In the Creative Lab: Real-Time Updates from The Body Celestial
Where NASA Scientists Meet Performance Art - A Behind-the-Scenes Journey
Since announcing my selection for the LA Department of Cultural Affairs & NASA JPL’s Language of the Cosmos festival, I’ve been deep in the creative laboratory - and what a wild, wonderful ride it’s been! I wanted to share some real-time updates from the development process because this collaboration is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.
The Scientific Dream Team Assembles
When festival curator Dolores Chavez connected me with Sara Haas from NASA’s Exoplanet/Digital Strategy team, I knew I was entering new territory. Sara didn’t just offer support - she assembled an incredible scientific advisory team to review my script for “The Body Celestial.” I was like wow - look at God!
Within days, I found myself corresponding with:
- Dr. Emily Gilbert (NASA/JPL) - exoplanet researcher who studies worlds beyond our solar system
- Dr. Joseph Lazio (NASA/JPL) - radio astronomer working on the SunRISE project
- Dr. Carson Penkava, M.D. (National Academy of Sciences) - connected through Sachi C. Gerbin at the National Academy of Sciences ‘ The Science and Entertainment Exchange Program’s complementary technical consulting program, which paired me with Carson for medical consultation.
The feedback they provided wasn’t just about scientific accuracy - it enhanced the poetry within the theatrical piece. Emily & Joe suggested changing “forces” to “ingredients” in my opening sequence, which is both more scientifically precise and infinitely more elegant. Joe and Carson caught my imprecise language around radio telescopes, helping me understand that we “see with radio waves” rather than “listen.” These refinements are making the piece stronger artistically while grounding it in real science.
When Family Emergency Meets Cosmic Collaboration
Life threw me a curveball when a family emergency prevented me from attending the crucial NASA JPL campus tour. Enter my hero: Harout Aristakessian.
Harout is my fellow co-chair on the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council’s Arts and Culture Committee and founder of Dance with Harout (DWH) Performance Company. Without hesitation, he stepped in as my movement consultant and attended the JPL tour in my place. His detailed notes and observations from two follow-up Zoom sessions have been invaluable in shaping the choreographic elements of the piece.
This is what collaboration looks like - when your creative team shows up not just for the work, but for you as a person.
Academic Inspiration That Made Me Cry
UCLA’s Felipe Cervera sent us artists a package of academic literature about space art that literally brought me to tears. First, reading his bio - this man is doing groundbreaking work on extraterrestrial art beyond sci-fi tropes. Then, diving into his provocations:
“Must the space artist be someone who has access to space technologies? How else may art invite us to experience ‘outer space’ here, now, with our physical and mundane everyday life affordances?”
His readings on art satellites, dance in microgravity, and ethnographic studies of exoplanetary scientists are reshaping how I think about this work. He’s challenging us to move beyond “illustrating science” toward creating meaningful planetary experiences that dialogue with the scientific method itself.
Meditation Meets Cosmic Vision
The most surprising part of this process? The quiet moments. I’ve been spending time in meditation, literally seeing the piece in my mind’s eye - understanding the beginning’s cacophony and the ending’s profound silence. There’s something deeply spiritual about translating cosmic forces into bodily expression.
The Professional Learning Curve
Working with Veronique MacRae as director (currently serving as the Coordinated Theater Director at the St. Albans School/Washington National Cathedral in DC, who directed my Edinburgh hybrid performance in 2021 and served as Kennedy Center Local Theatre resident) is the anchor I need as I navigate this new territory.
I’m learning as I go while staying grounded in the fact that I am a professional entering uncharted creative space. The nervousness is real, but so is the excitement of doing something that bridges all my worlds - laboratory science, media communication, and artistic expression.
What’s Next
June 28th feels both impossibly far away and terrifyingly close. But with NASA scientists reviewing my script, movement consultants translating space into dance, academic provocateurs expanding my imagination, and a seasoned director guiding the vision - I’m starting to believe this impossible thing might actually work.
Sometimes the universe doesn’t just open doors - it builds entirely new hallways.
More updates from the cosmic laboratory soon! More BTS!
The Body Celestial premieres June 28, 2025, at Taxco Theatre as part of the Language of the Cosmos festival.