19 November 2018
On 16 November 2018, the 2nd STA International Forum on Actor Training and Education was held at Shanghai Theater Academy. 51 participants from the theatre masters’ art institutions, top art schools, famous theatres and art creation companies from all around the world will have a three-day discussion focusing on the theme of “Inheritance and Innovative Development" of acting methods that have influenced various countries in the 20th and 21st centuries. By studying the formation and development of these acting methods and analyzing their external characteristics and internal laws, the forum aims to achieve the goal of promoting the innovative development of actor training and education at present.
At 8:30 am, the opening ceremony of the forum was held at the New Space Theatre of Shanghai Theatre Academy. Professor He Yan, Dean of the Acting Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy, made a speech, showed the promotional video Shanghai Theatre Academy for all participants and presided over the opening ceremony. Zhou Yin’e, Deputy Party Secretary of Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Yang Shaolin, chairman of Shanghai Theatre Association, delivered speeches respectively.
Subsequently, the launch ceremony of the new “Series of Books on Acting Techniques of Theatre Masters in the 20th Century” was held and presided over by Professor He Yan. Professor Ye Changhai, Director of the Academic Committee of Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Wu Yun, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of China Theatre Publishing House, delivered the speeches. After the ceremony, all the leaders and guests moved to the Foxi Building of Shanghai Theater Academy for a group photo.
At 9:30 a.m., the first academic seminar of the forum was held at the New Space Theatre, with Professor He Yan acting as the academic moderator. Researchers from four world-renowned universities in the United States and Estonia reported on Stanislavsky System, Demidov Technique and Lee Strasberg's Method respectively.
At 1:30 p.m., the second academic seminar started on time with the presentation by Yang Junlei, a member of the Higher Education Teaching Steering Committee of the Ministry of Education. A total of seven experts and scholars from the United States, Britain and Poland covered Meisner Technique, Michael Chekhov Technique, Viewpoints, Meyerhold's Biomechanics and Jerzy Grotowski Technique respectively. There was a lively atmosphere during the Q&A session after the presentations.
At 6 p.m., two workshops were hold in the No.1 Training Studio of Shanghai Theater Academy. With the introduction by President Zhang Hui of Beijing Film Academy as the moderator, two experts from Florida State University and Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in the United States demonstrated the acting methods of Demidov and Lee Strasberg successively, bringing a new and different type of workshop to all participants.
The agenda of the first day of the forum was successfully concluded.
