Best bets

Mariinsky Ballet Principles & Kharkov National Opera and Ballet Theater: La Bayadere in Shanghai

Date: Oct 2 - 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center

The ballet tells the love story between Nikya - a bayadere (temple dancer) - and Solor, a warrior, who has promised in marriage to Gamzatti, the daughter of Rajah. A high Brahmin, who also loves Nikiya, attempts to kill Solor by informing Rajah that Solor has vowed eternal love to Nikiya. But his intentions is thwarted when Rajah decides to kill Nikiya. Gamzatti, who has eavesdropped on their conversation, summons Nikiya and attempts unsuccessfully to bribe her to give up Solor. Their rivalry escalates and Nikya seizes a dagger to kill Gamzatti, who is saved by her servant. As Nikiya flees, Gamzatti vows that she must die. La Bayadere is a ballet in four acts and seven scenes. It was first performed by the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg in 1877. This ballet is most famous for its "white act," commonly known as the Kingdom of the Shades. It is one of the most celebrated excerpts in the classical ballet world.

Teatro alla Scala Ballet: Don Quixote

Date: Aug 31-Sept 2 - 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

With its sparkling energy and the bright colors of the staging by Raffaele Del Savio and Anna Anni, Rudolf Nureyev's Don Quixote, in repertoire at La Scala since 1980, will transport audiences with freshness, joy and choreographic splendor to a enchanting Spain, with gypsy dances, fandangos, matadors, windmills and the airy candor of the Garden of the Dryads. Set to Minkus' accessible music, the adventures of Don Quixote and his trusted squire Sancho Panza interweave; or rather, they act as a pretext for a love story and for an evening of sizzling dances, scintillating and full of temperament, with funny supporting characters and virtuoso lead roles. Between fleeing, deceptions and disguises, Don Quixote will dance with his Dulcinea, and the young Kitri and the barber Basilio's dreams will come true. The present day Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala can boast a glorious past whose roots go back centuries to the 1778 inauguration of the world's most celebrated musical theater.

Peyman Yazdanian Piano Recital in Guangzhou

Date: Sept 13 - 8 pm

Venue: Xinghai Concert Hall

Peyman Yazdanian was born in 1969 in Teheran. He started learning to play the piano at the age of 6 and continued with his master Farman Behbud up to the advanced level. At the age of 12, he started taking harmony and composition lessons from Plus Khofri. He has taken part in a few master classes, including those by Austrian professor Gerhard Gretchleger from the conservatory of Vienna, professor Ernest Hozel from the conservatory of Graz, and professor Ginette Gaubert in Marseille. He has written several pieces for piano solo and few chamber music. Many of them have been performed in Iran, France, Germany, Scotland, Italy, Cyprus and China. As a film composer, he has collaborated in a number of Iranian featured films with internationally well-known masters like Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Kamal Tabrizi, Khosro Masumi, Masood Kimiai, Asghar Farhadi and so on.