Drama Education and Applied Theatre - UTFORSK 2018-2021

The goals of the project were to create sustainable mobility windows for student and staff exchange, jointly develop and adjust curriculum for five international BA/MA courses, three at HVL and two at STA, involve enterprises for student internship and strengthen the knowledge triangle (Research - education - enterprise).

During the Utforsk project, we adjusted the drama curriculum and teaching at HVL to facilitate exchange from cooperating institutions in China and commented on drafts for the curriculum of a new bachelor in drama at STA. Through staff exchange, we have been able to offer students both at HVL and STA teaching by teachers from partner institutions.

A MA student from HVL conducted her project and her practical exam in Shanghai during a 4-month stay at STA, developing a process drama on Ibsen’s play The Wild Duck.

Students from STA came to HVL in spring 2019 and 2020, for the Theatre in Education module in the BA in Drama and Applied Theatre at HVL. Two students from HVL participated in the summer school at STA in July 2018. Three students from STA took two modules in the master's program at HVL in autumn 2019. Six BA students from HVL participated in a joint performance to complete the UTFORSK project with a BA class at STA, autumn2023. In total, 11 students from STA have been on a 4-month exchange to HVL between 2018,2019 and 2020. Three students from ECNU have been on a 4-month stay in Bergen, one for drama courses, and two chose a combination of drama and pre-school education courses.

Staff from STA participated in meetings and symposiums in Bergen in autumn 2018, visiting kindergartens, schools, and theatres (DNS, Carte Blanche, Children’s Culture Centre, Rothaugen), and participating in workshops and symposia. 

HVL staff visited STA autumn of 2018, and amongst others conducted workshops with BA students at STA, a performance on dementia at a nursing home, and Ph.D. student Sisi Zheng did parts of her field work in local primary schools in Shanghai. A symposium was held, and HVL staff met staff at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre and watched the implementation of a students’ Theatre in Education performance at a local school. During the stay, an interview with the Chinese drama pioneer, Li Yingning, was implemented, which was later published in the ATR-special issue vol 10., no 2 / 2022.

A member of staff, Katrine Heggstad, worked for three weeks as assistant director in Shanghai autumn of 2023 with the joint, closing performance Man Tiger.

STA suggested symposia to be included in our project and symposia have been arranged in connection to all physical project meetings. During symposia we have presented and had discussions on topics of common interest. They have included non-academic partners, and in a couple of symposia colleagues from external institutions have been invited. To the last symposium in Shanghai, November 2023, colleagues from the three Chinese institutions that offers training in drama education were present, i.e., in addition to STA, the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, and Yunnan Arts University were represented. In addition, colleagues from Shandong Communication & Media College, Jinan, Drama Rainbow, Beijing, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, and Joy of Drama, New Dehli, India, participated and presented papers.

Shanghai 2018: From above starting left: Zhang Hong, Qi Shaoyuan, Chu Fei, Peng Yongwen, Xu Jun, Zheng Sisi, Katrine Heggstad, Li Mingyuan. From below starting left:  Li Yingning, Siv Ødemotland, Gong Baorong, Stig A. Eriksson, Tor-Helge Allern, Liu Qing, Xu Yang.

Shanghai 2018: From left: Zheng, Sisi, HVL, Stig A Eriksson, HVL, Tor-Helge Allern, HVL, Peng  Yongwen, STA, Katrine Heggstad, HVL, Xu Jun, STA, Xu Jang, STA

Topics at the symposium in Shanghai 2018:

• Hsu Yang, STA: TIE and DIE programs at STA.
• Xu Jun: Arts projects in Shanghai schools.
• Drama courses for high school
• Shen Liang, STA: Drama Etudes – imitations using extract from Western masterpieces and Chinese literature in drama lessons.
• Yongwen Peng, STA: Performance studies from New York University to STA. (STA has a close collaboration with NYU on performance studies. On campus STA has its Richard Schechner Center for Performing Studies). 
• Future research collaboration – priorities.

Bergen 2018: Katrine Heggstad (second from left, partially hidden), Tor-Helge Allern, HVL, Stig A. Eriksson, HVL, Ingelin Mjåseth Hilland, Kompani DramaX, Bergen, Marte Rosenvinge, Kompani DramaX, Bergen, Xu Yang, STA, Wang Hai Yan, School of Traditional Chinese Opera, STA. XX, Vise president Liu Qing, STA, Janika Karell, HVL, Trine Ask, Kompani DramaX, Bergen, Zong Yu, STA, Gong Baorong, STA.

Topics at the symposium in Bergen 2018:

• Gong Baorong, STA: Drama/theatre in education in China.
• Stig Eriksson, HVL: Drama in Norway – The development and current position of drama in education in Norway.
• Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: Key concepts in drama and theatre.
• Renate Jensen, Bergen Municipality: The new national curriculum (Norway).
• Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: The arts and the place for drama in Norwegian Education.

