A new dance center is set to open in the city next month, and it will host three original productions during the week-long National Day Holiday.

The Shanghai International Dance Center will open on October 1st with a four-hour long performance of Hamlet by the Shanghai Ballet Company and Derek Deane, former artistic director of the English National Ballet. The show made its local debut in April at the Shanghai Grand Theater, and was warmly received. It has been upgraded slightly for the new theater.

"The theater itself, the stage is in a wonderful size. So we are able to put the original production from the Shanghai Grand Theater. We are able to put it into the theater here. So I haven't had to change the structure or all of the piece," Derek Deane said.

The Shanghai International Dance Center will open on October 1st with a four-hour long performance of Hamlet by the Shanghai Ballet Company and Derek Deane, former artistic director of the English National Ballet.

Deane says the Shanghai production puts a lot of emphasis on the emotional expression and dramatic tension in the show, not just the choreography. And he speaks highly of Wu Husheng, the principal dancer at Shanghai Ballet who plays Hamlet in the show.

"I felt he had all the qualities also emotional quality at this point in his career now to be able to express the character Hamlet. So for me it's very very important to plan all the ballet around him, not just because his title but because this person who is mature and grown up."

The new Shanghai International Dance Center includes classrooms and studios for two major dance schools and two local dance companies. The center also has two performance theaters with the grand theater seating 1,080 people.

"The stage is well-designed and I felt it can compete with other theaters in the world. But we still need some time to feel comfortable with a new stage and for the theater it needs more stage works before the operation goes smoothly. I hope the theater will have a bright future."

Hamlet will run two days and the theater's first performance season will include two other original productions by the Shanghai Ballet Company, Romeo and Juliet and In the Mood for Love. The director of the troupe says they hope their productions will have long runs at the theater.

"We plan to hold our shows for one week in the future."

Some tickets for the three Holiday shows are still available.