Recently, the 2024 “Dual Top Plan” Practical Training Course Across Theatrical Industry Chain, jointly established by Shanghai Theatre Academy and Shanghai Grand Theatre, was fully launched.
This course is a vital part of the "Development Project for Professional Degree Programs in Theatrical Arts" at Shanghai Theatre Academy. The "Dual Top Plan" refers to the joint cultivation of top theatre talents by a top art university and a top art institution.
The course aims to achieve the following objectives: to carry out comprehensive practical training for top-tier postgraduate students from professional degree programs in theatre, encompassing the full industry chain of "play-production crew-theatre".
The main content of this course is: 5+3+1. "5": Students participate in complete studies at several art institutions, attending five topical teaching sessions jointly run by the university and paired enterprise on-site at the art institution concerned; "3": Conduct three practical teaching sessions combining lectures with practice; "1": Conduct one workshop teaching that integrates learning and application.
After self-application by students, recommendations by departments and comprehensive selection, 27 postgraduate students from 10 specializations at STA were selected for this round of the "Dual Top Plan".
Wang Chen, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of Shanghai Grand Theatre, stated that Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai Theatre Academy have fostered mutual growth and achieved collective success over the years. In the process of building Shanghai as the best practice area for Xi Jinping's cultural thoughts, art institutions need to further play their roles, create a soft environment for urban cultural development, and bring the development of urban culture in line with international standards. Against this backdrop, training across the full industry chain becomes particularly important, as industry talents need to understand not only academia but also the industry, and to recognize the laws and trends of industrial development.
Wen Tao, deputy director of the Graduate School of Shanghai Theatre Academy, and Dong Feng, a professor of Arts Management, expressed that the realization of the "Dual Due Plan" requires a "strong alliance" between Shanghai Grand Theatre and Shanghai Theatre Academy, as well as the active participation of students, so as to turn the vision of the "Dual Top Plan" into reality with concerted efforts, providing valuable experience for the cultivation of talents at STA.
Jointly establishing such as course with top theatre troupes is an innovative measure in the graduate education reform of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. This course focuses on the systematic reform and construction of comprehensive practical training across the full industry chain of "play-production crew-theatre" for top graduate students from professional degree programs in theatrical specializations, seizes the "key point" of the circular interaction and deep connection between practice and theoretical knowledge through integrating the practical teaching in the talent cultivation of postgraduate students in professional degree programs in main specializations, reconstructs the multiple partnerships among art universities, art institutions and cultural enterprises, conducts systematic reform and practice in aspects such as the forms of professional theatrical knowledge, course concepts, teaching media, faculty composition and evaluation methods, enhances the value of interdisciplinary comprehensive practical teaching, activates the positive energy in students’ joint creation of stage productions, and improves the high-quality cultivation of top innovative talents in theatre.
