This story was updated at 10:12 p.m. EDT.
Artists around the world, and one in space, joined together
Friday in an unprecedented performance to celebrate water.
From his perch on the International Space Station, Canadian
space tourist Guy Laliberte orchestrated an event of song, dance poetry and
acrobatics in 14 cities worldwide. The two-hour show, called "Moving Stars
and Earth for Water," was broadcast online at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 Oct. 10
GMT) at Onedrop.org.
Laliberte, the founder of circus troupe Cirque du Soleil,
staged the
event through his non-profit ONE DROP Foundation to raise awareness for
water conservation. Performers in each location read part of a poem about
water, composed by Canadian writer Yann Martel, author of "Life of
Pi."
"Together we can hope to create a change,"
Laliberte said during the performance. "All for water, water for all."
His co-performers included former United States Vice
President Al Gore, actor Matthew McConaughey, singers Peter Gabriel, Shakira
and Joss Stone, actress Salma Hayek, and the band U2.
"In order to save the beauty and the habitability of
our planet so that we will have fresh water for people... we have to have a
worldwide effort to solve the climate crisis," Gore said during the show.
The event began with Laliberte in space, then rotated
through segments in Montreal; Johannesburg/Durban, South Africa; Rio De
Janeiro, Brazil; Paris; Mexico City; New York; Sydney, Australia; London; Marrakech,
Morocco; Mumbai, India; Osaka, Japan; Santa Monica, Calif.; Tampa, Fla.; and
Moscow.
Highlights included water-themed Cirque du Soleil
performances in Montreal and Las Vegas, a song by the a cappella choral group Ladysmith
Black Mambazo in South Africa, and Moroccan rappers in Marrakech. In New York, people
in the middle of Times Square appeared to spontaneously join in a choreographed
dance to the song "Beyond the Sea." There was opera in Sydney, and singing
and drumming in Rio De Janeiro. And in Tampa, U2 took a break during a concert to
chat with Laliberte on the space station.
"You are the first clown in space and I think it's a great
idea," lead singer Bono said, before asking Laliberte to describe to the
crowd what it's like to be in space.
"All around me I see stars, I see darkness, I see emptiness,"
Laliberte replied. "You know what, planet Earth looks so great, but also
so fragile. We should not forget that we have a great privilege to live on Earth,
that's for sure."
Laliberte is paying more than $35
million to Russia for an 11-day trip to the space station under a deal
brokered by the U.S. firm Space Adventures and Russia's Federal Space Agency.
He is the seventh person to pay for a trek to the orbiting laboratory, but the
first professional artist.
"I am an artist, not a scientist and that is the only
way I can make a significant contribution to a mission," Laliberte said. "I
decided to use this privilege to raise awareness for the water issue."
Laliberte's globe-spanning performance comes just before his
planned to departure from the International
Space Station. He is due to leave the orbiting laboratory late Saturday and
return to Earth alongside two professional astronauts – an American and a
Russian – early Sunday.
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