On 10 September, the Shanghai Theatre Academy Opening Ceremony 2024 was held at the Experimental Theatre. The event was attended by academy leaders, department heads, faculty representatives, and all new students of the 2024 cohort. Xu Yong, Deputy Party Secretary and Vice President, presided over the ceremony.
"This is a list of newly admitted students from the Shanghai Municipal Experimental Theatre School in 1947. Just like everyone present here, they also came from all corners of the world, even from across the ocean."
At the ceremony, Teacher Xiong Mengchu took the stage first, passionately recounting the inspiring stories of the pioneers who founded the academy and their efforts in advancing Chinese theatre education. She led all the new students in a "transcending time and space" recitation of the academy's educational goals, alongside a synthesized AI version of President Xiong Foxi. Every word resonated powerfully, echoing through the Experimental Theatre.
At this moment, history and the future converged. 970 new students of the 2024 cohort embarked on a new chapter of their lives, filled with hope and anticipation.
Six student representatives from different departments - Yang Haoyu, Xu Lingxue, Meng Lingqi, Zhai Yanshu, Guo Liwen and Roman Olavarria - shared their personal experiences of choosing the academy and envisioning their futures, each using keywords like "most mature", "most interdisciplinary", "most hardcore", "highest score", "most determined" and "most distant". Yang Haoyu, a doctoral student in the Acting Department (including the Musical Theatre Center), is the oldest among the new students and an "old hand" at the academy. As the "most mature" new student, he expressed that returning to his alma mater for further studies is because an artist must always maintain the attitude of "learning to maturity even as one lives to maturity", striving for excellence and perfection in their professional field.
Professor Li Zhenlin, Dean of the College of Film, spoke as the faculty representative. He quoted masters like Gu Zhongyi, Xiong Foxi and Yu Qiuyu, who made significant contributions to the academy, using their words as opening remarks. Drawing from his own experiences, he encouraged the students by saying, "An artist initially competes with skills and culture, but ultimately, it is character that matters."
Wang Yang, an alumnus and actor at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, sent his blessings to the new students. He shared his thoughts and insights from his acting career through five keywords: "learning", "work practice", "choices", "self-perception" and "love". He said, "Everyone's blooming season is different; some people start to flourish very early. Some people are like winter sweet, only after enduring the cold winter can they exude a lasting, subtle fragrance."
This year, the academy has appointed 30 teachers as home room teachers for the 2024 undergraduate cohort. Hu Min, Deputy Party Secretary, read out the “Decision on Appointing Home Room Teachers for the 2024 Undergraduate Freshmen of Shanghai Theatre Academy”. The new home room teachers stepped onto the stage to receive their appointment letters.
Deputy Party Secretary and President Huang Changyong delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He cited the increasingly common phenomenon of graduate students choosing interdisciplinary majors and encouraged students to organically combine their original educational backgrounds while crossing disciplines, bringing new perspectives to the field of art. Huang Changyong emphasized the impact of artificial intelligence on art education, stressing the importance of art education and innovation in the context of new technologies. “The future of theatre will certainly be based on inheriting the excellent traditional Chinese culture, absorbing the essence of world culture, rooting in China, and creatively transforming and innovatively developing in the context of new technologies".
During the flag handover ceremony, four senior student representatives marched onto the stage and handed the Shanghai Theatre Academy flag to Party Secretary Xie Wei. Xie Wei received the flag and solemnly passed it to the representative of the 2024 freshmen. As the flag was unfurled, all the 2024 freshmen faced the flag and made a loud pledge:
I am a freshman of the 2024 cohort at Shanghai Theatre Academy;
On the occasion of the school opening, I solemnly swear:
Today, I officially become a member of Shanghai Theatre Academy;
I will harbor great ambitions and carry the spirit of the academy;
Love the country, be ambitious, and be diligent and hardworking;
Seek truth and excellence, pursue the best and the most beautiful;
Firmly believe in cultural confidence, uphold good tradition and be bold to innovate;
Uphold artistic ideals, and strive for excellence in both virtue and art;
Aspire to become a new generation that shoulders the responsibility of national rejuvenation;
Today, I am proud of Shanghai Theatre Academy;
Tomorrow, Shanghai Theatre Academy will be proud of me.
It is worth mentioning that the voice and image of former President Xiong Foxi presented at this opening ceremony were restored by a student startup team incubated by the Shanghai Theatre Academy, through training an AI model. The team accurately captured Mr Xiong's vocal characteristics and tonal changes from a recording of his voice during his lifetime. When the voice that seemed to transcend time and space echoed in the ceremony venue, every teacher and student present felt a deeper sense of inspiration and encouragement from the depths of history.
