16 September 2017
At 1.30 pm on 15 September 15, the Shanghai Theater Academy 2017-2018 School Year Opening Ceremony was held in the STA Experimental Theatre. Leaders of the Shanghai Theatre Academy Lou Wei, Huang Changyong, Hu Min, Gong Baorong, Zhang Weiling and the heads of the colleges and departments attended the opening ceremony and took seat on the rostrum. The ceremony was presided over by Deputy Party Secretary Hu Min. All first year students enrolled in 2017 and the responsible persons of the colleges and departments and functional offices attended the opening ceremony.
This year a total of 647 new students were admitted to the STA family, including 478 undergraduate students, 148 graduate students and 24 international students, of which the oldest student is 58 years old and the youngest student is16 years old.
Before the ceremony formally began, a retired veteran teacher rang the bell of the old Hengbangqiao campus on the rostrum. The sound of the bell across the time and space brought the teachers and students back to the long history of the Shanghai Theatre Academy and created a strong atmosphere of deep feelings and solemnity for the opening ceremony. Four teachers Wang Su, Zhang Zhiyong, Xiao Ying and Xue Guanglei told, in poetic language, the glorious history of the development of the Shanghai Theatre Academy to all new students, conveying the strong family spirit of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, which gave rise to warm applause from the teachers and students time and again.
The ceremony officially began in the solemn and impassioned national anthem. The leaders of the Shanghai Theatre Academy put on the school badge for the representatives of the new students, and all other new students put on the school badge in their seat, formally affirming their possession of the honorable identity as a STAer.
Yao Anni, representative of the new undergraduate students from the Film and Television College, Stephen, representative of the new international students, and Du Yuqing, representative of the new graduate students, made a speech on the rostrum successively.
Qu Fengguo, a teacher of the Stage Design Department, spoke as a teacher representative, and he expressed his best wishes to the new students and teachers and shared his experiences of pursuing studies and memories of his teachers. He advised the students to have a clear artistic choice. Choice is meaningful as it leads to the most unique meaning in artistic creation in the future should it be on the stage, in front of the camera, in the museum or in the article between the lines of characters, and it also leads to the meaning of winning dignity on a continuous basis.
Huang Changyong, President of Shanghai Theatre Academy, made a speech at the opening ceremony. He first welcomed the new students and thanked the parents, teachers and staff. He specifically mentioned that the recruitment of the Tibetan acting class of 22 students this year and reviewed the Shanghai Theatre Academy’s honorable tradition of cultivating minority art talents. He talked about the relationship between art and life in the context of the history of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, made an analysis of the relationship between professional learning and artistic characters in the context of the current status of education, and expressed the relationship between idealism and realism in the context of the social reality. Finally, he hoped that the students can tap the potential, stand high and look far, shed light on the bustling world, and warm up the great times.
Last but not the least, there was the school flag handover ceremony. In the inspiring school anthem, Lou Wei, Chairman of Shanghai Theatre Academy, handed the school flag symbolic of the spirit of the Shanghai Theatre Academy to the representatives of the new students. All new students of Year 2017 stood up and solemnly took the oath facing the school flag, expressing the glorious dream and loyal faith held by the STAers in the pursuit of their cultural and artistic goals and objectives. Finally, all teachers and students stood up and sang the school song in chorus.
Then, the bell that goes across time and space rang again. The opening ceremony was concluded in the profound, inspiring and affectionate sound of bell.
