Performers from The Dawns Here Are Quiet, an opera production of the National Center for the Performing Arts, prepare to go onstage. NCPA holds such "open-day activities" annually.(Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily)
One of four daughters of a civil servant and a teacher, she grew up in 1960s Liverpool. Her grandmother, who left school at age 12 and subsequently raised 14 children, had little social life or time for cultural activities. But unlike women from the older generations, Jude Kelly's passion as a little girl was to gather children in her neighborhood and tell them stories or perform plays with them.
Kelly, who is now artistic director of London's Southbank Centre, among Britain's largest cultural institutions, shared her story of growing up at the UK-China Workshop for Senior Arts Center and Theater Management, which was held at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing on March 3-4.
"That's not a testimony to my individual talent. That's a testimony to a philosophy that every child's imagination would become something someday," Kelly, 62, says. "In the end, art is personal. It's about using art to explain our emotions. So, as people working in the arts, we have a great mission to celebrate the imagination of people."
Prior to 1951, very few people in Britain were directly involved with the arts but they are for everyone, Kelly says. And that's how the Southbank Centre sees it, reflecting the spirit of the 1951 Festival of Britain, which turned what was then a post-war wasteland into a creative space on the banks of River Thames, with millions visiting each year.
"The place was built for people to take part in things, not just inside concert halls. We want to make all people feel welcome to drop in any time," Kelly says.
Impressed by China's new cultural infrastructure, built in the past few years, Kelly says the country holds a big potential in engaging more people in the arts, similar to Southbank's early days .
Sean Gregory, director of Creative Learning at London's Barbican Center, another venue for performing arts, with more than 1.8 million annual visitors, says education is very crucial to making changes and giving ordinary people access to the arts.
"The chemistry between theater and audiences relies on good content, learning and participation. The center exists to inspire people to discover and love the arts," he told the workshop in Beijing.
Gathering top talents working in theater and promoting the performing arts of China and Britain, the first-time event has aimed to exchange knowledge of theater management and sought further cultural cooperation between the two countries.
Zhang Yu, president of China Arts and Entertainment Group, founded in 1957 as the country's first performing arts outfit to engage in cultural exchange programs, says there are around 260 new and renovated theater houses across the country, including Tianqiao Performing Arts Center that was unveiled in late 2015.
Tian Yuan, general manager of Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, says though the number of theater venues is increasing in China, audience numbers are still relatively smaller, at least compared with moviegoers.
"The theater is not just a place for shows at night but also a venue where you can enjoy the arts in the daytime by attending various activities like exhibitions and workshops," says Tian.
Chinese theaters used to rely mostly on investment and support by government agencies. Now, other funding sources have emerged, such as real estate developers and Internet companies. Other changes are being noticed, too.
Li Zhixiang, vice-president of the National Center for the Performing Arts, says theaters in China are becoming platforms of creativity rather than simply staying as rental spaces.
"Since NCPA opened in 2007, we have produced nearly 60 shows, ranging from opera to plays that promote the country's originality in the arts," says Li.
NCPA also has more than 1,000 educational programs to introduce people to the arts. In the past eight years, Li and his colleagues have witnessed the arts changing people's lives.
"We want to spread the idea to more audiences," Li says.
