Beijing

Electropop duo

British electropop boy duo Hurts, comprising singer Theo Hutchcraft and synthesizer player Adam Anderson, will hold their debut live concert in Beijing.

Their first album Happiness entered the charts of the United Kingdom at No 4 and sold more than 25,000 copies, making them the fastest selling new band of 2010 in the UK. Their single Wonderful Life has been played more than 11 million times online.

8 pm, May 14. Starlive. F3, Tango, South Gate of Ditan Park, Dongcheng district. 400-616-8585

Dance gala

As an important event of the Spring of Sino-French Cultural Exchanges of 2011, a ballet gala will be held in Beijing. It will have French dancer Manuel Legris, and choreographer Patrick de Bana, cooperating with lead dancers from the National Ballet of China including Zhu Yan, Zhang Jian and Wang Qimin. Legris is one of the top dancers of the Paris Opera.

Highlights of the program are Act 3 of the classic ballet Onegin and the modern work Song of the Earth. The latter is choreographed by De Bana to Chinese composer Ye Xiaogang's music of the same title.

7 pm, May 20, 21. Peking University Hall, inside Peking University, Haidian district. 010-6275-2278

Young artists

The Today Art Museum is hosting a group show of more than 20 award-winning oil paintings, installations, photos, and video works of the Focus on Talents project.

The non-profit project, launched by Martell Art Fund and the museum in July, 2010, is aimed at promoting young artists, says museum dean Zhang Zikang.

10 am-5:30 pm, until May 18. F2, building 2, Today Art Museum, 32 Baiziwanlu, Chaoyang district. 010-5876-0600

Flowers and birds

Veteran ink artist Mo Xiaosong with the Beijing Fine Art Academy is holding a solo exhibition, featuring 30 of his latest flower-and-bird scrolls, rendered in the gongbi (fine brush) style.

9 am-6 pm, until May 17. 33 East Changan Avenue, Dongcheng district. 010-8500-4151

Southern scenes

Forty-seven ink artists are holding a group exhibition entitled Beauty of South China. On display are more than 100 ink scrolls of figures, landscapes, and flowers-and-birds, created by renowned artists from Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

10 am-5 pm, until May 20

Art Museum of the China National Painting Academy, 54 Xisanhuan Beilu, Haidian district. 010-6841-1369/6405

Shanghai

Dutch singer

Dutch singer Laura Fygi will start her China tour at Shanghai's JZ club. Adept at singing in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese, Fygi combines different genres and styles of music easily and with great enthusiasm. In the past 18 years she has recorded 11 albums that have sold in more than 30 countries.

8 pm, May 26, 27. JZ Club, 46 Fuxing Xilu. 021-6431-1075

Modern drama

The play 12 Angry Men by American playwright Reginald Rose will be staged in Chinese. A courthouse drama, the play features the heated discussion among 12 jurors about the penalty for a boy accused of murdering his father. The Chinese production premiered in 2010 to much acclaim.

7:30 pm, May 25-June 5. Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 288 Anfu Lu. 021-6473-0123

French painter

French painter Valerie Honnart is holding a solo exhibition at Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center. Honnart paints with brown pigment and black Chinese ink on burlap, which is then mounted on canvas and sealed with wax. She has been trained in Italy and uses classic brushstrokes, as seen in her new series, Ink Links.

10 am-5 pm, May 12-June. Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center, 299 Fuxing Xilu. 021-6466-7428

China Daily