What Does Estado de Sats (State of Sats) Mean?

Nicolas Aguila
Nicolas Aguila

Many people wonder what on earth does “sats” mean? Does it have something to do with the SAT I and SAT II college entrance exams in the United States? Could it be an acronym? Well, it’s  none of that. Although it is (wrongly) written as an acronym, it is a Scandinavian term used in the theater world that means, “the point of departure in the action, the point when the movement begins and, in turn, the opposite of the sense in which the action unfolds.” A concept, in my opinion, quite convoluted and excessively subtle.

Prominent Cuban dissident Antonio Rodiles explained in an interview some time ago how he decided, in 2010, to apply this moniker to his think tank:

“We were thinking of a name for the project, and as a physicist I was leaning toward something relating to resonance, something that would encompass this state in which we all start to look and think in a similar direction… Then Esther [the actress Esther Cardoso] told us about Estado de Sats [State of Sats], a term used in the theater to describe the moment where all the energy is concentrated to explode on the stage, to put into action, finally, that which one has been preparing for a long time.”

From: CUBA al dente, Nicolas Aguila in El Pais