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China Daily | Updated: 2017-01-21 07:00

Shows

Beijing Wind Orchestra

Date: Jan 29-30 - 7:15 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-500 yuan

Beijing Wind Orchestra, founded in 2009, is a large professional wind orchestra composed of 80 musicians with profound musical knowledge and exquisite skills. The Orchestra performs a wide range of repertoires in different styles, including classic wind orchestra pieces, light music, chamber music and jazz. LI Fangfang, a national first-grade conductor, is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestra. Beijing Wind Orchestra has established extensive partnership with renowned musicians, composers, conductors and music organizations from home and abroad, and will make active efforts to propel the development of China's orchestra.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Celebrating the Chinese New Year: China Film Orchestra

Date: Jan 31-Feb 2 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-580 yuan

China Film Symphony Orchestra is one of the national outstanding orchestras founded earliest in the People's Public of China. Over sixty years, along with the development of China's film and television music arts, the Orchestra has performed music for nearly two thousand of films, TV dramas, documentaries and special films. The Orchestra also performed music in more than 40 countries and regions, and played symphonic concerts, opera and ballets with international conductors, composers, musicians and dancers for many times to promote Chinese music development and international cultural exchange.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

China National Theater for Children's Drama Three Buddhist Monks

Date: Jan 30-Feb 1 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-400 yuan

The Three Monks combines excellent Chinese traditional stories and contemporary aesthetics. In regard to story creation, a role of "old monk" is added to enrich the relationship between characters and deepen their feelings toward each other, making it easier for children to understand the significance of unity and mutual aid as well as the reason that both together do best of all. With respect to stage performance, actors mainly adopt body language by blending modern dance, traditional opera style and some martial arts elements on the dazzling multimedia stage, bringing completely new viewing experience to the audience.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Richard Clayderman 2017 Piano Recital Concert

Date: Jan 21 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Great Hall of the People

Price: 380-2,017 yuan

Richard Clayderman is a French pianist who has released numerous albums including the compositions of Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint, instrumental renditions of popular music, rearrangements of movie soundtracks, ethnic music, and easy-listening arrangements of popular works of classical music. Clayderman has recorded over 1,300 melodies, and has created a new romantic style through a repertoire which combines his trademark originals with classics and pop standards. He has devoted much of his time to performing concerts, going as far as playing 200 shows in 250 days. He has clocked up worldwide record sales of approximately 70 million, as of 2006[update], and has 267 gold and 70 platinum discs to his credit. He is popular in Asia and is noted by the Guinness Book of World Records as being "the most successful pianist in the world".

Contact: 400-610-3721

The Magic of Rhythm

Date: Jan 22 - 1:45/4/7:30 pm

Venue: Tianqiao Art Center Theater

Price: 180-330 yuan

This original creation sets off with Ta-Dam, a magician who's trying to show his young audience all the splendor of his magical art. After many situations and despite themselves, Jim-Be and Tech-Nico, the two school janitors, divert this magical show toward the discovery and exploration of another fascinating art: the magic of rhythm!

With every new situation, the characters and the audience will be transported into the fascinating worlds of gumboot. Audience members collectively play drumsticks in a percussive dance. The musical will end in the explosive African drums.

Contact: 400-610-3721

National Theater Live - Hamlet

Date: Jan 21 - 2 pm

Venue: Shanghai Drama Art Center

Price: 150 yuan

As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Benedict Cumberbatch leads Shakespeare's classic tragedy Hamlet at the Barbican Centre with a limited 12-week run, directed by Olivier Award winner Lindsay Turner. More than 10 million tickets have been sold out within seconds after it went on sale last august.

Contact: 400-610-3721

The Nutcracker - Russian State Bellet in Shanghai

Date: Jan 21 - 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center

Price: 80-880 yuan

The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was given its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Dec 18, 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky's opera, Iolanta. The Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded with support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The basic principle of the theater is to preserve the creative heritage of Russian ballet and to search for new forms in choreography. Its repertoire includes not only classical performances such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, but also modern ballets set to the music of Mozart, Bach, and Ravel.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Classic Flamenco Dance (Carmen) by Ballet Flamenco de Madrid

Date: Jan 21-22 - 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Price: 50-580 yuan

[Carmen] is a world-famous opera by French composer Georges Bizet in the autumn of 1874, based on a novella of the same title by Prosper M��rim��e. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy. [Carmen] has been adapted into a number of dramatic works and performed on worldwide artists' stages. [Carmen] tells a tragic love story occurred in Seville, Spain around 1830. A beautiful gypsy with fiery temper Carmen seduces corporal Don Jose, an inexperienced soldier. Jose deserts from his military duties for the girl and joins the smugglers after the mutiny against his superior. However, Jose is still missing his mother and the life in barrack. Frictions becomes fierier. Afterward Carmen is in love with the bullfighter Escamillo, and declines Jose's begging of staying with him. Finally, Jose kill her in a jealous rage. The performance is flamenco dance version of [Carmen]. Sourced from Gypsies' hometown Spain and real life, Flamenco has become one of the most typical Spanish artfroms.