Shanghai 2019: Top row, from left: Cao Xi (Drama Rainbow, Beijing), Sean Kwan (Hong Kong Drama/Theatre and Education Forum), Wang Yiou (Shandong University Affiliated High School), Wang Kunqi (ECNU), Li Mingyuan (STA), Staff at STA. Second top row, from left: Maren Stallemo (HVL-adm), Laila-Sofie Osland (Rothaugen, Bergen), Adam Cziboly (HVL), Zheng Sisi (HVL), Lu Liping (Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre), Staff at STA, Staff at STA. Second bottom row: Chen Jun (STA), Shen Liang (STA), Gong Baorong (STA), Tor-Helge Allern (HVL), Zhang Jing (STA), Anita Nordseth (HVL-adm), Xu Yang (STA) Bottom line: Students at STA, technical assistance.

Topics at the symposium in Shanghai 2019:

• Shen Liang, STA: Drama Etudes – A pedagogical experiment of drama in the School Curriculum.
• Cao Xi, Drama Rainbow, Beijing: Developing Theatre in Education programmes and creative curriculum in early years.
• Lu Liping, SDAC: Drama education at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre.
• Zheng, Sisi, HVL: Exploration of applying process drama in schools in Shanghai in moral education.  
• Chen Xinhuang, STA: Legislation theatre in Chinese community (deyu)
• Wang Kunqi, ECNU: The application and practice of drama in education from the perspective of Chinese government policy
• Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: Drama in Norwegian curriculum – from Kindergarten to university level.
• Qi Shaoyuan, STA: The exploration and practice of acting and directing teaching in drama education.
• Wang Yiou, Affiliated High School to Shandong University, Jinan: How is DIE or TIE implemented in the curriculum and teacher training of primary and secondary schools in Shandong.  
• Chen Xinhuang, Drama in Chinese home school.
• Yu Rongjun, SDAC: Tendencies in contemporary Chinese theatre.
• Adam Cziboly, HVL: An international outlook on possibilities and challenges in using drama in education.
• Maja Wang: Challenges and possibilities in applying drama in China.
• Laila-Sofie Osland, Rothaugen: Experiences in applying drama at Rothaugen secondary school (Norway). 
• Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: Tendencies in applied theatre in Norway.
• Li Mingyuan, STA: How to teach Shakespeare to children and become a performance work.
• Peng Yongwen, STA: Educational and Therapeutic Drama in China.

• Shanghai 2023: Top row, from left: Li Sipei  (Yunnan Arts University, Kunming, China), Li Minyuan, STA, Shashwat Srivastava, Joy of Drama, New Dehli, India, Zhou Xiaoli, STA, Anne Meek, Nord University, Nesna, Norway, Li Jinghan, Beijing, Cao Xi, Drama Rainbow, Beijing, China, Vaishali Chakravarty, Joy of India, New Dehli, India, Wan Zi,  Shanghai Li Yingning Studio of Drama/Theatre, Hangzhou, Wang Yiou, Shandong Communication & Media College, Jinan, China, Sun Haiyan (Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chonqing, China). Front row, from left: Yang Junxia, Yunnan Arts University, Kunming, China, Ma Shushen, Shandong Communication & Media College, Jinan, China, Tor-Helge Allern, HVL, Gong Baorong, STA, Zheng Sisi, HVL, Katrine Heggstad, HVL, Li Yingning, Shanghai Li Yingning Studio of Drama/Theatre, Hangzhou, China, Chen Jun, STA.

Day 1: Presentation of articles in Applied Theatre Research vol 10, no 2 (special issue on Utforsk).

Tor-Helge Allern and Zheng Sisi, HVL: Educational drama, traditional Chinese culture, and current governmental policies,

Zheng Sisi, HVL: Translation of key concepts.

Xu Jun, STA: Drama and Citizenship in China.

Wang Yiou, Shandong Communication & Media College (SCMC): The opportunities and challenges of drama in education in Chinese Kindergartens.

TH Allern, HVL. Conceptions of drama and theatre,

Stig A. Eriksson, HVL: Drama in Norwegian Curriculum (online on Zoom).

Allern, Zheng and Eriksson (still online on Zoom): Interview with Li Yingning, The interview was presented in a new dialogue between Li and the interviewers. 

Vaishali Chakravarty, Joy of Drama, New Dehli, India: Fostering Life Skills and Intelligence Through Process Into Product Work with Urban Children Online and Offline.

Day 2: Chinese Education after the New Curriculum.

Shen Liang, STA: Curriculum standards and implementation of compulsory education "Art - Drama (including Chinese Opera)".

Ma Shusheng, SCMC: Exploration and Practice of Drama in Education in Training of Preschool Education Professionals.

Zhao Jinjing, SCAC: Drama education at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center.

Cao Xi, Drama Rainbow, Beijing: Outside of drama in post-double-cut education.

Zhou Xiaoli, STA: Drama Education in the time Of Technology.

Peng Yongwen, STA: Training of drama teachers in primary and secondary schools.

Li Minyuan, STA: Perceiving and creating with the body -A case study of the workshops 'Language' and 'Origin Poetic' at the West Bund Museum in Shanghai.

