Promotional material for opera gala Photo: Courtesy for Beijing Performance & Arts Group

Promotional material for opera gala Photo: Courtesy for Beijing Performance & Arts Group

The Beijing Performance & Arts Group is staging a series of performances as part of its May performance season which began Friday, including 21 dance and opera performances. The opening performance features five China's traditional operas including Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera and Qu Opera.

According to the gala's director Kong Jie, it selects classic operas' sections that have been popular for decades and capture historical moments, like Dragon Beard Ditch from Chinese writer Lao She and Ming Dynasty's dramatist Tang Xianzu's Peony Pavilion.

Dong Ning, the vice president of Beijing Performance & Arts Group said that through various forms of performing arts, the season aims to pay tribute to heroes and tell stories about the great achievements of the Communist Party of China in the past 100 years.

Global Times