Shanghai Ballet Brings Giselle to Long Island
The company's Sunday performance at Tilles Center kicked off a 2026 U.S. tour spanning 13 cities across eight states.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Dance
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The Shanghai Ballet performed the classical ballet Giselle at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on Long Island on Sunday night. The two-hour performance ended with prolonged applause and cheers from the audience.
Why it matters
The performance is part of a 2026 U.S. tour that runs from October 13 to November 12 and features two productions, Giselle and The Butterfly Lovers. The tour gives New York audiences a chance to see the company's work during a multi-state run.
The tour runs 13 cities across eight states from October 13 to November 12, 2026. Shanghai Ballet has performed nearly 100 shows in the United States since its first tour in 2002, and the source does not report attendance figures for the Long Island performance.
The players
Shanghai Ballet
Founded in 1979, the Shanghai Ballet is a major classical ballet company from China that has toured the United States since 2002.
Tilles Center for the Performing Arts
Tilles Center is a performing arts venue on Long Island that hosted the company's Sunday performance of Giselle.
The details
Giselle is a two-act romantic ballet about a young peasant girl's tragic love story. Sunday's performance at Tilles Center was one of the company's stops on its 2026 U.S. tour, which includes California, Arizona, New York, New Jersey and Virginia.
Timeline
Shanghai Ballet first toured the United States in 2002.
The 2026 U.S. tour began October 13, 2026.
Giselle was performed at Tilles Center on November 1, 2026.
The 2026 U.S. tour ends November 12, 2026.
Industry Dynamics
The 2026 tour extends a pattern of U.S. touring that began with Shanghai Ballet's first American tour in 2002, when the company started building its presence across the country. Nearly 100 U.S. performances since then place this run within a long-running effort to bring Chinese classical ballet to American audiences.
The tour runs from October 13 to November 12, 2026, with stops in California, Arizona, New York, New Jersey and Virginia. Audiences in those states can see Giselle or The Butterfly Lovers at the company's scheduled venues during that window.
The takeaway
Shanghai Ballet's touring schedule offers New York-area audiences a live chance to see a classical production that has been part of the company's repertoire since its founding decades ago. Checking the tour dates early can help readers plan around performances in nearby states.
What happens next
The tour continues through November 12, 2026, with stops in 13 cities across eight states.
Further reading
For more on touring productions like this one, browse Dance coverage on the site.
Source note: This article includes information reported by People's Daily, China.
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