BA Students at STA and HVL: Joint theatre performance MAN TIGER.

Janica Karell, HVL - workshop based on Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck

Bergen 2018

Kari Mjaaland Heggstad, HVL: The Green Children – a process drama.

Shanghai 2018

Katrine Heggstad, HVL: Waffel Heart – workshop based on Maria Parr’s story

Zheng Sisi - The Stone Soup, process drama for students in 3.rd grade, Shanghai Theater Academy Affiliated School

Tor-Helge Allern: A Doll’s House – workshop based on Henrik Ibsen’s play.
Stig A. Eriksson, HVL: The Dance Life – process drama workshop based on Edvard Munch’s painting The Dance Life.

Katrine Heggstad, HVL: The Brother’s Lion Heart - workshop based on Astrid Lindgren’s story.

Katrine Heggstad, HVL: Drama workshop for people living in a care home in Shanghai, China: Let’s travel to Bergen, Norway.

Hangzhou 2019

Tor-Helge Allern: Snow White – a process drama for a group of children, and parents and local media as audience.

Adam Cziboly and Zheng Sisi: The Stone Soup – a process drama for children in a music store.

Jinan 2019
Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: Drama in the Norwegian Curriculum from Primary School to Hich Schools (lecture).

Bergen 2019:

Li Minyuan, STA: Actor training - workshop.

Li Minyuan: Western Directors’ Influence on Asian Theatre – Asian Theatre’s Influence on Western Theatre(lecture).

Li Minyuan, STA: Directing Children and Young People.

Hsu Yang, STA: Theatre work and directing.

Hsu Yang, STA: The Current Situation for Drama in Education in Mainland China.

Hsu Yang, STA: Drama and Theatre in Education in China (DIE and TIE).

Shanghai 2023

Tor-Helge Allern, HVL, and Anne Meek, Nord University: Someone is going to come – workshop based on Jon Fosse’s play.

Vaishali Chakravarty, Joy of drama, New Delhi, India: Kabuliwala – workshop based on the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Katrine Heggstad, HVL: 7 paths to drama - workshop was based on the new edition of Kari Mjaaland Heggstad’s 7 paths to drama, in which Katrine Heggstad now is co-author.

Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: Reflections on dramaturgy in Jon Fosse’s drama - keynote at Intercultural Communication, Intergenerational Change and Local Construction of Theatre Theory – Conference arranged by Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Jinan 2023
Tor-Helge Allern, HVL: Play, Drama, and Theatre (keynote at a conference for pre-school teachers, SCMC at a conference for pre-school teachers, SCMC.

Anne Meek, Nord University and Zheng, Sisi: The Secrets of the Beehive, workshop at a conference for pre-school teachers, SCMC.

Bergen 2018

Company DramaX: TIE-performance with children in Kindergarten, Ny-Khronborg.

Shanghai 2018

The Girl in the Attic - a stripped version of the interactive performance with two actors: Katrine Heggstad (the girl), Stig Eriksson (the father) for people living in a care home in Shanghai, China.

Shanghai 2023BA-students at STA and HVL:  Man Tiger - based on the Indonesian novel by Eka Kurniwan.

Educational drama, traditional Chinese culture and current government policies
Tor-Helge Allern, Sisi Zheng, and Stig A. Eriksson

What can the translation of key terms reveal about
understandings of drama education in China?
Sisi Zheng and Adam Cziboly

Conceptions of drama and theatre
Tor-Helge Allern and Stig A. Eriksson

Educational drama in Norway: from cultural expression to curriculum element
Stig A. Eriksson and Tor-Helge Allern

From short story to process drama: a Chinese and a Norwegian classroom approach
Xu Jun and Stig A. Eriksson

The opportunities and challenges of drama in education in Chinese kindergartens
Yiou Wang, Xiuqing Qiao and Shusheng Ma

Process drama in Chinese education: Possibilities and challenges in governmental policy papers and the curriculum of moral education
Zheng Sisi

Interview with Li Yingning 
Tor-Helge Allern, Sisi Zheng, Stig A. Eriksson

Western Norway University of Applied Siences

Tor-Helge Allern, Project Coordinator 

Stig Eriksson, Professor Emeritus

Adam Cziboly, Associate Professor

Zheng Sisi, Ph.D candidate  

Katrine Heggstad, Ph.D candidate and Assistant professor in drama and applied theatre

Jon Hoem, Associate professor in Arts and Crafts 

Anita Nordseth, Finacial manager 

Maren Stallemo, Advisor for international relations

Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA)

Qing Liu, Project coordinator 

Baorong Gong, Professor and Vice President of Shanghai Theatre Academy

Yang Hsu, Associate Professor

Yu Zong, Assistant Director, International Cooperation Office

Bergen Municipality

Laila-Sofie Osland, Headmaster, Møhlenpris oppveksttun school 

This project is funded by The Directorate of Higher Education and Skills UTFORSK programme through its grant Drama Education and Applied Theatre - UTFORSK 2018-2021 (UTF-2017-four-year/10023.)