Young Chinese choreographers' new dances blend tradition with bold creativity

Using multimedia technologies, Tian caught the eyes of the 400-plus audience with a three-dimensional portray of a solo dance at the beginning.

"Multimedia technology is widely seen in theaters nowadays, whether you like it or not. It solves many problems that traditional stage design cannot solve, such as the holographic effect," Tian said.

Tian said she collects various dancing figurines from museums nationwide. Their vivid gestures and expressions have prompted her imagination of dancers from the ancient dynasty.

The whole piece was not storytelling however.

"It never wanted to tell a story, since it's only 30 minutes," Tian said. "Some people may see it as a dialogue between history and today, while others may think differently... The duo dance in the second part, for example, is inspired by pictures from history books which some audiences may feel familiar, especially those who have learned history of Han and Tang dynasties."