynasty. Zen was the designer of the opera Turandot staged in Beijing's Forbidden City and the ballet Raise the Red Lantern.

( China Daily July 12, 2002)