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(April 30) From Stage to Weightlessness: The Making of PARABOLES (Webinar, join us!)

  • 1.  (April 30) From Stage to Weightlessness: The Making of PARABOLES (Webinar, join us!)

    Posted 11 hours ago

    RSVP Information: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/zs475ua/lp/c8f1e247-bcc5-4069-a7cd-a1f895b9add5

    AIAA LA Section and GDST-TC/MSP-TC online Webinar 4/30

    (On-line presentation / webinar)

    Thursday, April 30, 2026, 12 PM EDT (GMT-0400) / 9 AM PDT (GMT -0700)

    Apr 30

    From Stage to Weightlessness: The Making of PARABOLES

    Presenter / Speaker:
    Natasha Tsakos
    Founder & Show Maker, SpaceWonders.co

    Moderator:
    Robert C. Wolcott, Adjunct Professor of Innovation at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, venture investor and Co-Founder of TWIN Global

    Co-Moderator:
    Jason Lee
    Associate Professor in Residence, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering, Univ. Connecticut;
    Secretary and incoming Vice Chair, AIAA Gravity Dependent Science Technology Technical Committee (GDST-TC) (aka Microgravity Space Processes Technical Committee (MSP-TC))

    (The speaker will present online remotely.)

    Starbucks Willow and Long Beach (Meeting Room (very limited seats))
    281 E Willow St., Long Beach, CA 90806
    View on map

    Virtual location

    You will receive a confirmation email with a URL.

    Apr 30, 2026 12:00pm ET - Apr 30, 2026 01:00pm ET

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    From Stage to Weightlessness: The Making of PARABOLES

    In this session, hosted by Robert C. Wolcott, Adjunct Professor of Innovation at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, venture investor and Co-Founder of TWIN Global, Natasha Tsakos shares the story of Space Wonders: the first theatrical company for space. From 25 years of adventurous theater making to 15 years of space experience, she traces the path to PARABOLES, a fully choreographed performance in microgravity currently in preparation for flight. Join us and discover what it takes (physically, cognitively, creatively) to rehearse for a stage that doesn't exist yet, and why culture, performance, and the arts are the infrastructure of a thriving civilization, on Earth and beyond it.

    Presenter / Speaker:

    Natasha Tsakos

    Award-winning director, performer, and producer

    Founder & Show Maker

    SpaceWonders.co

    Natasha Tsakos is an award-winning director, performer, and producer exploring what happens when art enters environments humans were never meant to inhabit. She has performed across six continents, from TED and the Super Bowl with Cirque du Soleil to the G20 Summit, Discovery Channel, and Tribeca Film Festival. She speaks globally, including at the United Nations General Assembly and Google, on how art shapes innovation.

    Her space training includes lunar parabolic flight and impedance studies at NASA JSC, neutral buoyancy at NASA Ames, astronautics and high-G aerobatic training at the IIAS, NASA L'SPACE Academy (first prize), and MIT's New Space Economy program. She founded Space Wonders, the first theatrical company for space, developing performances created in microgravity and brought back to Earth as immersive experiences, research, and education. Its flagship production, PARABOLES, is a fully choreographed performance in weightlessness, tracking performer biometrics (EEG) to study human expression and cognition in altered gravity. She is also a founding member of Duckweed Labs, a space food startup twice awarded by NASA. Natasha is a member of AIAA.

    Moderator:

    Robert C. Wolcott

    Adjunct Professor of Innovation at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, venture investor and Co-Founder of TWIN Global

    Co-Moderator:

    Jason Lee

    Associate Professor in Residence, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Connecticut;

    Secretary and incoming Vice Chair, AIAA Gravity Dependent Science Technology Technical Committee (GDST-TC) (aka Microgravity Space Processes Technical Committee (MSP-TC)) 

    Disclaimer: The views of the speakers do not represent the views of AIAA, AIAA LA Section, or AIAA GDST-TC/MSP-TC. This event is not sponsored or endorsed by the venue / meeting room location.

    [AIAA Los Angeles Section], [contact@aiaa-lalv.org], [https://www.aiaa-lalv.org]

    [AIAA GDST-TC/MSP-TC], [https://www.linkedin.com/company/aiaa-msptc/]



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