Huangpu blitz to attract global performance artists
Young artists perform on the central stage of the Great World entertainment center in Huangpu.
A global recruitment campaign was launched in downtown Huangpu District on Wednesday to attract top professionals and capitalize on Shanghai's ambition to become Asia's "performance capital."
A thousand outstanding performance artists will be recruited and sign contracts with the Great World's performance resources trade platform, or Dashijie entertainment center, and leading performance institutes in Huangpu, such as Mahua FunAge and Maoyan Entertainment.
At the entertainment site that has been around for a hundred years, the Great World Performance Entrepreneurship Incubation Base was also opened to help new businesses in the fields of culture and tourism.
The newly formed Huangpu Culture and Tourism Group hosted the global recruitment theme "poetry and distance."
It is part of the Huangpu Talent Week, which aims to attract and train more high-level professionals from both domestic and international sources.
Wang Rugang, a local comedian, speaks at the Great World.
Wang Rugang, a famous comedian, and Kunqu Opera master Zhang Xunpeng recalled their early careers.
"I performed at the Great World. My business started from there," Wang said. He urged more performers to join the campaign and perform at downtown stages.
Zhang first performed at the Great World while studying at the local traditional Chinese opera art school.
"I can still remember the large number of audiences and hubbub of voices," Zhang said. "I hope the Great World will have a new lease on life and become popular again."
Shanghai's most popular amusement park, which holds generations of childhood memories, now houses 22 small theaters.
Over 10,000 performances will be staged annually to attract over a million audiences.
Kunqu Opera master Zhang Xunpeng.
