July 4-11
Macau’s 11th biennial International Youth Dance Festival runs from July 4-11. The festival features indoor and outdoor dance performances by young adults from Asia, Europe, and North America aged 15 to 29 years old. The event kicks off with a dance parade stretching from the Ruins of Saint Paul’s to Senate Square at 5:30pm, July 5. All performances are free, but make sure to pick up tickets for the indoor events beforehand (details about ticketing will be available on the website later). For further details, call +853-2855 5533 or check out our Listings section.

July 5
Anyone interested in modern street dance should catch the final performance of the “Artist-in-Residence” Project at the Macao Cultural Centre. The project’s final performance, hosted by the Netherlands’ HSH Institute – dedicated to melding urban styles of dance, cartoons, video games, and film with classic theatre venues – is the climax of a two-week hip-hop workshop where artists from the Netherlands work with teenagers in Macau on street dance, break dance, martial arts, rap, and beat boxing. Though it’s too late to get in on the workshop, anyone interested can pick up a taste of the Macau Hip Hop movement at the July 5th, 8pm show. Tickets cost MOP60. Visit www.macauticket.com or call 2380 5083 to book.

July 11-13
Amsterdam’s Theatre Terra will perform their family musical, Little Donkey, at the Macao Cultural Centre’s small auditorium. The puppet show, involving life-sized Japanese Bunraku-styled animal puppets, navigates around the theme of friendship. Plot bits include the search for lost socks, Little Donkey being ditched by his buddies, and a misunderstood rapping stork. Cantonese performances will be held nightly from July 11-13 at 5pm, and there is an English performance on July 13 at 3pm. Visit www.macauticket.com or call 2380 5083 to book tickets. Tickets cost MOP140.

Until July 13
July 13 is the last day to catch Plato in the Land of Confucius, the Macao Art Museum’s (Av. Xian Xing Hai, S/N NAPE, Macau +853-8791 9882) exhibition of Greek art from Paris’ the Louvre. Pieces include Ancient Greek sculptures, metallurgy and ceramics, and are on display in Macau to reflect the Sino-French connections in anticipation of Beijing’s international Olympic events. Museum hours run Tuesday-Sunday from 10am to 6:30pm, closed Mondays. Admission price: MOP5 adults, MOP2, students with I.D.

July 25-26
Also at the Macao Cultural Center, the South Korean Yohangza Theatre will be performing a Korean interpretation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Directed by Jung-Ung Yang, the performance ties Shakespearean plots with traditional Korean music and Dokkebi Korean goblins. Notable twists on the old romantic comedy include the role-reversals of the fairy power-couple Oberon and Titania, the twinning of the mischievous Puck, and the replacement of Bottom with an old woman searching for ginseng. Tickets cost MOP140 for the 8 p.m. showings on July 25 and 26. Visit www.macauticket.com or call 2380 5083 to book tickets.

Cotai Option

Beginning July 1, Morton’s of Chicago (Shop 1016, The Grand Canal Shoppes, The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, Estrada Da Baia de N. Senhora da Esperança, s/n, the Cotai Strip, Taipa, Macau +853-8117 5000) will feature an on-going promotional steak and seafood menu (MOP788 plus 10% gratuity per person). The meal includes a choice of two from the colossal shrimp Alexander, jumbo lump crab cake, and the broiled sea scallops. The meal is also served with two single cut filets, a Morton’s signature potato, an order of fresh vegetables, and a romaine and iceberg lettuce salad or a Caesar salad. The fixed-price meal ends with a dessert choice between Morton’s legendary hot chocolate cake or key lime pie. Though Morton’s serves American fare, diners can enjoy the Italy-inspired atmosphere of The Grand Canal Shoppes complex in which it is located, replete with canals, gondolas, and replica streets.

Its schedule updated in June, the Cotai Strip CotaiJet is now ferrying travellers between the HK Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan and Macau’s Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal from 7am to 10:30pm – no longer ending trips at 5:30pm, the new timetable gives visitors an extra three-and-a-half hours to hop on the CotaiJet. Keep in mind, however, that night sailing (from 6-10:30pm) will cost you slightly more: a Cotai Class night trip costs $168 per person ($134 for a weekday trip); a Cotai First night trip will set you back $267 ($237 for a weekday ticket); and a night-time eight-person VIP Cabin costs $2,136 (the weekday rate runs at $1,888). All trips to Macau include a complimentary shuttle ride to the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel and the Cotai Strip. The jet departs every half hour from 7am to 7pm, then every hour from 7pm to 10pm. For a specific schedule, weekend and holiday rates, and online booking, visit http://cotaijet.com.mo/en/cotaijet/index.aspx or call 2359 9990 for more information.