Editor’s Note: The Sixth Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo is underway in Dunhuang, Northwest China’s Gansu Province, from September 6 to 7, 2023. As a key pass along the ancient Silk Road, Dunhuang is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Mogao Grottoes, the Mingsha Mountain, and Crescent Spring Scenic Spot, and so on. Starting from September 4, GDToday will bring you an in-depth exploration of the city of Dunhuang.
Dunhuang’s cultural play Ancient Sound of Dunhuang, the world's first cave-style immersive experience drama, is staged in the city. Dunhuang has long offered visitors a captivating visual experience through the spectacular Gobi Desert wonders and fantastic cave art. The play is a new attempt to bring visitors closer to Dunhuang’s culture and history.
The show’s stage is designed based on the real scenes of the Mogao Caves, encompassing wall paintings, painted sculptures, ancient-style architecture, and so on. With the lighting and Dunhuang-themed elements like the Sutra cave, Buddha's niche, lotus throne, and sunk panel, the drama blurs the line between arts and real life, bringing the audience back to the ancient Dunhuang.
The actors’ costumes are faithful to the shape, color, and composition of the Dunhuang murals. It uses warm colors such as ochre, gold, earth yellow, and dark brown in combination with cold colors such as green and blue, highlighting the Dunhuang style. Dancers run, ponder, and fly on the stage as if the figures on the wall paintings come to life and tell you their stories in person. The audience can follow the protagonists’ steps to explore the scene and fully immerse themselves in the story.
The play utilizes Dunhuang folk instruments such as the five-stringed pipa, pan flute, and zhongruan to perform local dances such as the Huxuan Dance, the Waist Drum and Pipa Dance, and the Kalavinka Dance, etc. Moreover, the music is based on Dunhuang's ancient music scores and Western region’s tunes, combining the features of folk songs and the exotic vibe of the ancient Silk Road.
It is exciting that the stage, covering an area of 2600 m², is movable. After 117 workers were devoted to the preparation for over 200 days and carried out testing for 723 hours, the theater could be moved across the country. The audience can experience the charm of Dunhuang without the limitation of distance. Besides, with the help of advanced technologies like holographic projection, naked eye 3D, and light art, the immovable cultural relics also are presented to audiences all over the country.
Length: 70min
Price: 318yuan/General; 398yuan/VIP; 888yuan/Prime
Tickets: Visitors can buy the tickets from the official account “乐动敦煌” (pinyin: yue dong dun huang) on WeChat, Douyin, Little Red Book, Meituan, Qunar.com.
Reporter: Monica, Alice, Lina (intern)
Poster: Alice
Editor: Olivia, Steven, Monica, Jerry
Photo provided to GDToday
