The University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez has another reason to be proud of on this fall semester. As an initiative of the new Rector, Dr. John Fernández Van Cleve, a series of cultural reinforcement events called “Presencias” began last Thursday, September 18 and will extend through Thursday, December 4. “Presencias” was assembled by music appreciation professor, Dr. José Antonio López, and it will consist of 11 –free of charge- performances around UPRM’s campus.
In the beginnings of this fall semester Dr. Fernández Van Cleve contacted Dr. José Antonio López with the idea to bring back to life UPRM’s cultural tradition. “10 years ago the precinct used to organize an event called ‘Travesías’ , which consisted on a series of concerts; each semester four to five artists from classical and popular music would be invited to participate,” said Dr. López.
Only this time professor López had a different concept of the event: “In our second meeting I presented to Dr. Fernández Van Cleve the new event with a different name, ‘Presencias’ (presence)- in place of ‘ausencias’ (absence)- cultural integration event of the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. It would count with seven different art areas: performance, theater, key-note conferences, plastic arts, music quartets, dance, and films.”
“Presencias” started off with a strong performance from Puerto Rican renamed actor, Teofilo Torres, in his character of “Papo Impala” from the monologue Papo Impala está quitao’. When asked about why Papo Impala as the first performance, Dr. López responded: “What is ideal is starting with a big fanfare and Papo Impala está quitao is impressive. Teofilo Torres has been performing him for more than 30 years.” The first show, taken place at universal hour at the Figueroa Chapel Amphitheater- along with the second show, in the evening of the same day at the interior patio of the Business Administration building, were enormous full house successes.
This event is addressed for UPRM’s student body and is looking to impact them on a personal improvement level. “After talking with a friend of mine the idea for a 1-credit-short course emerged,” explained Dr. López. All students enrolled in the short course will have to attend the 11 performances that started the past Thursday, September 18. Students will have the opportunity to know the artists and discuss aspects of their performances in an informal matter, all while enriching their academic and personal life.
“I believe a university should insert a general culture concept to each student no matter what area of specialization.” –José Antonio López, “Presencias” Artistic Director