Hainan artists
Above: The Last Supper encourages audiences to join in a thought-provoking supper. Below: Ink paintings and calligraphy by artists from Hainan.
 
Hainan artists
 
Drama Johann Strauss’ US tour
 
Based on Johann Strauss’ visit to the US in 1872, The Beautiful Blue Danube is created with reference to Music, Art and Life – Li Lanqing’s Essays on Music.

Strauss, the famous composer, toured the US and was a huge success. This drama will take a variety of artistic forms and will, of course, feature great tunes, such as An Der Schone Blauen Donau and Fruhlingsstimmen.

7:30 pm, Sept 18-21. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang’an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

 
Invite to a dinner party

Hong Kong Repertory Theater will set the table at Guangzhou Opera House from Sept 4 to 6 and invite audiences to join in a thought-provoking supper.

The award-winning play The Last Supper has only two roles. The mother and son talk at the table throughout the play.

"I chose the heavy topic of suicide because I want to open the audience’s eyes to people living a miserable life in a prosperous big city, and to make them think about whether death is the only way out of frustrations," says the playwright Cheng Kwok-wai.

The director Fong Chun-kit adds that the play exposes audiences to a common social problem, namely that people are losing their communication abilities because of the Internet and rapid development.

8 pm, Sept 4-6. Experimental Theater, Guangzhou Opera House, Exit B1 of Zhujiang New Town subway station, the interchange of subway line 3 and line 5, Guangzhou. 020-3839-2888.

Dance

 
Carmen dances flamenco

The classic opera Carmen, created in 1874, was the French composer Georges Bizet’s last opera, and is also one of the most popular operas in the world. In 2011, the Spanish Ballet of Murcia recreated this classic work.

As one of the three most famous dance troupes in Spain, Spanish ballet of Murcia will stage the classic at the Beijing Exhibition Theater, along with a flamenco medley.

Established in 1985, the troupe is led by siblings Carmen and Matilde Rubio, and is committed to protecting and developing flamenco.

Carmen tells of love, jealousy and death, centering on soldier Don Jose and the gypsy Carmen, who have become a symbol of tragedy.

7:30 pm, Sept 22. Beijing Exhibition Theater 135 Xizhimen Waidajie, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6835-4455.

Art

 
Photo contest winners
 
Award-winning photos are on display at the Rongyi Art Space in western Beijing.

Sponsored by the Photographers Society of America (China branch), the exhibition showcases more than 90 photos, selected from 7,415 entries, submitted by international artists participating in the first PSA China International Photo Contest (2011).

10 am-5 pm, until Sept 1. B1, 18 Jinrong Dajie, Xicheng district, Beijing.

 
Calligraphy breakthrough

The National Art Museum of China is hosting a modern calligraphy invitation show. On display are some 60 works by 10 veteran calligraphers from across the country. The museum will organize the exhibition annually to raise public awareness of the breakthroughs in the traditional art genre, says museum director Fan Di’an.

9 am-5 pm, until Sept 3. National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

 
Ink painting from Hainan

A grand exhibition of ink art from Hainan province is being held until Sept 1 at the National Political Consultative Auditorium.

The exhibition, co-organized by the Standing Committee of Hainan People’s Political Consultative Conference and the Art Creation Institute under the Standing Committee of National Political Consultative Conference, presents more than 50 ink paintings and calligraphy works by veteran artists from across the island province. It is the first time since Hainan became a province in 1988 that such an art exhibition has been held in Beijing.

Ten representative artists, including Zeng Xiangxi, Qiao Delong, Deng Zifang and Zhang Huazhong – all in their 70s – depict in various styles the breathtaking landscapes, seascapes, and ethnic culture of the Li people on the island.

9 am-5 pm, until Sept 1. National Political Consultative Auditorium, 23 Taipingqiao Dajie, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6619-3674, 6619-3617.

 
Liu Guohui goes solo

Liu Guohui, an ink figure painter and professor at China Academy of the Art in Zhejiang province, is holding his first solo show in decades at the National Art Museum of China. On view are 76 ink paintings of evolving styles he has created since 1980, including model works for his teaching at the Landscape Painting Department of the academy.

9 am-5 pm, until Sept 7. National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

 
Beijing in ink

The National Art Museum of China is hosting an exhibition of ink landscapes about Beijing.

On display are some 100 ink paintings by older masters such as Zhang Daqian, Li Keran, or by contemporary ink artists such as Miao Chong’an, Li Baolin, Cheng Dali, and Wang Mingming.

Some works depict urban scenes, such as Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and hutong areas of central Beijing while others capture the natural beauty of counties and districts in suburban Beijing.

9 am-5 pm, until Sept 3. National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

 
Affordable art

Affordable Art Beijing is an annual platform presenting art from emerging and established artists in China. This time, Tom Pattinson is cooperating with Red Gate to host an exhibition of 15 artists drawn from the recent Affordable Art Beijing, including Cao Xihui, Chen Bo, Chu Haina, and Feng Yichen. Red Gate’s director, Brian Wallace, has chosen what he believes are the best of the mostly unknown artists, covering a range of media and styles. All are accomplished in their own right and have bright futures. For many, this will be their first major gallery show.

