An array of world-class performances are being staged in Shanghai, China’s most-fashionable city, as the month-long International Arts Festival (SIAF) began on October 19. 

Last week, the opening performance "Symphony Hidden Tapestries – Myths of Creation" portrayed the creation story of genesis from a Chinese perspective. The genesis stories are rooted in Chinese mythologies, such as Pangu Separates Heaven from Earth, Nvwa Mends the Heavens, Hou Yi Shot down Nine Suns, Chang'e Flying to the Moon, Great Yu Controls the Flood and more.

In its first visit to Shanghai for the past 70 years, the legendary New York City Ballet presented three of its classic works as choreographed by George Balanchine, retitled as the "Father of American Ballet", in the last three days.

For eminent Chinese Dancer Yang Liping, "Rite of Spring", which was staged from October 19 to 21, was her brave attempt to create a Chinese-style version of Igor Stravinsky's milestone piece.

Did you enjoy these masterpieces last week, or, are you sorry you missed them? Either way, make sure you check out the incredible events of October 22 to 28!

October 21 is the last chance to see Riccardo Chailly directing the "dream team" of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Since its founding in the summer of 2003, the seasonal orchestra has brought together stars of the classical music scene and regularly performs at the opening of the annual Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, which the orchestra reproduced this year in Shanghai.  

On October 22, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Juilliard String Quartet will give an American-style concert; and on October 23, Chinese opera "Painted Skin" will give its latest performance.

From October 24 to 28, each day will have an orchestral concert, except for October 25, which will feature a choir. Famous conductor Lv Jia will join hands with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Macao Orchestra; well-known conductor Simon Halsey will guide symphony choir Orfeó Català; 150-year-old Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra will cooperate with conductor Paavo Jarvi; Austria Camerata Salzburg will collaborate with popular French violinist Renaud Capucon; and Grammy-winning conductor Alan Gilbert will lead Germany's NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.

On October 21 and 22, "The Harvest" by the respected Polish Dance Theatre will perform a contemporary take on Polish folk customs and music; and on October 23, "Su Dongpo in Hainan" will show the exiled life of writer and politician Su Dongpo (1037-1101) in China's southern-most via Hainan folk song and dance.

Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, the "Bright Red Star" – an ode to the Agrarian Revolution between 1927-1937 – will appear on stage for the first time in the form of ballet. Staged from October 24 to 28, its brand-new visual style and mode of story-telling will revive the old story that has moved generations of Chinese.

The Australian Ballet will visit Shanghai from October 26 to 28 to perform "The Sleeping Beauty". Choreographed by Marius Petipa, styled as "the father of classical ballet", the performance is thought to be "extremely luxurious" in how it creates a gorgeous fairy tale world.

Wang Yangming (1472-1529) was an important Neo-Confucian philosopher and from October 23 to 24, Shaoxing Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe's latest opera "Wang Yangming" will portray how Wang grew to be a master in this field. 

Also on October 23, "Peking Opera Pei Shaojun and Li Qianjin" will tell a love story of an ancient couple who pursue free marriage in a society dominated by arranged marriage; and "The Story of Xu Village", based on a real story happened in Shanghai, focuses on the transformation of a village inside a fast-developing city.

"Oedipus" by the National Theater of Sibiu combines the greatest ancient Greek tragedies Oedipus and Oedipus at Colonus and will be performed from October 25 to 26; Edward Lam Dance Theater, from October 26 to 28, will perform the thought provoking "Why We Chat", a story depicting modern people's relationships with their cellphones and Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center will show its drama "In the Silence" from October 27 to 28.