KZBlog

On Sept. 30, the most recent space-tourist blasted off from Baikanour for the International Space Station. Guy Laliberte who started life as a clown performing on the streets is most famous for founding the Cirque de Soleil, the troupe that blends circus performing, ballet, performance art, opera, comedy and just about any other drama of performing art you can imagine. He apparently paid $35 million to go into space.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that he took off from Baikanour, located in a desert area of Central Asia, a region that has serious problems with water supply. He plans to use his time on the space station to to draw attention to problems of clean water. At 24:00 GMT on October 9 [06:00 Oct 10 Astana/Almaty time], he will launch a webcast performance that will link with performances in Montreal, Moscow, Santa Monica, New York City, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Marrakesh, Sydney, Tokyo, Tampa, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and London.

According to the press release,

In each of the cities, an “artistic moment” will unfold in the presence of artists and world-renowned personalities. Each city will have its own theme related to water. The following have already confirmed their participation: Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, A. R. Rahman, Cirque du Soleil, Claude Challe, Dr. David Suzuki, Fnaire, Frank De Winne, Garou, Gilberto Gil, Gregory Colbert, Jean Lemire, Julie Payette, Maud Fontenoy, Patrick Bruel, Peter Gabriel, Peter Lik, Shakira, Simon Carpentier, Tatuya Ishii, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Tiffany Speight, U2, Vandana Shiva and Yann Arthus-Bertrand. They will take part in the event either by reading parts of the poem, performing or sharing an artistic work.

Although the site is down right now, it will be broadcast on the One Drop Foundation site.