The autumn course of “Directing Talent Training” under the Art Talent Training Project 2017 of the National Art Fund was opened in the Shanghai Theatre Academy in October. Funded by the National Art Fund, this course is a national-level directing talent training program, which runs for three weeks finishing on 3 November. The directing talent training course has set up a systematic curriculum with rich content including theory and practice, and aims to improve the students’ overall ability of creation in theatre directing in different ways and from different angles.
This fall course is a further deepened program on the basis of the concentrated course in the summer, It focuses on training the students’ practical ability and aims to urge the students to, in the creation practice, timely digest and absorb the knowledge and skills acquired from the concentrated teaching and training, and enable them to better apply the things they learn, timely discover and resolve problems, and improve their ability.
This will not only consolidate the effect of the concentrate training in the first phase and ensure the quality of teaching, but also closely align the purpose of holding the training program with the fundamental goal of talent training in theatre directing which is to "produce qualified talents and launch quality works”.
After the concentrated summer course, the master class assigned a creation task to the students. It was required that after return to their respective professional companies/troupes or universities/colleges, the students should creatively apply the methods, techniques and artistic inspiration acquired from the master class to their own artistic practice in light of their own situation respectively. They should carry out the relevant artistic creation and each of them should complete one theatre production. During the period from July to September, the master class sent a team of senior experts to the various locations to check the productions of some of the students and provide targeted guidance and discussions.
The fall course carries out the in-depth practical training based on the full practice of all students. The course mainly comprises five parts, namely, (1) lectures, (2) exchange and report sessions (3) observation and discussion, (4) workshop-based training and (5) creation guidance.
The lectures will be given by Professor Lu Ang and Professor Zhang Zhongnian of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, as well as the artists from Gob Squad, the leading crossover art group in Europe, and Ms Hui Minli, Director of Yisu Troupe, national first class actor and winner of Plum Blossom Award.
The exchange and report sessions will be for presenting all productions completed by the students via recorded videos or live performances. The students will also speak about their creation process. All students will participate in the exchange to share their experience and discuss their confusion. Then, the experts will provide detailed comments and analysis.
The observation part of the course will include the observation of two heavyweight performances (i.e. “Yishushe”, a large modern Qinqiang opera, and “Battlefield” directed by Peter Brook, famous international director) of the 19th China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF), followed by an academic seminar led by Mr Zhang Wenjun, editor-in-chief of Shanghai Theatre Magazine, for an in-depth exploration of the artistic techniques and creative features of the Qinqiang opera “Yishushe” to enable the students to think further and learn the excellent directing techniques on the basis of observing an excellent production. At the same time, the students will also be able to observe all of the performances during the week-long performance season of “R.A.W! Land” as part of the 19th CSIAF.
As for the demonstration of workshop-based training by foreign experts, the organizing committee has also specially invited Miguel Santa Rita, teacher and director of the Televisa Acting School of Mexico’s Art Education Centre, and artists from Gob Squad, to provide the students with the workshop-based training on actors training and creation of crossover performing arts.
In terms of the practical guidance by foreign experts, Rita (i.e. the director from Mexico) will also guide the students with the production of Juan Cabello’s “I Come to Say”, which will be staged for a reporting performance on the evening of 28 October. This production will also be participating in next year’s International Arts Festival for University Students to be held in Mexico.
In short, the autumn course of directing talent training will provide the students with international creation concepts and techniques, provide an effective check on the students’ productions in a targeted way and in multiple dimensions, upgrade the students’ creation ability, and ensure a more significant effect for the directing talent training project.
