A stage photo of Silk Road. [China Daily]

The lead dancer of the national dance drama Silk Road, has been committed to performing for a decade with the hope of disseminating traditional Chinese intangible culture heritage and strengthening the cultural ties between countries along the Silk Road.
Zhou Hong, 24, has been performing Silk Road on the stage for a decade, since being selected to be part of the performance crew in 2008 at the Beijing Olympic Games to making her debut as lead dancer in April of this year.
The beautiful frescoes from the Mogao Grotto at Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu Province, serve as inspiration for the dance drama Silk Road. It was first performed in 1979 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, making use of Chinese and Persian motifs to tell a story of love, adventure and discovery.
Since then, it has been performed in Italy, France and more than 40 other countries and regions for over 2,800 shows, being viewed by more than 4 million people.
In the summer of 2017, Zhou was transferred to Dunhuang, where she starred in the dance drama as the lead actress for 120 shows.
"I was a group dancer before, and only considered the moves and facial expressions while performing. However, I realized it's more important to fully fit the character spiritually and physically after I perform as the lead dancer, to help the audience understand the story," said Zhou.
Zhou told the reporter that during the performance, her legs are barely in a good condition, and she rarely eats staple foods in order to keep fit and slim, and because of the all year round tight styling of her hair, she has been losing her hair quite severely. Despite all this, she was still grateful for having the chance to perform in the dance.
As a participant of the dance drama, Zhou hopes that the Dunhuang frescoes could be more widely recognized at home and abroad and the friendships of the people along the Silk Road could be highlighted.