Sept 8-Oct 10. Red Gate Gallery, Dongbianmen Watchtower, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6525-1005.

Concert

 
Awaiting Apocalyptica

Finnish rock band Apocalyptica was formed in 1993 and comprises four classically trained cellists who graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, plus a drummer. Their music borrows elements from classical music, metal, grunge, hard rock and so on. The band’s music album has sold 4 million copies, and is sometimes compared to a "collaboration of Shostakovich and Metallica".
9-11:30 pm, Sept 6. Mao Livehouse, 3F, 308 Chongqing Road South, Shanghai. 021-6445-0086.
 
The Red Sun rises

Hacken Lee will kick off his first solo concert on the mainland in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Sept 8. The Hong Kong singer has prepared more than 40 classics from his 26-year-long career and is ready to take fans on a tour of his hits.

Accompanied by members of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Zhao Taisheng, a master of the sanxian, a traditional three-string Chinese musical instrument, will make Lee’s baritone even more touching.

Besides lyrical love songs, Lee will also get the audience moving with dynamic songs such as Red Sun.

Lee values interaction with audiences and promises that he will sing songs suggested by them during the encore.

8 pm, Sept 8. Guangzhou International Sports Arena, 2666, Kaichuang Avenue, Luogang district, Guangzhou. Shuttle bus service between the arena and exit C of Sports Center station of subway line 1, also between the arena and exit B of Huangcun station of subway line 4. 020-3209-1000.

 
Seminar and workshop Are you the one?

The sequel of If You Are the One led to a Chinese poem become an online sensation: "Whether you see me or not, I’m there, neither sad nor happy". The author of the poem will share the stories behind her latest book, Murmurs, at a lecture in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

Zhaxilamu Duoduo, originally named Tan Xiaojing, writes about her travels, sceneries and people she met.

She is a pious Buddhist and may share her thoughts on the religion in India at the lecture.

3-5 pm, Sept 2. Fangsuo Commune, TaiKoo Hui shopping mall, 383 Tianhelu, Tianhe district, Guangzhou, (Exit D of Shipaiqiao Station of subway line 3). 020-3868-2327.

 
Pulitzer winner’s story

Three-time Pulitzer winning journalist and columnist Thomas L. Friedman will speak about his new book That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World it Invented and How We Can Come Back, which he co-wrote with Johns Hopkins University foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum. The book analyzes the four great challenges America faces -globalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation’s chronic deficits, and a pattern of excessive energy consumption.

4 pm, Sept 7. Shanghai Gallery of Art, 3F, 3 Zhongshan Road E1, Shanghai. 021-5350 0059.

 
Young, eco-friendly world

China World Mall is launching a Domi’s Magic Town event, in which children can play and learn about environmental protection.

In the magic town, children are encouraged to sort different kinds of garbage made of plastic. With help from their parents, they can also transform this garbage into small toys. Younger children can also attend drawing competitions, memory tests and small presentations.

11 am-6 pm, until Sept 9, B2 and F3, China World Mall, China World Trade Center Tower 3, 1 Jianguomen Waidajie, Chaoyang district. 010-6505-2288.

Festival

 
Music at Great Wall

Chinese Opera Drama Theater Symphony Orchestra will present international classical music, such as Memory from Musical Cats, The Sea of Clouds Under the Moonlight from movie Castle in the Sky, the late Chinese composer Xian Xinghai’s Yellow River, during the ongoing Great Wall Tanglewood Forest Music Festival. Chinese soprano Wu Bixia, tenor Cheng Zhi and bamboo flute maestro Zhang Weiliang will share the stage with the Chinese Opera Drama Theater choir. Dunshan Symphonic Wind Orchestra, the first and only fully privately funded orchestra in Chinese mainland, will also present a night of music with Swiss conductor Adrian Schneider.

6 pm-9 pm, Sept 1 and 2. Great Wall Tanglewood Art Zone of Yanqing county, 53 km away from Badaling Great Wall. 4006-228-228.

 
Quick pick Curtain call

Yang Liping, who put on a peacock dance for the first time in 1979, is announcing her retirement by doing a peacock tour one more time, starting from Kunming on Aug 23.

The dance has four chapters, named after the four seasons. The semi-autobiographical dance drama tells of how the peacock is born, falls in love, suffers the pain of departure from her lover and finally regains her serenity.

After the first stop of a global tour, the show goes to Guangzhou and will head to Beijing and Shanghai afterward. Yang plans to become a choreographer after hanging up her dancing shoes.

8 pm, Aug 31, Sept 1 and 2. Guangzhou Opera House, Exit B1 of Zhujiang New Town subway station, the interchange of subway line 3 and line 5, Guangzhou, Guangdong province. 020-3839-2888.

7:30 pm, Oct 24-27. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang’an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

7:15 pm, Oct 31, Nov 1 and 2. Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Lu, near Century Blvd, Shanghai. 400-600-1081, 021-5186-3979.

SOURCE: China Daily

 
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