Horses are an integral part of ethnic Mongolian culture and identity.

The incredible bonding journey between men and horses are the subject of the dance drama "Cavalry," which won the prestigious Wenhua Grand Prize in 2022.

The prize is China's top accolade for professional stage shows, including dance dramas, plays, traditional Chinese operas and musicals.

Produced by the Inner Mongolia Art Theater, the show tells the story of a young man called Chaolu who grows from a village student into a courageous hero of the cavalry during wartime in the 1940s.

Renowned Chinese dance theorist Ou Jianping said the drama doesn't deal with the war directly, but rather showcases the relationship between humans and nature against the backdrop of war.

"There are no scenes of fierce confrontation between the two sides," he said. "It highlights the close relationships forged between a man and a war horse. This is how the dance performance reflects on the role of the 'cavalry.'"

Among the highlights of the show are the action scenes where the audiences see the horses training, marching, fighting, and charging forward -- all rendered through the body language of the performers.

Zhao Tiechun, vice president of China's National Center for the Performing Arts, said the biggest challenge was finding ways to create a new "dance vocabulary."

"The man who plays the role of the horse has his own specific characteristics," he explained. "The movements of the horse were performed vividly."

"The horse is endowed with human qualities," he said. "The horse and the soldier resist each other at first, when they don't know each other, but then their relationship transforms from one of confrontation to mutual recognition."

"The horse and the soldier finally recognize each other, and start to trust one another," Zhao said.

"Based on that trust, the horse finally saves the life of the soldier on the battlefield."

"This is a highly charged and developing relationship, letting the audiences feel the strong emotions generated between the horse and the man," he noted.

It is the first large-scale original dance drama in China that takes the cavalry as its subject.