When Hong Kong Ballet’s resident choreographer Ricky Hu Songwei and his wife, fellow choreographer Mai Jingwen, were assigned to create a new production inspired by Dunhuang for the company, they had what they describe as “an immediate headache”.Dunhuang, in northwestern China, is known for the Mogao Caves, a Unesco World Heritage site on the ancient Silk Road featuring more than 1,000 years of Buddhist rock art. Over the years, its murals and statues have inspired numerous dance productions across China, all bringing the site’s wall paintings to life by blending classical ballet techniques with Dunhuang dance movements.“There are so many dance dramas based on Dunhuang themes already, so how could we create something different from theirs?” Mai says.Audiences often arrive with fixed stereotypes of the murals or feel they need academic preparation, she adds. “That’s why we were bashing our brains to find a story that would genuinely resonate.”The two, with the Hong Kong Ballet team, visited the caves in October last year to look for inspiration for Dunhuang: In Search of Light, set to premiere on October 16 at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.The show is co-commissioned by the Greater Bay Area International Theatre Festival, which will run until December, and is co-produced by the China Arts and Entertainment Group. Plans to run Dunhuang: In Search of Light in the rest of the Greater Bay Area have yet to be announced.