Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet, known as the world's top player, will stage a newly adapted opera of Dracula on June 24-25 to raise funds for Chinese athletes.

Sources with the Ministry of Culture said here Thursday that the performance is co-sponsored by the All-China Athletic Foundation and the China Performing Arts Agency.

The opera is based on Irish writer Bram Stoker's classic Dracula, which, in the form of Hollywood film, gained popularity in China. The artistic director of the troupe said the opera adopted modern technique of light, sound and electricity to create the supernatural atmosphere of the story.

Zhang Weiqiang, an overseas Chinese ballet coryphee, was invited to play the role of Dracula. He will combine ballet skills and Chinese Kong Fu together in his performance.
 
(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2004)