21 May 2018

In order to train stage management talents with international standards, Shanghai Theater Academy (STA) and University of Southern California (USC) in the United States launched the "STA-USC Cooperative Training Program for Stage Management Talents" in 2017. Each year, the program selects outstanding students of STA's arts administration specialization to study stage management for one year at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. During the course, the STA students concerned are able to participate in the production of performances both inside and outside the campus in the same capacity as the USC students, and the credit points successfully completed are accepted for advanced standing for future study in the USA. USC School of Dramatic Arts is one of the Top 10 drama schools in the world. This cooperation is the pioneering initiative of systematic training of stage management talents with international standards in the entire Chinese higher education system.

(Working photo of stage management personnel)

With the progress of stage technologies and the emerging trend of cross-boundary integration of performance contents, the departments and technologies involved in a performance are increasingly more complex, which calls for the systematic training of stage management talents with international standards. In China, there are only a few colleges and universities that offer courses to train stage management talents, and it is even rarer to find stage management professionals who are familiar with the international production model and can reach the international production standard. Cultivating stage management talents has become an urgent need in the development of performing arts in China.

(STA students of arts administration specialization undertaking hands-on practice as part of their "Stage Technologies" course)

The training of arts administration talents at Shanghai Theater Academy has always adhered to the principle of emphasizing on both theoretical education and practical education, offering a number of theory-practice integrated courses such as “Performance Production”, “Theatre Management” and “Stage Technologies” etc. on the top of the traditional arts administration courses. STA carries out in-depth cooperation with leading performing arts companies, troupes and venues to provide students with practical production opportunities of various types and different scales aiming at training arts administration talents who truly apply what they learn in what they do.

The education standard of USC School of Dramatic Arts is internationally leading. Its stage management program also emphasizes on both theory and practice. In the complete school year while studying in the USA, the students lay a solid foundation of professional knowledge through the theoretical courses and develop the professional ability with international standards in stage management through participating in actual performance production at the school. STA and USC School of Dramatic Arts happen to coincide with each other on the talent cultivation concept. In fact, it was also the rich practical experience that has enabled the students who applied for the program to leave a deep impression with the stage management teachers of USC at the time of submitting the written materials and having the interviews. In the first year of the STA-USC cooperation on the international stage management program, all five Year 1 and Year 2 students who had applied for the program successfully passed the assessment and received the scholarships provided by USC School of Dramatic Arts.

In the future, through the regular and ongoing operation of this program, STA will strengthen the international exchange and continue to explore the training models for stage management talents in China. STA will also take the opportunity of this cooperation to promote the in-depth cooperation between the Chinese art universities and the top universities in the world in the field of arts administration, thereby, cultivating more professional talents of high quality for the sustainable and healthy development of the performing arts market in China.