Bella Gaia summary
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Bella Gaia is an immersive multimedia presentation that uses music, visualizations, and NASA data to simulate the experience of seeing Earth from space. It aims to inspire appreciation for our planet and raise awareness of human impacts on Earth's systems. Through collaborations with NASA and performances around the world, Bella Gaia has engaged audiences of all ages in experiencing Earth as a fragile, interconnected system that we must work to protect. Feedback has shown the presentation is highly moving and effective in changing perspectives on environmental issues. Future plans include expanding live performances, developing new theatrical productions and digital content.
Bella Gaia summary
- 1. A Poetic Vision of Earth from Space BELLA GAIA (Beautiful Earth) is an astoundingly moving multimedia presentation a Living Atlas journey of our world, expressing the transformative beauty of planet Earth as seen through the eyes of astronauts by successfully simulating space flight. The live show inspires appreciation for our existence on planet Earth and brings to attention the impact of human activity on the Earths life systems. Collaborating with NASA, BELLA GAIA is a new immersive theater experience, a portal for an audience to develop a deeper connection and empathy with our planet Earth through a profound journey of direct experience. Created by award winning director and classically trained violinist Kenji Williams, BELLA GAIA features a live performance by Kenji and top world music performers with large scale orbiting visualizations of Earth from space. Civilizations need a habitable planet and as the eminent opera singer Beverly Sills once noted, Art is the signature of civilizations. With this in mind, BELLA GAIA showcases the amazing art and cultural heritage of civilizations inhabiting planet Earth through live musical performance on stage and projected visuals on screen. Using sophisticated scientific visualizations powered by NASA data of fires in the Amazon basin to time-lapse images of the Arctic ice, BELLA GAIA demonstrates the science behind what makes Earth habitable, and the increasing imbalance caused in large part by human activity. Acknowledging that our depths of creativity, the incredible success of the human species so far, and the stunning beauty of creation all derive from natures dynamic systems, BELLA GAIA evokes the wonder of the world and the Universe in audience members of all ages and hues from around the world. BELLA GAIA is Just Beautiful. It really felt like I was back in Space. - Piers Sellers, NASA Astronaut, Spacewalker (STS-112 Atlantis, STS 121 Discovery) The vision of BELLA GAIA is to bring the power of art, technology, space science, and real scientific data visualizations together, into a context that is both entertaining and educational, fused with a common goal of raising the awareness and appreciation of our home planet. BELLA GAIA can actually visually display how humans are affecting the planet, and how each element affects the other, allowing the audience to easily understand the delicate interconnected balance of our planet. BELLA GAIA is a powerful entertainment and educational outreach vehicle for performing arts centers, festivals, planetariums, universities, government agencies and other institutions that wish to convey a broader world view that the destiny of humans and our planet Earth are inextricably linked. Often received with standing ovations, BELLA GAIA has been featured at top festivals such as the Smithsonian Folklife/NASA festival, 13 NASA events, COP15 Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, The Economist Magazines World in 2011 conference, and to sold-out shows at digital planetariums. BELLA GAIA has delighted audiences from Europe to the USA to Japan, and has proven to engage a wide demographic from 3 year-olds, to students, to heads of government agencies. http://www.bellagaia.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDvVp_l-BfA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiI7vMbSpn8
- 2. Project Update: BELLA GAIA Phase 1 launched in Mid 2009: Since June 2009, appeared across the US, and 7 other countries reaching 100,000+, live and through print/online media. The versatility and flexibility has been tested successfully for both Entertainment and Education events; collaborating with large groups such as the Manila Ballet troupe Ballet Philippines, celebrities such as Deepak Chopra, & educational workshops with top NASA scientists for schools. The audience demographic has been mainstream, engaging kids as young as 3 years old, to their grandparents. Extensive surveys conducted, showing 80% of the audience leaving the theater giving the show an 8 out of 10 positive or higher rating, with 80-85% reporting a significant change of perspective of planet Earth, and greater understanding of Earth Systems, Human activity, and the connection between the two. Ticketed events produced just for BELLA GAIA have consistently sold out, often having to add additional performance dates to accommodate demand. Below are a few of the places and photos from these events. Please refer to the project introduction for further details. Click links to view: http://www.bellagaia.com/category/gallery/ Smithsonian Folklife / NASA Festival Economist Magazine World in 2011 Conference Collaboration w/ Deepak Chopra Sage & Scientists Copenhagen Climate Change Summit (COP15) Congressional Auditorium, US Capitol W.DC. NASA Digital Learning Network (DLN), NASA JPL, NASA Ames, NASA Goddard New York Institute of Technology California Academy of Sciences Morrison Planetrium Mind Museum, Manila Philippines (w/ Ballet Philipp.) International Astronautical Congress (IAC) Science Center, Singapore International Space University, Singularity University International Planetarium Society Conference (IPS) Association of Science & TechnologyCenters (ASTC) Sidwell Friends School Hokutopia, with Megastar, Synra Dome, Tokyo Japan Comments: BELLA GAIA transported me back into orbit, to feel the beauty and power of the earth. - John Grunsfeld (Astronaut, Spacewalker, Shuttle Missions STS 81, 103, 109, 125) I have rarely in my life been so deeply moved as I was tonight by the performance of Kenji Williams in Bella Gaia -Laura I caught my first Kenji Williams performance last night at Singapore's Japanese Garden. He is PHE.NO.ME.NAL. (I may not use plastic ever again!) - Kathy Ferrer Thank you for taking me on a space flight! I was brought to tears by the blue Earth quietly embracing the various activities of humanity. I thought Al Gores Inconvenient Truth was great, but I was stunned by todays show. With the cooperation of NASA, BELLA GAIA was of another dimension with a global appeal.
- 3. "I believe Bella Gaia can be a truly transformative experience that inspires people to think of our world as not a collection of countries and regions but as ONE place, and to be more aware of the alarming fragility of our planet." - Bing F. Quock, Assistant Director, Morrison Planetarium, California Academy of Sciences "Bella Gaia offers a uniquely interactive presentation of the natural and human forces at work on our world. Most people have never seen our world this way ,... Bella Gaia is far more than a visual experience; it is a powerfully imaginative, emotional, and cultural experience... The effect on the audience is profoundly moving" - David Herring, NOAA Looking Ahead: BELLA GAIA is planning expansion in both outreach and platforms. The following are current and future platforms seeking development, support, and partners. Continued global appearances BELLA GAIA Ensemble show tours to Universities, Performing Art Theaters BELLA GAIA Theater Next level Live Holographic Theatrical production, NYC BELLA GAIA Symphony Performed with top orchestras, International Tour Special Events Partnerships with event producers for special events BELLA GAIA 360 Fulldome movie for distribution to digital Planetariums DVDs and distributed media iPad App Please contact info@bellagaia.com for further information. BellaGaia.com