Drama students from China and South Africa performed at the BRICS+ Theater Schools Festival

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From June 1 to 8, the International RUSSIA EXPO is hosting the VII International Festival of Theater Schools of BRICS+ countries with the participation of Russian artists and cultural figures, children's choreographic groups and soloists, as well as representatives of theater schools from India, China, South Africa, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Belarus. On June 2, as part of the festival program, the Exposition hosted acting masterclasses and performances from the Waterfront Theater School (South Africa) and the Shanghai Theater Academy (China).

Despite the difference in cultures and language barriers, the participants of the masterclass — students of theater schools and guests of the RUSSIA EXPO — understood perfectly what they were being taught and grasped the essence of what was going on literally on the fly. After all, acting is largely based on the universal language of gestures, images, movements, emotions and moods.

"It seems to me that the idea of the Festival, which belongs to our honorary professor Valentin Teplyakov, is developing, because the participants of the Festival are united by a common activity: they are all theater students. And even if they don't know each other's language, they speak the same language mentally," said Dmitry Tomilin, Rector of the Kobzon Institute of Theater Art.

Theater schools of different countries sometimes are quite unlike each other, so theater students always have something to learn from their foreign colleagues.

"The theater schools of China and South Africa combine the traditions of Russian and European theater, and are also supplemented by national peculiarities. For example, in South Africa many things are based on fairy tales and so-called storytelling, while in Chinese theater schools, students study Stanislavsky and the rich traditions of Beijing Opera, and so on. That is why the performances of our foreign guests are very spectacular," said Alexei Shumilin, the Chief Director of the BRICS International Festival of Theater Schools, Deputy Head of the Department of the Kobzon Institute of Theater Art.

Masterclasses and shows within the Festival contribute not only to the cultural rapprochement of the BRICS countries, but also to the strengthening of friendly and professional ties between Russian and foreign student youth, as well as a deeper study of the features of theater art of different countries and peoples.

"This is not the first time I am in Russia, and every time it is a very interesting journey. As for our theater school — everything in it comes from traditional Chinese theater, as we are an ancient civilization with its own peculiarities, and we can say that our theater school is theater plus music plus song," said Hao He, Associate Professor, Director of the Shanghai Theater Academy (STA).

At theater schools in South Africa, in addition to acting, many other disciplines are also included in the curriculum.

"Along with acting, we also teach dance, vocal and more. After all, our theater industry is not on the same scale as in Russia, so our students need to be able to do a lot of things after graduation to make a decent living," said Waterfront Theater School Director Paul Griffiths.

As part of the seventh edition of the Festival, creative young people from different countries will present their own version of Pushkin's "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish," infusing the famous work with national flavor.

"We are all working on one performance, looking at the extent to which each country has different and interesting approaches, taking into account national peculiarities and peculiarities of theater schools — and in the finale we combine all of this into one performance", said Alexei Shumilin.

Pushkin's fairy tale was chosen by the organizers of the Festival not by chance, because on June 6, 2024 Russia celebrates the 225th anniversary of this greatest poet, whose works are loved far beyond the borders of our country and translated into many languages of the world.

"We have many fairy tales in our traditional folklore, so for us to play Pushkin's fairy tale was not that hard a task. And we used the author's text to tell the story of our country: in our interpretation, through the fisherman's wife, we will tell about the injustices in our country — the arrival of the British, how apartheid came about, and how, in the end, we managed to make peace in our country," said Paul Griffiths.

The BRICS International Festival of Theater Schools is organized by the Institute of Theater Art named after People's Artist of the USSR I.D. Kobzon and has been held in Russia since 2017. As one of the forms of public diplomacy, the initiative aims to manifest and develop friendly ties between the student youth of the BRICS countries and Belarus. The festival is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.