Art has a way of launching the mind on journeys to faraway places, including space.

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A shared vision of translating astronomy science through music, dance, visual art and technology gave birth to EarthScape, an immersive, concert-style performance at the University of Arizona.

Experts from the Arizona Astrobiology Center, College of Fine Arts, College of Information Science and College of Science collaborated on the show, which debuted Oct. 3 at Crowder Hall. Supported with a grant from the Arizona Astrobiology Center, EarthScape was the third show in a series that started with StellarScape in 2022 and PlanetScape in 2024.

“We consider it scholarly work as well as creative work,” said Chris Impey, distinguished professor of astronomy at the College of Science, who served as astronomy advisor on the project. “What drew me in as an astronomer was the opportunity to see scientific ideas expressed accurately and in a very creative mode, with visuals, dance and original music. That’s not something a scientist gets to see every day.”

Dancers performed in front of a screen that displayed visual projections of interstellar visions as a booming electroacoustic score resonated through the theater. EarthScape recounted the birth of the sun and formation of Earth, tracking the origins of life to the Anthropocene Era, during which humans came to dominate the planet. 

Earth’s journey is juxtaposed with that of a second, distant planet, which develops along a parallel but deeply troubled journey. The two planets, each represented by a dancer, become linked in a story of love, loss and enduring hope.

Blending science and art

EarthScape was made possible by the team’s previous collaborations on StellarScape and PlanetScape, multimedia performances that blended art, science and interactive technology in a way that enlivened the senses and acted as a catalyst for creativity for artists and scientists.

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These projects received support from the SensorLab, a U of A initiative to advance novel human-centered hardware and software sensor systems that detect, monitor, analyze and provide real-time feedback relating to human physiology and behavior.

Yuanyuan “Kay” He, co-director and composer of EarthScape and associate professor in the College of Fine Arts, said the process of creating the project was as fascinating as it was fulfilling, with voices from several disciplines unifying into the vision of an audience-sweeping spectacle.

“Science can inspire art, and art can also inspire scientists,” He said. “By using our understanding of their research, we can express it in a way that they maybe never thought of, and we also create a bridge that connects both worlds.”

Peter Torpey,  co-director of PlanetScape and director of the Live and Immersive Arts Program at the College of Fine Arts, said he was passionate about crossing the gap between science and the arts.

“I think EarthScape is an exploration of scientific concepts and humanization of those concepts,” Torpey said. 

“Our approach was asking how we can tell these stories. How can we show what’s going on inside the walls of the university in a very expressive way that everybody can relate to, get some interest about it and want to learn about it?”

Impey shares that vision, and says he’ll continue to work with his U of A colleagues on future projects.

“In my mind, these kind of multidisciplinary collaborations are still quite rare, and they shouldn’t be,” Impey said. “We need to doing as much science outreach as we can and communicating our research to new audiences. Projects like EarthScape are the perfect way to do that and share the wonder of science with everyone.”