Hunan Opera Spring Festival Gala showcased traditional arts with a modern twist.
The gala aired on January 29th, at 7:30 PM, the first day of the Lunar New Year. It was part of China’s celebrations for Chinese New Year, welcoming in the Year of the Snake.
The Hunan TV and Mango TV’s 2025 Hunan Opera Spring Festival Gala opens focused on the theme of “Drama in the World, Reunion in Harmony.”
It opened with “The Drama of the World”, set on the main stage, the “Immortal Restaurant.” Opera performers dressed in traditional costumes showcase their stunts on chairs, ladders, and tables. They showcased eight iconic Chinese Opera stunts in 3 minutes: Stilt Skills, Ladder Skills, Tortoise Tea Serving, Flag Acrobatics, Water Sleeves, Handkerchief Dance, Wu Song’s fight at the Inn, and Combat Techniques with Back Flags. These stunts demonstrate the performers’ profound mastery of opera techniques, offering a visually stunning and exhilarating experience.
Departing from traditional stage formats, the gala adopted an on-location recording approach. It was filmed in over 100 iconic streets and alleys of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. This deep integration of opera culture with the city’s vibrant atmosphere injected traditional opera with a fresh sense of vitality and innovative energy. The gala featured eight opera genres including Peking Opera, Hunan Opera, Qi Opera, Han Opera, Kunqu Opera, Flower Drum Opera, Baling Opera, and Huangmei Opera.
In keeping with this theme, for the 2025 Hunan Opera Spring Festival Gala, the traditional opera excerpt “The Battle between Sun Wukong and Erlang God” was narrated in the form of shadow puppetry. Subsequently, the content was also presented through street dance. This blending of traditional and modern arts integrates traditional opera with the contemporary. It endowed traditional elegant art with modern vitality and dynamism.
The performance also incorporated AI technology to make the performance more diverse and entertaining. “When Xiang Kun Meets World-Famous Paintings” used AR, virtual tracking technology, and AI drawing to cleverly connect Kunqu Opera with world-famous paintings, reviving the beauty of cultural relics and the charm of opera.
Additionally, the modern adaptation of “Liu Hai Cuts Firewood” and the traditional opera “The Peony Pavilion” vividly interpreted the theme of “Drama in the World, Reunion in Harmony” by telling heartwarming stories of the Lunar New Year.
Through these innovative approaches, the gala not only preserved the essence of traditional opera but also brought it closer to modern life, attracting a younger audience and showcasing the perfect blend of tradition and modernity.
If you liked this article why not read: Spring Festival Gala Showcases China’s Cultural Heritage
