Silk Road displays different facets of life on the ancient trade route with a mixture of traditional Chinese and contemporary dance. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Instead of using intensive drama and specific characters, I presented the show in abstract, romantic and spiritual ways," Yang told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday.

The dance drama has six major characters, including a traveler, a messenger and a guide, who represent the traders, pilgrims, nomads and inhabitants along the ancient Silk Road.

"Each of the characters are shown as contributing to the development of the world's culture and civilization," she says.

According to Zhang Xiaomin, director of the Shaanxi troupe, it's the first dance drama for the company that was founded in 1940 in Yan'an, another city in the province. But the troupe has held many performances inspired by local culture and the Tang Dynasty.

"When we premiered Silk Road, audiences were surprised by how we presented it－the theme is both Chinese and international," says Zhang.

The show's music composer, Guo Hongjun, who is known for his symphonic works, has focused on using traditional Chinese instruments, such as the xiao (an end-blown flute) and the pipa (a four-stringed plucked instrument), to portray different scenes in the dance drama.

"The music is soothing, illusory and leaves vast space for imagination," says Guo.

If you go

7:30 pm, April 22 and 23. Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, 9 Tianqiao South Street, Xicheng district, Beijing.

400-635-3355.