8 January 2018

On the morning of 4 January 2019, the 8th Winter Institute opened successfully at the Duanjun Theatre in the Huashan Road Campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA). President of STA Huang Changyong delivered a welcoming speech and Vice President of STA Yang Yang presided over the opening ceremony. This year’s Winter Institute is co-sponsored by the Shanghai Theatre Academy and five renowned universities in the United States, namely, the Brown University, Columbia University, MIT, New York University and Yale University.

President Huang Changyong first warmly welcomed the American professors and students who came all the way to participate in the Winter Institute. He also said that the Winter Institute is a traditional and platform type international exchange project, which invites professors from well-known overseas universities to join every year and offers a range of activities including lectures, workshops, exchange performances etc. He hoped that every participant of the Winter Institute will gain a lot from it. Professor Eric M. Glover and Professor Beth McGuire from the Yale University spoke on behalf of the American professors. First of all, they thanked all staff members of the Shanghai Theatre Academy who have been involved in the preparation and organization of this year’s Winter Institute. They said that they have never been to Asia, nor to China and Shanghai before and that they expect to learn about Chinese culture and have more exchange and communication with the students of the Shanghai Theatre Academy through the Winter Institute. Miao Yiqin, Maria and Tian Jiahui made speeches as the student representatives. Subsequently, the 10-day Winter Institute officially began. This year’s Winter Institute also has a major feature, that is, theatre crews from MIT and NYU have brought their productions, The Circle of Chalk and Richard III, respectively.

Since the establishment of the Winter Institute in 2012, it has been a cultural project of learning from each other and exchanging with each other, and it has been a brand project of the Shanghai Theatre Academy for eight years. It provides a rare opportunity for students to have exchange with professors and students from top American universities and also builds a platform for cooperation. It is an open project which provides Chinese and foreign scholars and artists with the opportunity to get together in Shanghai for exchange and learning and make contribute to the development of performing arts.