In Puerto Rico, the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (DCR), in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and the US-based foundation Dancing Through Prison Walls, presented 'Freedom Time', a project that integrates university education, creative expression, and rehabilitation. The initiative brought together ten professional artists from California, New York, and Ohio with students from the UPR’s Programa de Estudios Universitarios para Personas Confinadas (PEUPC), who developed choreographic proposals based on stories written during their academic training.
For the first time, the authors participated as interpreters alongside the dancers, bringing their own narratives from paper to movement. The project involved five women from the Bayamón Women’s Rehabilitation Complex, three women from the Humacao Women’s Institution, and two men from the Instituto, all linked to the UPR’s Bachelor’s program in Interdisciplinary Studies. DCR Secretary Julie Gómez Gómez highlighted the importance of expanding rehabilitation opportunities through experiences that allow the correctional population to develop new skills and strengthen their personal and academic training.
The project 'Freedom Time' had two presentations in Puerto Rico, the first on Thursday, October 15, at the University of Puerto Rico’s Río Piedras campus theater.