TED2009
Natasha Tsakos: A multimedia theatrical adventure
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Natasha Tsakos presents part of her one-woman, multimedia show, "Upwake." As the character Zero, she blends dream and reality with an inventive virtual world projected around her in 3D animation and electric sound.
Natasha Tsakos - Artist
The president and founder of NTiD inc., Natasha Tsakos brings a creative, innovative vision, and the art of orchestrating and synchronizing various disciplines, to the execution of high-leveled productions. Full bio
The president and founder of NTiD inc., Natasha Tsakos brings a creative, innovative vision, and the art of orchestrating and synchronizing various disciplines, to the execution of high-leveled productions. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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I love theater.
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I love the idea that you can transform, become somebody else
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and look at life with a completely new perspective.
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I love the idea that people will sit in one room for a couple of hours and listen.
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The idea that in that room at that moment,
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everyone, regardless of their age, their gender, their race, their color, their religion,
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comes together.
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At that moment, we transcend space and time together.
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Theater awakens our senses and opens the door to our imagination.
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And our ability to imagine is what makes us explorers.
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Our ability to imagine makes us inventors and creators and unique.
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I was commissioned in 2003 to create an original show,
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and began developing "Upwake."
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"Upwake" tells the story of Zero,
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a modern-day business man, going to work with his life in a suitcase,
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stuck between dream and reality and not able to decipher the two.
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I wanted "Upwake" to have the same audiovisual qualities as a movie would.
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And I wanted to let my imagination run wild.
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So I began drawing the story that was moving in my head.
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If Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the author of "The Little Prince," were here,
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he would have drawn three holes inside that box
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and told you your sheep was inside.
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Because, if you look closely enough, things will begin to appear.
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This is not a box; these are the renderings of my imagination
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from head to paper to screen to life.
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In "Upwake" buildings wear suits, Zero tap dances on a giant keyboard,
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clones himself with a scanner, tames and whips the computer mice,
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sails away into dreamscape from a single piece of paper and launches into space.
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I wanted to create environments that moved and morphed like an illusionist.
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Go from one world to another in a second.
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I wanted to have humor, beauty, simplicity and complexity
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and use metaphors to suggest ideas.
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At the beginning of the show, for example, Zero deejays dream and reality.
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Technology is an instrument that allowed me to manifest my visions
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in high definition, live, on stage.
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So today, I would like to talk to you about the relationship
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between theater and technology.
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Let's start with technology.
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(Fuse blowing)
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All right. Let's start with theater.
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(Laughter)
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03:19
(Buzzing)
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(Click, click, bang)
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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Thank you.
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"Upwake" lasts 52 minutes and 54 seconds.
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I project 3D animation on all the four surfaces of the stage
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which I interact with.
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The use of animation and projection was a process of discovery.
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I didn't use it as a special effect, but as a partner on stage.
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There are no special effects in "Upwake," no artifice.
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It's as lavish and intricate as it is simple and minimal.
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Three hundred and forty-four frames, four and a half years and commissions later,
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what started as a one person show became a collaborative work
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of nineteen most talented artists.
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And here are some excerpts.
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09:22
(Applause)
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Thank you.
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So this is, relatively, a new show that we're now beginning to tour.
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And in Austin, Texas,
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I was asked to give small demonstrations in schools during the afternoon.
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When I arrived at one of the schools, I certainly did not expect this:
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Six hundred kids, packed in a gymnasium, waiting.
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I was a little nervous performing without animation, costume -- really -- and make-up.
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But the teachers came to me afterward and told me
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they hadn't seen the kids that attentive.
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And I think the reason why is that I was able to use their language and their reality
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in order to transport them into another.
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Something happened along the way.
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Zero became a person and not just a character in a play.
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Zero does not speak, is neither man nor woman.
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Zero is Zero, a little hero of the 21st Century,
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and Zero can touch so many more people than I possibly could.
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It's as much about bringing new disciplines inside this box
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as it is about taking theater out of its box.
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As a street performer, I have learned that everybody wants to connect.
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And that usually, if you're a bit extraordinary, if you're not exactly of human appearance,
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then people will feel inclined to participate and to feel out loud.
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It's as though you made something resonate within them.
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It's as though the mystery of the person they're interacting with and connecting
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allows them to be themselves just a bit more.
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Because through your mask, they let theirs go.
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Being human is an art form.
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I know theater can improve the quality of people's lives,
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and I know theater can heal.
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I've worked as a doctor clown in a hospital for two years.
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I have seen sick kids and sad parents and doctors
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be lifted and transported in moments of pure joy.
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I know theater unites us.
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Zero wants to engage the generation of today and tomorrow,
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tell various stories through different mediums.
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Comic books. Quantum physics video games.
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And Zero wants to go to the moon.
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In 2007, Zero launched a green campaign,
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suggesting his friends and fans to turn off their electricity
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every Sunday from 7:53 to 8:00 p.m.
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The idea is simple, basic. It's not original,
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but it's important, and it's important to participate.
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There is a revolution.
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It's a human and technological revolution.
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It's motion and emotion.
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It's information.
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It's visual. It's musical. It's sensorial.
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It's conceptual. It's universal. It's beyond words and numbers.
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It's happening.
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The natural progression of science and art
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finding each other to better touch and define the human experience.
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There is a revolution in the way that we think,
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in the way that we share, and the way that we express our stories,
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our evolution.
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This is a time of communication, connection and creative collaboration.
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Charlie Chaplin innovated motion pictures
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and told stories through music, silence, humor and poetry.
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He was social, and his character, The Tramp, spoke to millions.
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He gave entertainment, pleasure and relief to so many human beings
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when they needed it the most.
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We are not here to question the possible; we are here to challenge the impossible.
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In the science of today, we become artists.
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In the art of today, we become scientists.
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We design our world. We invent possibilities.
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We teach, touch and move.
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It is now that we can use the diversity of our talents
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to create intelligent, meaningful and extraordinary work. It's now.
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(Ringing)
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Natasha Tsakos - ArtistThe president and founder of NTiD inc., Natasha Tsakos brings a creative, innovative vision, and the art of orchestrating and synchronizing various disciplines, to the execution of high-leveled productions.
Why you should listen
Natasha Tsakos is a conceptual director, show creator, and performer who works in a brave new form of theater, where sound, computer-generated images and the performer move in sync to create a dreamlike yet sharply real stage environment. Within this space of total possibility, the Geneva-native muses on the deepest questions of the human soul.
A Swiss-born artist living in the US, Tsakos's works include the cross-disciplinary spectacle ZO, with a cast of 355 young performers; Up Wake, a live 3D animated show about a clown named Zero; OMEN, which covers five billion years of history in twenty minutes; and many, many more.
More profile about the speakerA Swiss-born artist living in the US, Tsakos's works include the cross-disciplinary spectacle ZO, with a cast of 355 young performers; Up Wake, a live 3D animated show about a clown named Zero; OMEN, which covers five billion years of history in twenty minutes; and many, many more.
Natasha Tsakos | Speaker | TED.com