Performing Outside the Data Sheet | Xinyu Cui #Episode 36

In a university where the language is science, what does a course in performance studies actually teach you? For our guest, Xinyu Cui — a ShanghaiTech student majoring in a computer science — the answer was more than he bargained for.In this episode of Moments, we talk about the jolt of moving from the controlled environment of a lab to the unpredictable space of a rehearsal room. She shares specific, vivid memories: the joyfulness of physical warm-ups, the conversation of group feedback, the unexpected joy of performing something that had no "correct" outcome.We explore how this class gave him not an escape from his academic life, but a complement to it — teaching him about attention, listening, and the kind of trust that can't be coded. We also talk about ShanghaiTech's growing investment in the arts, and why a future science scholar might need theatre almost as much as calculus.This is a conversation about the hidden curriculum of college — the lessons that don't come with a syllabus, but that stay with you long after the final grade is posted.