13 November 2017
On 11 November 2017, the first STA International Forum on Actor Training and Education opened at the New Space Theatre of the Shanghai Theater Academy (STA). Mr Gong Baorong, Vice President of STA, delivered the welcome speech. Mr. Tobias Biancone, Director General of International Theatre Institute, and Mr Yang Shaolin, President of Shanghai Theatre Association, delivered speeches in succession. They all affirmed the significance of the forum to the international theoretical circle of actor training and education, and expressed the hope that more new theories of actor training and education could be obtained from this forum for the purposes of cultivating different types of excellent actors and responding to the ever-changing trend of the times. The opening ceremony of the forum was presided over by Mr He Yan, Dean of STA’s Acting Department.
(Mr Gong Baorong, Vice President of STA, delivering welcome speech)
(Mr Tobias Biancone, Director-General of ITI, delivering speech)
(Mr Yang Shaolin, President of Shanghai Theatre Association, delivering speech)
(Mr He Yan, Dean of STA's Acting Department, presiding over opening ceemony)
The forum will discuss the “Current Situation and Development of Contemporary Actor Training and Education” and related topics during its three-day program. The forum will include five academic seminars, five workshops and a film screening.
After the opening ceremony, the thesis seminar in the morning was held, which was moderated by Mr He Yan, Dean of STA’s Acting Department, while the thesis seminar in the afternoon was moderated by Mr Zhang Hui, Dean of Performing Arts School, Beijing Film Academy. During the two seminars, a total of 11 domestic experts made presentations on and around the topic of the forum. They shared their own thoughts and considerations about the topic, speaking from either their own personal experience or the perspective of theoretical studies. During the Q&A session after the forum, the Chinese and foreign experts carried out enthusiastic discussions about the presentations given by the speakers.
(Speakers giving presentations)
From 6 pm to 9.30 pm, the Steve Dixon Workshop and Blandine Savetier Workshop were held at STA’s Physical Training Studio A. The workshops were moderated by Brian Kite, Dean of Theatre Department, University of California Los Angeles, and Adriano De Santis, Dean of Film Department, Fondazione Centro Sperimentale diCinematografia, Scuola Nazionale di Cinema, respectively. Mr Steve Dixon, who is Director of LASALLE College of the Arts, used two games to train the improvisation of actors. Ms Blandine Savetier, performing and directing artist from L'Ecole supérieure d'art dramatique du Théâtre national de Strasbourg, came in spite of illness and provided monologue training to five actors using her adopted piece “Snow”. The different methods of actor training were fresh and new to the guests, teachers and students. The active interaction between the audience and the two professions fully explained the significance of this forum.
(Workshops in progress)
The STA International Forum on Actor Training and Education has been initiated and founded by the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA), aiming to become a high-level platform for art universities, theatres and academic experts around the world to discuss the contemporary actor training and education practice, performing arts theory and actor training management. The forum is committed to promoting the common development of major art universities in the world through the integration of actor training and education resources. The purpose of the forum is to base on Asia and face the world, build a working network of major art universities and theatres in the world through the forum, and provide quality services for the cooperation and exchange among universities and between universities and theatres.
The forum of this year will include two types of activities, i.e. themed seminars and workshops, and focus on the current situation and development of actor training and education. It aims to explore a new road which is innovative, interactive and sustainable for today’s actor training and education. This not only adapts to the development trend of international exchange in actor training and education, but also is in line with the new pattern of teaching reform under China’s 13th Five Year Plan.
The STA International Forum on Actor Training and Education is a great occasion for the international actor training and education circle. It will consolidate and enhance the relationships among major art universities and renowned art groups in the world and achieve resource connection, high-end leadership and innovative interaction. At the same time, the sparks from the collision between the top masters of actor training and education around the world will also illuminate the way forward of exploring the actor training and education in the future.
With 39 academic experts from 23 top art universities and art theatres around the world coming to join, the forum of this year has received extensive support from art universities and theatre around the world and attracted wide attention internationally.
