Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) is a comprehensive university of performing arts, with the focus on theatre training and studies and a history of 70 years. Co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of China and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, and reporting to the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, STA is one of the best art institutions of higher education in China. After decades of development, STA has grown from a single discipline school into an outstanding comprehensive university of performing arts in China.
There are three STA campuses located on Huashan Road, Lianhua Road, and Hongqiao Road, respectively. In STA there are four departments (Department of Acting, Department of Stage Design, Department of Directing, and Department of Dramatic Literature), and four colleges (College of Chinese Opera, College of Dance, College of Film & Television, and College of Creativity Studies). Besides, there are two key national professional pre-college schools affiliated to STA: the Chinese Opera School and the Dance School. There are also College of Continuing Education, the Training Center, and an affiliated High School of Arts.
The Academy provides undergraduate programs in 37 specialties under three main categories of literature, management and education, covering 12 majors of Acting, Directing, Theatre/TV/Film Design, Art Design, Playwriting and Screenwriting, Broadcasting and TV Hosting, TV & Film Programming and Directing, Choreography, Public Administration, Arts Education, Media Creativity, and Composition and Theories. STA has six master’s degree programs in Theatre Studies, Broadcasting and TV Studies, Arts Studies, Dance Studies, Cinema Studies, and Painting Studies, one doctorate degree program in Theatre Studies with 8 research areas, and one post-doctoral research center in Arts Studies.
At STA, Theatre Studies is rated as a state-level key discipline, and Broadcasting and TV Studies as a key discipline in Shanghai. In recent years, the majors of Stage Design, Dramatic Literature and TV & Film Programming and Directing have grown into state-level majors, and many courses have been listed as municipal-level key courses. In addition, STA has set up several national experimental studios of creative training, laboratories co-funded by the central and local governments, and a key laboratory in Shanghai.
STA has about 2000 undergraduate students, 500 master and PhD students, and 1000 students in the two professional pre-college schools. On the campus there are two professional theatres – the Academy Theatre and the Duanjun Theatre – for all kinds of educational practices and formal performances. The New Space and the two Black Box studios are used for the free experimental performances of modern drama. In addition, there are also two performing studios for comprehensive rehearsing, and two studios for the educational practices of film and TV, which can satisfy all kinds of needs for education, research and students’ performance. The three campuses all have their own specialized classroom buildings, multifunctional comprehensive classroom buildings, and information centers. The digital teaching and management platforms can connect different campus. Our students also enjoy the good living conditions offered by the students’ dormitory, the dining halls, the gymnasium and all kinds of sports facilities.
STA has cultivated thousands of artists in various professional fields for the country, and many of the graduates have become leading experts and artists with national and international reputation in the fields of drama, Chinese opera, film & TV, dance, literature and fine arts. Meanwhile, the academy has also cultivated a large number of talents for cultural management, who are now working in important posts in art institutions home and abroad, as well as in related government agencies. STA is also contributing to the art education for the minorities in China. It has trained five acting classes for Tibet students in turn, and the graduates formed the first modern drama troupe in Tibet. STA has trained one acting class for Inner Mongolia students, and the graduates formed the first modern drama troupe in Inner Mongolia. Besides, there is also one diploma program for minority scriptwriters in China, three stage art classes for Tibet students, and several classes on acting, directing and stage design for the minorities in the provinces of Guangxi, Yunnan, Qinghai and Xinjiang. In the process of development STA has extended its previous teaching model the integrating teaching, creation and performance into the chain of ideas, teaching, creation, performance, research and promotion for training acting talents, which responds to the process of artistic creation and production.
Based on the demand for art talents in Shanghai and China, as well as for the academy’s sustainable development, STA will constantly optimize its academic programs and improve the teaching capacity to build a training system for high-quality creative talents, so as to develop into a top-level comprehensive performing arts university with international reputation.
URL: www.sta.edu.cn/