Q&A: ‘BELLA GAIA’ Director and Violinist Kenji Williams

Let “BELLA GAIA” (“Beautiful Earth”) take you on “an exploration of the relationship between humans and nature and how culture, music and dance are all human expressions of the living universe.”

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011
Performance: 7 p.m. Yardley Hall
Pre-Show Talk: 5:30 p.m.
Kenji Williams, violinist
Buy tickets online.

You’ve said that an astronaut’s transformative experience of seeing the earth from space inspired you to create “BELLA GAIA.” Can you elaborate? Which astronaut? How did you come to have that conversation with that astronaut? What, more specifically, did the astronaut tell you?

In 2005, I was sponsored on a trip to witness the launch of the Russian Soyuz rocket, on its way to the International Space Station. (Watch Williams perform at the launch.)

Photo: Denver Museum of Nature and Science

On this trip, I met American NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, who had lived on the International Space Station for six months. I asked him what changed when he went into space, and he told me that before he went to space, his favorite planets were Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, but once he went into space and looked out the window of the space station, he completely fell in love with planet Earth, and Earth became his favorite planet.

He told me of his profound transformation seeing the Earth from space, and had a profound realization of how unique and special our home planet really is to make it habitable for life. His appreciation for our planet grew from this experience – which is called the “Overview Effect” – an experience and transformation shared by countless astronauts.

I just got really inspired by this story, and it got me thinking, “How can I bring this transformative experience to those of us who can’t go to space?” Thus began my journey of making “BELLA GAIA.”

However “BELLA GAIA” has truly grown in an organic way – as it encompasses much more than just space – the show explores human culture, and our relationship with nature through live performance and fantastic data visualizations – it is an exploration of how humans and our ecosystem are interconnected and share the same destiny as we enter the Anthropocene era – the current geological epoch in which humans are the driving force of change to the Earth’s ecosystem.

How many people were involved in creating “BELLA GAIA,” and how long did it take you to complete the project? How did you choose the images and video clips audience members will see during the presentation?

For a while, “BELLA GAIA” was a solo operation, until I found support in what I thought was the most unattainable place — NASA.

I was invited to present my idea and a rough demo version at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and found a critical champion at NASA, Valerie Casasanto, who tirelessly fostered my growing relationship with NASA scientists, educators, and eventually Headquarters. NASA scientists began giving me their scientific visualizations, and as we began surveying audiences at “BELLA GAIA” performances, we learned surprising things that have shaped the content of “BELLA GAIA.”

The project is essentially a continual work in progress, as it is regularly updated with new content from NASA as they are continually gathering more data every day.

We began doing education workshops after the “BELLA GAIA” show, and this became a template for “BELLA GAIA’s” education platform, titled “Beautiful Earth.” This project has recently been funded by NASA for about $500,000 for three years.

An example of one of these education modules can be seen online.

We have a fantastic team; educator Ronan Hallowell, NASA scientist Thorsten Markus, and Native American astronomer Jim Rock – and also the NASA Scientific Visualization Studio that makes custom visualizations with us.

Apart from NASA, The Baum Foundation, provides integral development support, and Christie Communications provides public relations support. We have National Geographic photographers (James Balog), and other incredible talent, contributing imagery to the project.

The Hubble Telescope department, “The Space Telescope Institute,” has created custom 3D renders of far away nebulas (nebulae?) and supernovae. The Denver Museum of Nature & Science was also one of the first collaborators – hosting the very first performance in 2007.

“BELLA GAIA” has an integral team for operations, such as Laurence Singer and Kaori Noriyasu. We work with high-end Earth visualization software company SCISS and welcome any filmmakers to submit content from around the world.

At the upcoming show at JCCC on Nov. 3, you will see seven performers – as “BELLA GAIA” takes you on an exploration of the relationship between humans and nature, and how culture, music and dance are all human expressions of the living universe.

Each performer will solo their craft, for different countries visited in the show: Egypt (dancers Irina Akulenko and Lale Sayoko, and Lety ElNaggar on the Nay or Egyptian flute), New York (Kristin Hoffmann – voice, Lety ElNaggar – saxophone), Japan (Yumi Kurosawa on the 20 string koto), and India ( Deep Singh on tabla and voice, with dancer Irina Akulenko).

Have any past audience members contacted you via email, social media or otherwise to tell you about actions they’ve taken as a result of seeing “BELLA GAIA”? If so, can you talk about what they’ve done and how learning about their actions has made you feel?

One of the most memorable moments for me, was actually in person, where I was confronted by a climate skeptic strolling past the stage on the National Mall in DC – and despite a lively debate about climate change prior to the show, I asked him to just sit down and experience “BELLA GAIA.” He sat through the show, and afterwards, came up to me and said, “I think you actually changed my mind.”

Facts and figures often don’t have an effect on human psychology, and the only way to touch people is through the heart, and I believe this man actually had a change of heart. I have received many emails, and even drawings from children saying “BELLA GAIA” opened a completely new perspective of our planet, and that they will start recycling or caring for the planet more.

I have been so blessed with such positive feedback and actions and would like to develop “BELLA GAIA’s” online presence more so that it can become easier for people to take direct actions right after the show. We are developing this with the Baum Foundation now.

“BELLA GAIA” has a powerful way to touch people’s heart and emotion in a world inundated with left-brain information and politics. Ultimately I believe humans learn and act on how they feel, and not how they think, and this has been a missing piece of the conversation and news cycle on global environmental issues. “BELLA GAIA’s” take-home message is very simple: Your actions affect other things. If this message is deeply felt, it will pervade everything you do in your life, for the rest of your life; from decisions on what to buy, to career and relationship decisions.

What do you plan to do after you finish performing “BELLA GAIA” around the country?

Well, currently “BELLA GAIA” will never finish! It is living, breathing media that is constantly updated and evolving. We only have plans of expansion, and want to build this project to a sustainable business and movement. We have plans to make distributable movies for planetariums, IMAX, and TV/DVD, and also expanded live platforms like a touring symphony performance, and a Broadway theater show.

It is a dream project to be able to express my artistic vision, while also having a tangible impact on changing the world in a positive direction. I really can’t imagine working on anything else!