Fall Only
Program Overview
Are you ready for something outside “the box”?
Acting in Shanghai is for you.
Shanghai, one of the most exciting and influential cities in the world, offers a rich artistic heritage and the perfect backdrop for you to incorporate the Eastern approach to acting with the Western style you know so well.
We’ve partnered with the Shanghai Theatre Academy, one of the most prestigious art institutes in China, to offer a unique immersion. All actors enroll in an advanced studio track consisting of training in drama or design and technical theatre. Additionally, students engage in intensive study of Mandarin and take a lecture course on Chinese arts and culture conducted in English.
You live in residential housing provided at the academy and before long you will find yourself comfortable navigating the streets of Shanghai, ordering in Chinese from a menu at your favorite restaurant, and certainly returning to the United States with training that sets your apart from your peers.
Program Curriculum
Your semester abroad consists of your core program curriculum and two
additional companion courses, completing a full-time, 18-unit semester:
Prerequisites: Four semesters of studio training or equivalent.
Acting in Shanghai
8 units | Shanghai Theatre Academy
The Chinese acting program is based on the work of Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky and other innovative acting styles, with the poetic and stylized movements of traditional Chinese theatre as another major element in the training. Traditional actor training in Chinese opera normally comprises four parts—singing, speaking, gesturing, and fighting—but the emphasis in this course is mostly on stylized and highly expressive movement, aiming to equip students with the physical and intellectual skills, along with the psychorealistic method of Stanislavsky, to perform drama as well. This course encompasses Stanislavky’s approach with other contemporary Western voice and acting techniques, including experimental theatre director Jerzy Grotowski and epic theatre techniques of Bertolt Brecht. The eclectic movement training incorporates Tai Chi and movement drilling in steps, arms, fingers, and eyes. Scenes from Greek tragedies and William Shakespeare, to Tennessee Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Harold Pinter, as well as traditional Chinese opera and modern Chinese classics are staged. Students can also select a Chinese play translated to English for their final performance. Studio training is conducted in English and takes place on campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Introduction to Mandarin
6 units | Shanghai Theatre Academy
Designed for beginners, this course introduces learning phonetics and use of the Pinyin romanization system. The focus is on listening and speaking exercises, supplemented with reading and writing lessons of the most essential characters. The main objective is for students to develop oral communication skills to help them overcome language barriers in their major theatre courses.
Arts and Culture of China
4 units | Shanghai Theatre Academy
This interdisciplinary course examines the cultural and arts traditions of China and how traditions have been adapted into modern day contemporary life as the country emerges to the forefront of the international arts and political scene. The course is supplemented with guest lecturers, field trips, and visits to artists’ workshops and museums in and around Shanghai.
