Ballet's goal on firm footing

Dance company hopes tour will strengthen friendship, ties

BEIJING - For Japanese ballerina Yoko Morishita, performing The White-Haired Girl went way beyond an intriguing mix of Western art and a Chinese story.

In Morishita's words, playing the lead role in the ballet is her very own way of expressing repentance over Japan's war past and her gratitude for the amicability of the Chinese toward her and the Japanese people at large.