STAGE

Dramatic art of Tango: The Second International Drama Festival's "Forever Ibsen" series will be "TanGhost," which is based on "Ghost," a masterpiece by Ibsen.

"TanGhost," a tango version drama, combines the classical text of "Ghost," tango dance, original music and video art in one form.

Brought by the POP Theatre Company from Norway, this play tells a story of lonely people trapped in their traditions and unable to fulfil their dreams.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 8, 9

Place: Haidian Theatre, 84 Haidian Lu

Tel: 6255-802

Forever Ibsen: "Peer Gynt," the monodrama adapted from Ibsen's 1867 masterpiece, will be staged by a Norwegian actress.

This is an important event of the Second International Drama Festival: Forever Ibsen.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 10-12

Place: The Eastern Avant-garde Theatre of China National Drama Theatre, 8-2 Dongdan Santiao, Dongcheng District

Tel: 6527-6911

Musical memorial for Mao: To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of the late Chairman Mao Zedong on September 9, a grand epic concert will gather more than 500 performers.

The programme will include a cantata, recitation of Mao's poetry and tenor and soprano solos.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 8

Place: Great Hall of the People, west of Tian'anmen Square

Tel: 6417-7845, 6608-1188

Foot-stomping spectacle: Ireland's foot-stomping show "Spirit of the Dance" will start its China tour next month. The international smash, a hit in 15 countries, is valued as one of the most successful shows to come out of Ireland. Winner of nine Global Awards, including Best Choreography and Best International Production, it has up to 10 dance troupes touring the world.

The show is based around a love story in which a spirit searches the world for her true love.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 24-29

Place: Century Theatre, 40 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6468-3311

Joyful jugglers: The China Acrobatic Troupe is staging a night variety show at the Tiandi Theatre, where the seemingly impossible becomes reality, and performers spin plates and juggle umbrellas.

Contortionists show incredible feats of flexibility as acrobats leap through the air.

Integrating superlative juggling, unicycling, balancing and jumping through hoops with the finest ancient Chinese dancing, the star-studded cast aims to impress.

Time: 7:15 pm, daily

Place: 10 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6502-3984

All-year acrobatics: Chaoyang Theatre is one of the few Beijing theatres to present acrobatics all year round.

Top acrobats invited from all over the country perform for Chinese and foreign audiences.

The programme features trick cycling, leaping through hoops and Chinese magic tricks.

Some of the artists have won prizes in international competitions.

Time: 7:15 pm, daily

Place: 36 Dongsanhuan Bei Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6507-2421, 6507-1818

CONCERTS

Marie and The Frogs: British singer and pianist Marie Batchelder will team up with a young Chinese band called The Frogs to present their newly released album.

Batchelder, 22, blends the styles of such singers as Tori Amos, Ricky Lee Jones, Aimee Mann, Norah Jones and Kate Bush.

She is also a skilful piano and cello player and works include "Believe in Yourself," "The British at MIDEM" and "Remembered."

Time: 7:30 pm, September 2

Place: Peking University Concert Hall

Tel: 6275-2279

Moscow maestro: Violinist and conductor Vladimir Spivakov will perform with Moscow Virtuosi, on stage in Beijing.

Starting to play the violin at four years old, he gained his fame in his 20s and has performed over 120 concerts a year throughout the world.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 4

Place: Poly Theatre, Dongsi Shitiao, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6506-5345

Chopin at the bit: The Fifth International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, held every four years since 1992, but for first time in China, attracts 40 young pianists from 14 countries.

The opening concert will be Anna Malikova from Germany, Eva Osinska from Poland, Rem Urasin from Russia and Wu Ying from China.

Under the baton of Chinese conductors Li Xincao and Jiang Jinyi, China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra will play its heart out.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 9-17

Place: Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhuajie, Xicheng District

Tel: 6605-7006

Pulling the strings: Veteran guqin performer Gong Yi and female guqin artist Qiao Shan will lead audiences to a scene of high mountains and flowing waters.

A 1966 graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory, Gong has absorbed the essence from his teachers and pioneers and developed a fresh way of presentation.

With elegant, unstrained style, his performance focuses on the variation of timbre and the transmission of mood.

Canadian-Chinese Qiao Shan, both a guqin performer and a singer, and a graduate from China Central Conservatory, has contributed to promoting Chinese traditional music to overseas audiences.

Time: 7 pm, September 9,10

Place: Minghui Tea House, inside Dajue Temple, Bei'anhe, Haidian District

Tel: 6246-1567

Rocking Beijing: Some of the world's best bands will perform at three special shows as part of the 2006 Beijing Pop Music Festival.

