College of Fine Arts

The Beautiful Landscape provides a stunning backdrop for theatre and cultural learning. Photo taken by Autum Casey.

The Central American country of Costa Rica covers only three one-hundredths of a percent (.03%) of the world's surface, but boasts a whopping six percent of the world's flora and fauna. Its name literally means "rich coast." It's hard to imagine anything that could rival the natural splendor of this tropical environment, but every summer a few lucky students give la madre naturaleza a run for her money with their work at the Institute for Digital Performing Arts (IDPA), co-founded by University of Texas Professor of Lighting Design, Amarante Lucero.

In 1999, Lucero and Texas State University Professor Bill Peeler took a group of students to Costa Rica to present an automated lighting show at the Auditorio Nacional (National Auditorium). The production was such a hit that they were invited back again the next year, and IDPA was born. Lucero says, "While sitting under a palm tree-literally-one evening…we just talked it out. And the idea was hatched and has evolved from there."

The five-week student experience is structured very similarly to a traditional study abroad program. It's open to students from any country and any school, and can be taken for credit. The students select two classes from IDPA's offerings which range from automated (robotic) lighting, digital sound, and animatronic puppetry, to video. From their home base at the Museo de los Niños (National Children's Museum), students spend mornings in their chosen classes, and have "survival Spanish" classes and lab hours each afternoon.

Weekend excursions are also part of the students' experience. Eco-tourism is one of the cornerstones of Costa Rica's economy. Students take a break from their coursework with adventures on the beaches, at live volcano sites, and on an unforgettable airborn journey through an ancient rainforest canopy. Students not only learn the ropes at IDPA-they hang from them, too!

Robotic lighting display from the IDPA program. Photo taken by Autum Casey.

An overarching theme of any student's time at IDPA, says Lucero, is exploration. Whether that means exploring a technology or discipline that is new to them, or finding ways to collaborate with other students, there are multiple opportunities to venture into new creative territory. "The fact that [the program] culminates in a final project just ups the stakes," says former IDPA student and current IDPA professor Autum Casey. Casey, a second-year MFA Lighting Design student at UT, says another way IDPA differs from traditional class work is that "it feels more fast-paced. A lot of IDPA is about the experience in Costa Rica." Often times a class at a university involves in-depth discussion of, and planning for, a design. But logistical considerations often prevent the realization of these designs. In Costa Rica, students actually see their work in action.

Though the class work and sightseeing are the mainstays of the students' time at IDPA, Lucero asserts that the experience is much more than the sum of its parts. It is, in fact, the synergistic experience of exploring a new language and culture while exploring the application of performance technologies that makes IDPA in Costa Rica such a singular enterprise. Says Lucero, "There is cross-pollination between our work ethic and their [the Costa Ricans] real genius, which is how to do miraculous things with nothing. All too often, our students think that unless they have the appropriate tool their hands are tied. Quite contrary. Down there, with bailing wire and hope, they [the Costa Ricans] do amazing things."

Looking at his students' lives and careers in the broader scope, Lucero says, "It's very important for our students to have international contacts." Casey concurs. Though she had traveled abroad before going to IDPA, she did not speak Spanish. She says that one of the most rewarding aspects of the process was, "actually being in the country and living with my tico [the affectionate slang term by which Costa Ricans refer to themselves] family-having that experience and every day being able to communicate a little more."

Puppets from the spanish language animatronic puppet show that culminated the IDPA program in Costa Rica this last year. Photo taken by Autum Casey.

Last year's program culminated in a Spanish language animatronic puppet show co-sponsored by the American Embassy that was performed at the Auditorio Nacional and toured to Costa Rican schools. The short play featured Alejandra Portillo, a popular telenovela (Spanish language soap opera) star, who performed with the students' puppets to teach children about the importance of environmental conservation. It was also the first year MFA Acting students have participated in the program, spending a week in Costa Rica performing for appreciative tico audiences. Lucero is also working on a production of The Magic Flute to be produced by IDPA in which every bit of the scenery-and even some characters-would be created completely through the use of projection and light.

With so much for students to explore in and out of the IDPA classroom, the possibilities are as varied and endless as the rich coast itself.