28 October 2014
On 26 October 2014, the closing ceremony of the 4th Sino-EU Advanced Training Course in Cultural Management, which was sponsored by the Shanghai Theatre Academy and co-organized by the World Cities Cultural Collaborative Innovation Centre, was held at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
With the development and booming of cultural undertaking in China, the importance attached to the building and management of theatres continues to increase around China. It was against the background of increasing demand for high level talents in theatre management that the Shanghai Theatre Academy has held the first three such courses with great success since 2011 in conjunction with some of the famous universities and theatres as well as other organizations in Germany including the Freedom University Berlin and Ludwigsburg University. These courses have been highly regarded by the Ministry of Culture and internal and external professionals in theatre management.
This year, under the guidance of the Department of Arts of the Ministry of Culture, the Shanghai Theatre Academy held the 4th Sino-EU Advanced Course in Cultural Management in conjunction with a number of Germany organizations including the famous Schaubuhne Theatre.
This year’s training course provided an all-rounded analysis of the different theories and strategies in theatre management from the aspects of cultural transition, theatre management process, audience development, media relations, theatre aesthetics development, theatre criticism, theatre structural management, human resource management and marketing etc, bringing very comprehensive theoretical knowledge and practical structures to the students. The group discussions, report writing and opportunities for presentation and demonstration during the course all encouraged the students to apply what they learn to what they do and achieve the transformation from theoretical knowledge to practical capability. The training course arranged especially for the students to visit the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Shanghai Grand Theatre and STA Theatre for site visit and discussion. The students were able to express their views freely and have in-depth discussions about the practical issues in theatre management with the senior management representatives of the three theatres after which they put together the relevant reports and solutions.
This year’s training course attracted lots of attention within and outside the Shanghai Theatre Academy. The students included teachers and postgraduate students of the Shanghai Theatre Academy itself and other institutions as well as theatre management personnel of major arts organizations from Shanghai and other cities. The students expressed that the training course has not only deepened their theoretical knowledge, but also broadened their horizons in personal career development and resolving practical problems in actual work, thanking to the many highly stimulating and forward-looking case studies at the practical and operational level that the experts have brought to the training course.
