Carlos Loja, the story of a man who is happy today

Just by seeing it, it is inevitable not to think that he is an artist, his way of dressing, talking, behaving, betray him.

Carlos Eduardo Loja Llivisaca, a 39 years old who has dedicated his life to acting and music, was born in 23 in August of 1978 and grew up under the tutelage of his parents, two artisans - mother seamstress and father jeweler - but the taste for art, particularly music, comes from his grandfather, who always made passes of the child in his house where he never lacked a "village band".

Carlos, being constantly surrounded by this environment, began his guitar learning, without knowing that this would be the first step to becoming the person he is today; however, in his adolescence, his shyness cornered him to create music only for himself in his room.

Time passed and it was time to choose a career, then decided to enter the path of Philosophy and venture in those directions. As expected, shortly after starting his studies, he decided to retire, because it was not what he expected.

It is then that he began to be interested in the world of photography, which led him to lean towards the world of cinema. In the year 2000 took a workshop with the now director of the theater art school of the UDA Jaime Garrido, who little by little was falling in love with the art of theater.

The workshop that Carlos had taken - called TEUC (Experimental Theater of the University of Cuenca) - without knowing would change his life.

Before becoming an actor, Carlos enjoyed watching street theater, which for him was an art that drew smiles from people and in turn reflected the reality of the country.

For Carlos the theater makes you overcome your fears, complex, to break the barriers that do not allow you to develop as a human being, "the theater requires you to see your limits."

Jaime Garrido, Coordinator of the School of Theater Arts, was the one who helped him overcome his barriers and trained him as an actor and potentiated his talent.

His first job as a teacher was to put on a play at the Ciudad de Cuenca School where he directed several students, it was a challenge since he had to create empathy with all the members of the work and have them follow his orders.

"Being an introvert and being a guide who is in charge of a group of people, changes you completely," said Carlos.

After the TEUC was dissolved, he formed a new collective with his friends Jaime Garrido and Fabiola León called "Hijos del Sur". This group was conceived because for them the art must be autochthonous and should not be influenced by a surname, social position or a lever, "we must emerge from below and reach all sides."

The group temporarily left its activities because Fabiola León, founder of the group, died the previous year; for the group it was hard to overcome that loss, but in honor of it they will resume the work.

Carlos remembers with great affection when his mother helped him put together the suit of the play "El Jukumari", whose central character is an Andean bear, the same one that was made with sheep's skin. His mother was the one who got the leather and did the whole process to create the suit, when his mother saw him on stage she felt very proud of him.

The most special works in which he has participated are: the Tunda, the Jukumari, the mother Huaca, the journey of Nantu, the garden of dreams. "The dream of a carnival night" is a play that Carlos has a lot of affection for, he did it when he was part of the theater company of the University of Azuay, it reached 40 places throughout the country and they presented a special function in Portoviejo for the victims of the April 16 earthquake.

In his long career he could not miss recognitions from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, he won two awards one at the 2015 and another at the 2016 for which he produced the work "Julieta Julieta" that he made together with the collective Mudra.

Undoubtedly, being an artist leads him to enjoy every moment of his life, so his motto is to live intensely and to the maximum every day, he does not think about tomorrow or a future, but about the now.