1 December marked the 70th anniversary of Shanghai Theatre Academy. In the early morning, alumni from across the country came back to the campus to celebrate the 790t birthday of STA together with the teachers and students of STA.
The celebration ceremony began in the impassioned national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. The flag-bearer squad comprising of the representatives of undergraduate students, postgraduate students, ethnic minority students, alumni, international students and students of advanced study programs raised the national flag of the People’s Republic of China as well as the school flag of STA.
A special proceeding of the celebration ceremony was to ring the school bell of STA. The school bell which has accompanied the teachers and students at the old Hengbangqiao campus was struck by the old employees of STA. The 70 strikes of the bell was symbolic of the 70 years of glorious history of STA. In the sound of the bell, the earnest entrust of Xiong Foxi, Gu Zhongyi and other founders of STA resounded reminding the teachers and students of STA to not forget the history and not forget the original intention of the establishment of STA.
The 70th anniversary celebration meeting began in the collective poetry “STA, We Deeply Love You”. The meeting was chaired by STA President Han Sheng. STA Party Secretary Lou Wei delivered an important speech. Alumni representative Xu Ling who is now President of Central Academy of Drama and Director-General of International Theatre Institute Tobias Biancone also delivered speeches.
At this year’s anniversary celebration, apart from the alumni cards and memorial books, the STA administration also prepared ingeniously the ‘red bricks” with the STA logo. These bricks will be later laid up in the wall of the new academic building at STA’s new campus, thus making he “signature wall” worthy of the name. The alumni enthusiastically signed their names on the bricks and understood to add to the future development of STA on an ongoing and continuous basis.