Japanese band 920 and Don Juan Dracula from Norway will kick off with the first show.

The second will introduce domestic band Muma and Johnny Hi-Fi from the United States. Doc Holiday and Apache Train of Japan and Chinese Zhang Tie will conclude the festival shows.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 7-9

Place: Star Live Concert Hall, third floor of Tango, 79 Heping Xijie, Dongcheng District

Tel: 6425-5166

Creating a scandal: South Korean singer Kangta (Ahn Chilhyun) and Vanness (Wu Jianhao), a singer from Taiwan Province, founded a band called Kangta & Vanness in 2004.

Encouraged by the success of their first album "Scandal," they will perform on the capital's grand stage.

In Chinese, Korean and English, the album includes such works as "Stop Power Move Dance" and "127 Days and One Day." Fast-paced dancing will accompany their performance.

Time: 7:30 pm, September 22, 23

Place: Great Hall of the People, west of Tian'anmen Square

Tel: 6417-7845

EXHIBITIONS

Touch of Southeast Asia: The original flavour of Southeast Asia comes out in the collection works of the Singapore Fine Arts Museum.

The show displays about 70 paintings, from the late 19th to early 21st centuries, by more than 50 artists from Indonesia, Viet Nam, Cambodia, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.

Using realism, the artists portray the tropical area with bright colours and fluent strokes. Culture, religion, geography and race are presented through various artistic techniques.

Time: 9 am-5 pm, until September 10

Place: National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie

Tel: 8403-3500

Green design: "Green Olympics" is the topic of the International Poster Designing Invitation Exhibition. Twenty-five renowned designers from home and abroad are invited to present their works.

Time: 9 am-5 pm, until September 11

Place: National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Dajie

Tel: 8403-3500

Looking back: The duo show of Wang Hui and Wang Janwei will gather ink paintings and oil on canvas. Both middle-aged, the two artists will show their findings about creation and life.

Time: 9 am-4 pm, until September 7

Place: The gallery of Today Art Museum, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 5862-1100, ext 142

Going bananas: Japanese female photographer Megumi Shimizu's solo exhibition of self-portraits represent her exploration between the genders and external physical symbols. She ritually uses a symbolic banana to accentuate the existence of human genders known as the yin and yang. Shimizu has also painted over the photographs.

Time: 10:30 am-5:30 pm, until September 10

Place: Imagine Gallery, Feijiacun Donglu, Cuigezhuang, Laiguangying Donglu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 6438-5747

Date with an angel: "Another Day of Angel," a group exhibition of contemporary photographs, gathers works of Liu Jin, Ma Yanling, Wang Guofeng, Shen Yang and others.

Through satire, analysis and metaphors, they express their hopes and longing for beauty as well as their concern for reality and humanity.

Rooting their inspiration on spiritual world and self-experience, the artists communicate spiritual expression of imagination and nostalgia.

Time: 10:30 am -6:30 pm, until September 14

Place: 3818 Cool Gallery, 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 8688-2525

Power of positive inking: A joint exhibition of artists Jia Haoyi, Yang Gang and Li Geng shows the emotional charm of ink.

Abstract, expressionist ink works put forward that when the expression is more pure and forceful, the configurations become weaker and non-figurative.

Expressionist ink works do not focus on configurations with external details. Configurations are only the emotional symbol for artists.

Time: 10 am-7 pm, until September 15

Place: Creation Gallery, North end of Ritan Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 8561-7570

Cream of the art crop: A grand exhibition of the outstanding works of 2006 graduates from national fine arts institutes is sure to impress art lovers. It features 318 exhibits, including oil and ink paintings, sculptures, prints and synthetic material works.

Absorbing post-moder multi-cultural presentations, and academism, the young artists have developed their individual styles to explain trends, people, the world and nature.

Time: 9 am-5 pm, until September 16

Place: Today Art Museum, 9 Wenhuiyuan Bei Lu, Haidian District

Tel: 5862-1100

EVENTS

Made in India: The 2006 Made in India Expo will introduce consumer goods, iron and steel products as well as technology and service information from the neighbouring country in the Chinese market.

Time: 9 am-4 pm, September 8-11

Place: China International Exhibition Centre, 6 Beisanhuan Donglu

Tel: 8460-0000

Decoration art: More than 100 international art manufacturers and dealers will come to the China International Decoration Art Expo.

Domestic visitors will be introduced to new designs and products in the three exhibition halls.

Time: 9 am-4 pm, September 6-10

Place: National Agricultural Exhibition Hall, 16 Dongsanhuan Beilu

Tel: 6501-8877

(China Daily 09/02/2006 page8)