The first ever widely acknowledged artistic performance from
space will be broadcast from the International Space Station on Oct. 9.
Orchestrated by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who
is set to launch to the station as a
space tourist Sept. 30, the event will feature artists performing from 14
cities around the world, as well as Laliberte broadcasting from space.
Laliberte described the event, called "Moving Stars and
Earth for Water," as a "poetic
social mission" to communicate the importance water has for the planet
and its people.
Scientists have warned that water shortages rank with energy
and food issues around the globe as top governmental issues now and in the
future.
Global million-dollar effort
The Canadian acrobat is due to fly along with two
professional astronauts aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Laliberte booked his trip with the Russian Federal
Space Agency through the U.S.
firm Space Adventures, which usually charges about $30 million for the
excursions. Laliberte is set to stay aboard the International
Space Station for about 12 days.
In addition to founding Cirque du Soleil, Laliberte started
the ONE DROP Foundation, which aims to fight poverty in the world by working to
provide clean water to everyone.
"This artistic mission will permit me to raise
awareness for [the] water issue," Laliberte said Wednesday in a press
conference. "I believe through art and emotion we can convey a universal
message."
The artistic event is planned to be broadcast simultaneously
on Oct. 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET (0000 GMT) on huge screens in 14 cities, as well as
online at Onedrop.org and Aol.com. A cadre of personalities, including former
U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Peter Gabriel, Shakira, and U2, are set to perform
from Montreal, Moscow, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Marrakesh, Sydney, Tokyo, Mexico
City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, and London, as well as the U.S. cities New York,
Santa Monica, and Tampa.
Laliberte has been working with various artists on a poetic
fairy tale that will tell about the importance of water through the perspective
of four characters: a star, the moon, the sun and a drop of water.
During the event, artists in each city will read part of the
tale, as well as perform in other ways. Laliberte will also read from space
coordinate the worldwide events.
"People should see that as a moment where the voices of
the world are unifying in a specific moment and participating at an event
together to talk about water," he said. "This is a moment of great
friendship, of great artistic rendering, I believe, and hopefully this artistic
project will touch people."
Though Laliberte is spending millions of dollars on this
project, he said he thinks it's worth it.
"The space community is excited about this
project," he said. "We're building up a global event. I don't know
what will be the end result, but so far, so good, and we're very, very
happy."
Training for months
Laliberte has been training for moths alongside professional
spaceflyers in Russia's Star City for his mission. Soon he and his crewmates,
Russian Cosmonaut Maksim Surayev and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, will fly
to Baikonur and enter quarantine in advance of their launch. Surayev and Williams
are due to take up long-term residence on the space station as Expedition 21
crewmembers.
"I'm starting to get some butterflies inside me flying
around," Laliberte said. "I'm starting to get the little buzz of
going up there."
Laliberte, 50, is married and has five children. He said
traveling to space has been a dream of his since he was a young boy watching
men land on the moon for the first time.
"This whole thing is so much a privilege," Laliberte
said."This is a fairly tale for me."
Laliberte is due to become the seventh
private explorer to journey to space. The last space tourist to fly was Charles
Simonyi, a Hungarian software executive who made his second trip to the space
station in March, also brokered through Space Adventures.
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