19 July 2018
On the morning of 14 July, the "2018 Shanghai Summer School (referred to as 3S Program for short) - Traditional Chinese Opera Program" sponsored by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and hosted by the Shanghai Theater Academy concluded successfully in the New Space Theatre at the Huashan Road Campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. 19 students from 10 countries, including the USA, India, Italy, UK, Australia, Bangladesh, Serbia, Russia, Columbia and New Zealand, staged the selected scenes of traditional Chinese opera "Autumn River", "Miss Julie", "The disciples of Confucius" and so on. Professor Gong Baorong, Dean of the STA International College, delivered a speech and presented the certificate of completion for all the students. Professor Gong Baorong spoke very highly about the reporting performance of the students, and was amazed and impressed by the fact that they were able to present such a wonderful performance of traditional Chinese opera in the short time of just three weeks. At the same time, he also expressed sincere thanks to all the teachers for their hard work during this period.
This year’s summer school commenced on 25 June for a period of 20 days. During the three weeks of learning and living at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, the students from various countries not only personally practiced the singing, speaking, acting and fighting of traditional Chinese opera, but also participated in a series of lectures or workshops including “An Introduction to Chinese Opera”, “Make-up and Costumes in Chinese Opera”, “Music in Chinese Opera”, “Comparison between Western Theatre and Traditional Chinese Opera” and so on. This theory-practice integrated learning model enhanced the students’ interest in Chinese opera and enabled the students to have a deeper understanding of Chinese traditional culture.
Besides, arrangements were also made for the students to visit the landmark buildings in Shanghai. On 30 June, the students made a day tour of the Bund, Yu Garden, Shanghai Film Museum and Tianzifang in Shanghai’s central districts, during which the students not only appreciated the modern charm of the city of Shanghai, but also experienced the graceful and restrained classical style of the gardens in the area south of the Yangtze River, and acquired a general understanding of the history of Shanghai film. On 9 July, the students went to the ancient towns of Qibao and Zhujiajiao for sightseeing where they toured the water towns south of the Yangtze River and also experienced the joy of taking the cruise boat.
The happy time is always short. At the end of the summer school, the students hugged each other to bid farewell, and all expressed that they would definitely try to find the opportunity to come back to Shanghai and come back to the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Learning and living together during the three-week summer school not only enabled the students from the different countries in the world to enhance their understanding and appreciation of Chinese opera and traditional culture, but also made the flowers of friendship bloom in the hearts of young people from around the world.
