15 January 2019
In the cold and humid winter of 2019, the 8th Winter Institute was held at the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) in a warm and enthusiastic atmosphere. Seemingly touched by the enthusiasm of young students for drama, on the last day of the Winter Institute, the first sunshine of 2019 finally shined into the STA Huashan Road Campus.
Compared with previous years, this Winter Institute of this year has several new characteristics. Firstly, both Party Secretary of STA Lou Wei and President of STA Huang Changyong gave lectures for the Winter Institute, which showed the importance that the STA leadership had attached to the Winter Institute and their strong support for it. Secondly, the Winter Institute featured “heavy weight” guest speakers. Nine foreign professors from the Brown University, Columbia University, MIT, New York University and Yale University and ten professors from STA and specially invited guests conducted ten lectures and eight workshops. One of the biggest names was Professor David Henry Hwang of the Columbia University, who is the most famous professional playwright and professor in mainstream theatre in the United States that STA has invited to the Winter Institute so far. Last but not the least, another feature was that in addition to Professor Tan Dun's performance at the Water Heavens, this year’s Winter Institute arranged for the first time a performance section of students' works. The two student works performed this time were brought by MIT and NYU, both of which were well received by the audience.
As Professor Richard Lester, Associate Provost of MIT, and Lou Wei, Party Secretary of STA, said at the closing ceremony, we should not reduce exchange and cooperation between the two sides despite the trade war between China and the USA. On the contrary, we should enhance mutual understanding and seek common ground while reserving differences through various channels and ways. While adhering to the common concept of values, we should retain our own characteristics and respect each other's differences. In this front, theatre should be one of the most important and effective ways.