Ballet Flamenco de Madrid, a professional artistic group, adapts opera [Carmen] into Flamenco show including music, dance, singing and instruments.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Sleeping Beauty - Russian State Ballet in Shanghai

Date: Jan 22 - 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center

Price: 180-880 yuan

"Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault or "Little Briar Rose" by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairy tale written by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, which involves a beautiful princess, a sleeping enchantment, and a handsome prince. The version collected by the Brothers Grimm was an orally transmitted version of the originally literary tale published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passe in 1697. This in turn was based on Sun, Moon, and Talia by Italian poet Giambattista Basile (published posthumously in 1634), which was in turn based on one or more folk tales. The earliest known version of the story is Perceforest, composed between 1330 and 1344 and first printed in 1528. The Russian National Ballet Theatre was founded with support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The basic principle of the theater is to preserve the creative heritage of Russian ballet and to search for new forms in choreography. Its repertoire includes not only classical performances such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, but also modern ballets set to the music of Mozart, Bach, and Ravel. In 2001, Evgeny Amosov became the Artistic Director of the theater. He graduated from the Perm Academy of choreography and then joined the Ekaterinburg Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet as a principal dancer. He is also a prizewinner of Russian and International choreography contests of ballet-masters and ballet dancers.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Activities & nightlife

US-China Comedy Center: Bilingual Improv

Date: Jan 21 - 8 pm

Venue: Project Pengyou Courtyard

Price: 50 yuan

Improv shows have no props and no ste script, and the whole show is made up right on the spot by the performers! Performers get inspirations from the audience members and use them to make a show that will only happen once and never be repeated again. Don't miss the show, you never know what will happen!

Contact: 010-6515-7574

Erguotou Liquor Factory Tour

Date: Jan 22 - 9 am

Venue: China Culture Center

Price: 250/300 yuan

Join CCC's half day tour to Beijing Erguotou (Er Guo Tou) Factory to see how this famous yet surprisingly inexpensive brand of distilled liquor is produced. The factory is nice with preserved old tools & objects and well displayed galleries. You will see the entire traditional production skills such as distilling and fermentation in the gigantic wok in the processing workshops; the wine cellar with half-century old vintage, and hundred-woman packing line.

Contact: 010-6432-9341

The Bookworm Monthly Comedy Night: James Adomian

Date: Jan 22 - 8 pm

Venue: The Bookworm

Price: 100-150 yuan

James performed standup on John Oliver's New York Stand Up Show on Comedy Central, and on NBC's Last Comic Standing where he was a Top 10 finalist. James has also performed to much acclaim over the years at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and many other top comedy festivals. He works as a voice-over artist on numerous animated shows including Disney's Future Worm and Nickelodeon's Pag Goat Banana Cricket. He is also a beloved regular guest on the Earwolf podcast network, where his debut standup comedy album Low Hangin Fruit was released in 2012.

Contact: 010-6586-9507

Old School Open Mic Night

Date: Jan 23 - 9:30 pm

Venue: Caravan

Price: Free Entrance

Caravan introduced our new Old school Americana, Bluegrass, country and folk Open Mic night ... and we want you to come check it out. Bring on your original music, covers of Hank Williams Jr., Johnny Cash or anything you want, but come hang out, meet new friends and maybe get yourself in a band.

Contact: 010-8563-0801

KHL Hockey in Beijing with the Kunlun Red Star!

Date: Jan 26 - 5:30 pm

Venue: LeSports Center

Price: 50/100 yuan

Come out and watch the excitement of KHL Hockey! The Beijing Kunlun Red Star are in their first season but are already turning heads because their great play on the ice. The Red Star is made up of players from China, Russia, Finland, Canada, Sweden, USA and Slovakia. See the attached information for ticketing details.

Contact: 010-6828-6386

Sports

2017 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix

Date: April 9

Venue: Shanghai International Circuit

Price: 774-2760 yuan

See the greatest racing show on earth this April as the pinnacle of racing technology hurtles around 5.5 kilometers of China's finest track at breakneck speeds. Va-va-voom! The race organizers have arranged the event for the best pricing and viewing options ever with lower-priced tickets and greater pit lane access. Don't miss out on the event of the year this spring. Located just outside of the city in Anting, Shanghai Audi International Circuit is 5.451kms long; with 56 laps, racers will travel a total distance of 305.066kms. The racetrack was designed in shape of the character 'shang' of 'Shanghai'. The current track record is 1:32.238 minutes held by Michael Schumacher.

Contact: 400-610-3721

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