The University of La Laguna launched its new program, 'Cultural Breaks,' today, Friday, September 25th. This initiative is designed to decentralize artistic offerings and seamlessly integrate them into the daily academic routine. The program kicked off at the Guajara Campus with a performance and tour of [the following text appears to be a separate, unrelated sentence:] Astronauts, a street theatre show created by the Satélite Teatro company.
The initiative was born with the purpose of bringing diverse cultural expressions to the usual routes taken by students, faculty, and university staff. In the words of the Vice-Rector for Culture and University Extension, Isabel León Pérez, the goal is to surprise people with culture, beyond traditional venues such as the Main Building or the Paraninfo. “We aspire to surprise people with culture in a decentralized way. We want to enter academic life respectfully and in a way that is compatible with other activities, but we also want culture to be present along the paths of people who move through different parts of our university.”.
The vice-rector also noted that Astronauts is the first installment in a series that will rotate progressively across the institution's various campuses throughout the academic year. The program will encompass disciplines such as performing arts, music, dance, and performances, and will include an open participation channel so that the university community and external creators can propose their initiatives.
A mirror of empathy at the heart of the campus
The Astronauts performance was a 40-minute urban intervention in which a crew of seven explorers disembarked from a spaceship in the middle of the university grounds. Equipped with suits and helmets, the cast, made up of professional actors with and without disabilities, interacted directly with passersby to reflect on diversity and the perception of others.
Brian Rodríguez, director of the show and of the Satélite Teatro company, emphasizes that the play seeks to reach out to the public in public spaces to connect with audiences not typically drawn to theater. “Until we take off our headphones and interact with people, they don’t know who we are or what we’re like. It generates a sense of curiosity, of discovery, and a mirror-like encounter that reveals who is different.”.
The students, strolling through the campus streets or relaxing in the gardens, reacted with surprise and curiosity to the space visit. Gathering around the space probe and the entourage of space explorers, they interacted with the astronauts through mutual inquiry, communicating with glances and gestures. It was a pause that broke the academic routine with a cultural breath that will continue to resonate throughout the university in the coming months.
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