Best bet

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Date: Nov 7－7: 30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 60－200 yuan

As a part of Chinese culture, "Nuo" (exorcism) is a mysterious and ancient original sacrificial rite. It is popular in such places as Jiangxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Guizhou, Anhui and the western mountainous areas of Hunan and Hubei, and has been listed in China Intangible Cultural Heritage. An actor wearing a mask of willow plays the god exorcising the plague in legends; the exorcism god uses repeated patterns with a great range of movements to perform dance actions. The performance is mostly held during fixed festivals with original dance styles.

Shen Wei Dance Arts Company Folding & Map

Date: Nov 12-13－7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-580 yuan

Folding was commissioned by the Guangdong Modern Dance Company and Shen Wei recreated the work for his own company in 2002. The work conjures-up a dreamlike, even surreal, world that is at once ancient and timeless. Dancers glide onto the stage space and amass as if suddenly called to partake in an ancient ritual, familiar and yet unknown. A downstage pendulum, barely moving, marks the slow unraveling of time. The costumes, white makeup, and glowing white floor, heighten the dance's sense of mystery and ritual. The work's large backdrop, painted by Shen Wei, is after an 18th-century Chinese watercolor by Bada Shanren.