Music and Dance amid Climate Change:

Artists from the Pacific Atolls of Kiribati, Tokelau and Tuvalu

(Boston debut!)

Saturday, November 19, 8:00 PM

Sanders Theatre
45 Quincy St
Cambridge, 02138
Reserved seating
$40.00, $32.00, $28.00 (includes Sanders Theatre $0.75 restoration fee)

The tiny Pacific atolls Kiribati, Tokelau and Tuvalu are on the front lines of global warming and risk becoming the first cultures on earth to be submerged by rising sea levels. For hundreds of years, the islands’ history, spiritual teachings and social values were danced and sung rather than written. Now, as their fragile way of life is threatened, the 36 dancers and musicians of Water is Rising create an elegant, sensual and exuberant performance that expresses their deep connections to nature and the legacy of their traditions as well as their feelings about global warming. Their shared spirit and intense energy represent the joyful vitality of their collective ethos.

Free lecture/demonstration:

Sunday, November 20, 3:30pm
Cahners Theatre at the Museum of Science
Science Park, Boston

Admission: Free, register online by November 6

Featuring Aaron Bernstein, MD, director, Human Health and Global Environmental Change Program of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, Mikaele Maiava, Tokelau government councilman, and Andrew Semeli, Tuvalu parliamentarian assistant and Water Is Rising performers from the island of Kiribati. Facilitated by Judy Mitoma, Director of UCLA’s Center for Intercultural Performance. A co-presentation of the Museum of Science and World Music/CRASHarts. This program is free thanks to the generosity of the Lowell Institute. Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.