Luo Yaxin

Profile

PhD journey

I am a 4^th year full-time practice-based PhD student from the School of Performance and Cultural Industries at the University of Leeds. My doctoral project researches the interaction between interculture, feminism and intermediality in theatre adaptation,  focusing on the intercultural issues raised for me when composing a feminist adaptation of an episode from a Qing dynasty classic A Dream of Red Mansions (《红楼梦》）for contemporary UK audiences, with the body research exploring the concept of the “feminist corpse” as its core. This adaptation Blossoms of Her Selves（《她薾》）contextualises contemporary female issues, especially female independence, sufferings and relationships under the patriarchal system, which was firstly performed in February 2022 while breaking the on/off stage boundaries, and integrating the immersive effects of theatre, cinema and gallery. 

I am also an artist-researcher in the Wellcome-funded LivingBodiesObjects research project collaborating with National Sensory Theatre – Interplay Theatre, which involves experimentation with a range of technologies to produce a new piece of theatre, as well as explorations on evaluating audience experience, particularly for audiences with learning disabilities. 

Other key works 

• Stay Safe? （《安身》）— A Play Uncovering Racism Against the Chinese in the UK
• Mischief at Midnight (《半夜出来祸害人间》）
• Artistic practices with refugees and Holocaust Survivors  with “6 million +”（such as The Weeping Sisters)
• 裂/Crying of Four Seasons (A creative/critical contemporary dance adapted from ancient Chinese poems; an unprecedented cross-cultural encounter in the name of the four seasons; an unmissable dialogue reflecting on today’s world and modern society)
• Cessair
• A New Friend (also called My Artificial Friend)
• I have published some papers/articles in Davis International Film Festival, Harper’s Bazaar, Art Life, Home of Drama, Daily Hubei, Children/Family/Society, Principals’Senior Counselor, Finance Today... 
• My works have been performed in places such as London, Dublin, Leeds, Edinburgh, Scarborough, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Wuhan, and festivals including Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Dublin Theatre Festival, Big Ideas by the Sea.

Education

I graduated from the Wuhan University with a MA in Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature (2018) and a BA in the Experimental Class of Humanities (2015). I also studied in the Korea University (2014) and the Fu Jen Catholic University (2017) as an exchange student focusing on media, literature, fashion, art study and practice.

Selected scholarships

• National Scholarship for University Students (China)
• Korea University Scholarship (South Korea)
• First-class Scholarship of One Asia Consortium Academic (Japan)

Selected Awards

• First Prize of Chinese New Youth Fiction Competition
• Second Prize of National College Student Writing Competition
• Gold Medal of National Calligraphy Competition

Selected internships and work experience

• International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission
• China Central Television program
• Harper’s Bazaar
• Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
• I have also interviewed more than 40 famous artists, designers, educators, entrepreneurs, politicians and scholars across the world.

Selected Conference Presentation

• Theatre as resistance: an East Asian artist-researcher’s experience against race and gender issues in the age of uncertainties. Doing Race and Gender as ESEA Scholars Conference, University of Cambridge, UK, 13 September 2022
• Contemporary, Collaboration and Community. Artist Forum. The 1^st International Symposium on Contemporary Asian Theatre. The University of Göttingen, Germany, 8 December. 2022

Research groups

• Digital Research Group
• Practice as Research Group
• Participation Research Group
• Pedagogic Research Group
• Policy and Leadership Research Group
• Place Research Group

Teaching 

• (Session speaker) MA Writing for Performance and Publication
• (PGR chaperone) MA Culture, Creativity, and Entrepreneurship
• (TA/Learning Support Officer) PG Cert Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy
• (TA) Exploring Performance: Cultures and Contexts

Research interests

• intercultural study
• contemporary theatre
• feminism
• intermediality
• script writing/adaptation
• theatre directing
• body research

Qualifications

• MA Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature
• BA Humanities Sciences