The Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools Festival and Directors' Meeting 2024 was held this August at the National School of Drama in India. President Huang Changyong of the Shanghai Theatre Academy led a delegation to attend this grand event.
This meeting gathered many outstanding theatre schools from the Asia-Pacific region to deeply discuss the latest development trends and cooperation opportunities in the field of theatre education. Chittaranjan Tripathy, President of the National School of Drama in India, expressed sincere gratitude to Mr Huang Changyong for his outstanding contributions to the organization since taking office as the President of the Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools. In his speech as the President of the Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools, Huang Changyong fondly remembered the late former President Professor Abad and looked forward to the future blueprint of the Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools, emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural learning and career development.
The meeting conducted in-depth discussions on various topics, including the publication and dissemination of academic research, information sharing on international theatre festivals, the compilation of the APB handbook, and updates to the official website, reaching several important consensuses. During the meeting, Huang Changyong also convened members of the Executive Committee of the Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools to discuss the future development of the organization and the proposed amendments to the charter at the September meeting in South Korea, laying a solid foundation for the smooth conduct of subsequent activities of the organization.
Simultaneous with the Directors' Meeting, there were student performance activities. Theatre schools from different countries and regions brought wonderful workshops and performances, collectively painting a colorful artistic picture.
The immersive AI & MR opera "Daiyu Burying Flowers" by the Shanghai Theatre Academy was one of the performance projects. Under the guidance of Professor Zhang Jingping from the College of Creative Students at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, this performance project fully showcased the achievements of the integration of science and art at STA. Combining traditional Chinese opera with the latest artificial intelligence and spatial recognition technology, the performance broke the boundaries between reality and virtuality, allowing the audience to wander through the "Grand View Garden" in a real venue for interactive exploration while enjoying opera excerpts. Faculty and students from other schools lined up to participate in this experience and showed great interest, also sparking deep reflections on issues such as nonlinear narrative, virtual-real transformation, and virtual performance.
Teacher Xu Jiali from the Shanghai Theatre Academy conducted demonstration teaching from the perspective of the suggestive nature and dance-like performance of traditional Chinese opera, showcasing the unique charm of traditional Chinese theatre, which was well received by faculty and students from other schools. Meanwhile, faculty and students from the Shanghai Theatre Academy actively participated in workshops conducted by drama schools from countries such as India, Singapore, Japan and Indonesia. Through physical interaction, they experienced different theatrical traditions and performance methods, exploring the boundless possibilities of theatrical art.
Such cross-cultural exchanges greatly promote mutual understanding and respect among drama educators and students from different countries and regions. The Shanghai Theatre Academy and the National School of Drama in India also took this opportunity to engage in friendly inter-school exchanges. Both institutions believed that as ancient civilizations with rich and splendid histories, China and India should draw more nourishment from their cultural traditions, make their voices heard in the contemporary global theatre community, and explore their unique theatrical vocabularies. The two institutions also expressed their intention to sign a memorandum of understanding to advance their cooperation.
During the visit, Huang Changyong extended a warm invitation to the members of the Asia-Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools to attend the festival and directors' meeting scheduled for next year on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. This initiative aims to further advance the development of theatre education in the Asia-Pacific region and contribute to the exchange and mutual learning of civilizations among different countries.
