Updated Info on UNESCO-ITI Chair APB and 2009 Theatre Schools Expo 12/05/2009

On March 9-19，William Huizhu Sun of China’s Shanghai Theatre Academy and Director of UNESCO-ITI Chair Asian-Pacific Bureau，visited NIDA and VCA of Australia，NSD of India，and the Centre for Practical Workshop and Professtional Training in Performance，Vietnam.

On March 14，William Sun and Anuradha Kapur of India’s National School of Drama and Chair of the Board of UNESCO-ITI Chair Asian-Pacific Bureau，had a day long meeting. They discussed various issues concerning the upcoming June Expo in Shanghai and future activities of APB，and decided to co-write a letter to all APB member schools’directors and related parties on the APB Expo and the agenda of the APB Member School Directors Conference during the Expo. The following is the combination of their discussions and the updated info STA has so far confirmed about Expo activities.

    1）  12 productions from theatre schools and theatre companies have been confirmed to participate in the UNESCO-ITI Chair APB Theatre Schools Expo/Fifth Shanghai International Experimental Theatre Festival，with two/three performances each，from June 6 to 11.

    2）  7 groups have been confirmed to participate in themed workshops. Each workshop presentation will be 30 minutes long.
STA will present 4 workshops and a master class on traditional Chinese performance styles and their use in new works.
India’s NSD will present 1 or 2 workshops and a master class on traditional Indian performance styles.
There will be a seminar session following the rest of the themed workshops.

    3）  The Theatre School Directors Conference of UNESCO-ITI Chair Asian-Pacific Bureau will be held in the mornings of June 9-10. Up to now，we have confirmed that school director/representatives from Australia，Korea，Hong Kong，India，Iran，New Zealand，Philippines，Vietnam，and NCCTA （Beijing）and STA（Shanghai）will attend the conference. Following the discussions between Sun of China’s STA and Kapur of India’s NSD，the agenda items will include：

    a. As India’s National School of Drama hosts an international festival every year in January and the scale of this festival is large with more than 50 Indian groups and 15 international groups participating in it，it would be possible for the NSD to host an Asia-Pacific Bureau Theatre Schools’Section in it in the future. This Drama Schools’section would be attached along with the festival that we usually host. （The Centre for Practical Workshop and Professtional Training in Performance in Vietnam may propose to host another one in four years.）s
    b. An APB website with its own activities and all member schools’info need to be further discussed，ideally with one school taking charge and each member school assigning a correspondent responsible for providing its own info.
    c. Bilateral tutor exchanges as well as student exchanges for short courses may be brought on the agenda of the future.
    d. A module for summer schools that addresses the need of students from different cultures wanting an introduction to the theatre culture of another country from our region may be collectively initiated. The funding details of such an enterprise will need to be worked out.

    4） Schedule of Day One of the Expo，June 6，2009：
    Press Conference           16：30 pm   
    Opening Ceremony           17：30 pm   
    Reception                  18：00 pm   
    Performance from Taipei    19：15 pm