All the world’s a stage

Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of China and organized by the Shanghai municipal government, the 14th Shanghai International Arts Festival (SIAF) will take place from October 18 to November 20.

This year's festival will feature 46 performances, with 23 from China and 23 from abroad. There will also be forums on various themes and more than 10 art exhibitions.

In previous years, overseas shows have generally dominated the festival program and this is the first time that an equal number of homegrown productions are being staged. 

Artistic collaborations

Another important breakthrough for this year's festival is the inclusion of the Young Artists Support Project, providing funding for young artists to create original dramatic works, while establishing contacts and collaborations with various art festivals around the world with the intention of promoting the best in new Chinese theater.

Agreements have already been reached with the Avignon Theatre Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Salzburg Arts Festival, and the Melbourne Art Festival, which will all play host to productions after they have been staged at SIAF.　

Liu Wenguo, the director of the organizing committee of SIAF told the Global Times: "Promoting domestic original productions and helping Chinese artists to stage their works outside the country is an important future development for SIAF. And co-productions between Chinese and foreign artists is another important development for us."

This year's opening and closing performances at the festival are both testament to this new direction.　

Pucini's opera, La Bohème is a co-production between the Shanghai Grand Theatre and Salzburg Arts Festival. The opening show will be performed from October 18 to 20 at the Shanghai Grand Theatre and will feature actors from not only Salzburg and Shanghai, but also from Spain and Israel.

The closing performance of SIAF on the night of November 20 is a concert given by the pianist Lang Lang alongside the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra from Russia conducted by Valery Gergiev.

A similar concert will take place on November 14 and 15 at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center (SOAC), featuring the young Chinese pianist Wang Yujia and the San Francisco Symphony from the US. Works by Beethoven and Mahler will be among those performed. A third such pairing will see the Chinese cellist, Wang Jian joined by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the Russian conductor, Vladimir Ashkenazy. This concert takes place on October 24 at the SOAC.

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will share the stage with the Choir Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival from Germany for a concert on October 27, also at the SOAC.

The famous dancer and choreographer Yang Liping, who is now in her fifties, will present her farewell performance at SIAF before retiring. The Peacock relates the tale of two peacock birds falling in love.

When discussing the creation of the work, Yang Liping said that she wanted to create a unique Chinese dance drama that did not borrow from Western traditions such as ballet. "In the way that Swan Lake is a signature representation of Western dance, I would hope that The Peacock could assume a similar status in the Eastern canon," Yang said at the premiere of the show in Kunming, Yunnan Province. The Peacock will be staged from October 31 to November 2 at the SOAC.

A Chinese-language version of Shakespeare's classic drama, Richard III (November 2 to 4, Shanghai Art Theater) is presented by the National Theatre Company of China from Beijing. Local elements will include a rice-paper backdrop, Han-Dynasty (206BC-220AD) style costuming, and the performing conventions of traditional Chinese opera.

Character building

A large exhibition exploring written Chinese characters takes place from November 6 to 18 at the Shanghai Mass Art Center. The show will outline the origins and evolution of Chinese characters. Chinese characters are believed to have originated in Henan Province and the exhibition is part of the Henan Culture Week at this year's SIAF from November 5 to 11.

One of the overseas highlights this year is the modern dance work La Dame aux Camellias (The Lady of the Camellias, November 3 and 4, Shanghai Grand Theatre) by the Stuttgart Ballet, a company that has been at the forefront of international dance for more than 50 years. Also from Germany is the Dresden Symphony Orchestra which will be performing works by Wagner and Bruckner at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on October 30 and 31.

An exhibition exploring "pop art," and entitled Everyone is an Artist (October 26 to November 18, Halcyon Gallery, Pudong New Area) will feature original works from such iconic artists as Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan.

For a detailed schedule of the 14th Shanghai International Arts Festival, please visit http://www.artsbird.com/en/