Performance evokes 1940s Shanghai

Shanghai Dance Troupe has adapted the classic Chinese film Stage Sisters by director Xie Jin, to the stage. The dance is not only a vivid reproduction of Shanghai dance halls in the 1940s, but also a thought-provoking look at the world behind the glitz and glamour. Stage Sisters tells the story of two young Shaoxing Opera actresses who leave their rural hometown for the bright lights of Shanghai, where they each choose different life paths - one sticks to the pursuit of artistic perfection and moral integrity while the other is seduced by a malicious businessman.

8 pm, July 5-6. Opera Hall of Guangzhou Opera House, Exit B1 of Zhujiang New Town metro station, Guangzhou. 020-3839-2888.

- Xu Jingxi

UK philharmonic comes to China

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the UK's most prestigious orchestras, performs the highest possible standards of music across a diverse repertoire. Having collaborated with esteemed conductors, such as Rudolf Kempe, Andre Previn and Vladimir Ashkenazy, the RPO will bring to China its highly anticipated collaboration with Charles Dutoit, its recently appointed chief conductor and music advisor. The concert also features Chinese pianist Wang Yuja (pictured above).

7:30 pm, July 5. Concert Hall, National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

- Han Bingbin

Coloring outside the lines

The Central Academy of Fine Arts museum is displaying nearly 40 ink-and-water paintings by the national Beiping Art School's teachers. The school was founded in 1918 as a testimony to China's aspiration to modernize its art and culture. Its openness attracted many important modern fine art history figures, such as Xu Beihong, Lin Fengmian, Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian, whose works are on show. The school was merged with the North China University's third campus in 1950 to form CAFA. The exhibition intends to help people recognize the school's achievements in modernizing traditional Chinese painting.

9:30 am-5:30 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, until Dec 1. CAFA Art Museum, 8 Huajiadi South Street, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-6477-1575.

- Lin Qi

(China Daily USA 06/28/2013 page6)