Best bets

Martha Graham Dance Company

Date: Oct 30-31 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

Martha Graham's revolutionary vision and artistic mastery has had a deep and lasting impact on American art and culture. Her bold use of socially infused subjects and emotionally charged performances single-handedly defined contemporary dance as a uniquely American art form, which the nation has in turn shared with the world. Graham's creativity crossed artistic boundaries and embraced every artistic genre. She collaborated with and commissioned works from the leading visual artists, musicians, and designers of her day. Graham's groundbreaking style grew from her experimentation with the elemental movements of contraction and release. By focusing on the basic activities of the human form, she enlivened the body with raw, electric emotion. The sharp, angular, and direct movements of her technique were a dramatic departure from the predominant style of the time.

Chapterhouse Theatre Company: Sense and Sensibility

Date: Oct 30-Nov 4 - 2 pm/7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Join Chapterhouse Theatre Company this summer as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood make their first forays into the exciting world of Regency society. Adapted by award-winning writer Laura Turner, this exquisite and lively tale follows the sisters as they fall in love, make mistakes and experience heartbreak for the first time in their quest to find a balance between sense and sensibility. In the Winter of 1999, Chapterhouse Theatre Company took its first steps toward becoming one of a number of touring theater companies specializing in performing under the stars and at 20 some of the most beautiful gardens the UK had to offer. The very first performance was at Herstmonceux Castle where the company performed Romeo and Juliet by the moat of the beautiful Tudor building. It was the start of an incredible 17 years which has seen the company go from strength to strength changing and adapting to new audiences and challenges every year but holding the same principals of producing warm, traditional and hopefully magical theater in magical surroundings.