Voyagers: A Dance Among the Planets

Cuesheet Performance Guide

A World Premiere Kennedy Center Co-Commission with Company | E

By Paul Gordon Emerson, Kathryn Sydell Pilkington, and Eric Shimelonis

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

— astronomer Carl Sagan

Presenting Sponsor of Performances for Young Audiences

Grab your boarding pass and off we go. Remember to check the nicknames for hints about each planet’s personality.

IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE: THE MOON: Ruler of Emotions Pack your imagination and buckle up, because we’re about to soar through the solar system in this brand-new performance. Music, dance, and space projections will be your guides on this incredible, imaginative journey.

The idea for the voyage started more than 100 years ago. That’s when composer Gustav Holst (pronounced GOOS-tahv holst) looked up in the sky and wondered about the solar system (a place we understand thanks to the science of astronomy—the study of objects in space).

Taking inspiration from astrology (the belief that the planets have characteristics and affect human behavior), Holst imagined different personalities for—and gave special nicknames to—our neighbors in space. To express those ideas, he wrote music called The Planets.

Ever since then, the music has inspired people, including the artists who created this show. They started by changing Holst’s music (and creating new parts) to be performed by an on-stage band. Then they added dancing and big picture projections. Together, the dancers and musicians will express each planet in music and movement and help us all become “voyagers among the planets.”

MARS: The Bringer of War

VENUS: The Bringer of Peace

MERCURY: The Winged Messenger

JUPITER: The Bringer of Jollity

Listen for…how the music changes to “describe” each

planet (a planet, scientifically speaking, is a mostly round object that orbits, or circles around, the sun).

Watch for…the dancers, how they move, and how

their movements change to express the different music and the planets.

Think about…what the music and movement might

SATURN: The Bringer of Old Age

URANUS: The Magician

be like for Saturn, “The Bringer of Old Age.” How could movements suggest old age? Try some ideas yourself, like walking as if you were a very, very old person.

Attention all astronomers! It’s time to open this

poster to explore some science and learn more about the “personalities” of the planets.

NEPTUNE: The Mystic

THE SUN: Giver of Life

EARTH: The Place We Call Home

Grownups—please see our online grownup

guide for discussion questions, background, resources, and a range of fun activities for extending this performance experience at: tinyurl.com/y4ex57nc

Grab your boarding pass and off we go. Remember to check the nicknames for hints about each planet’s personality.

IN ORDER OF PERFORMANCE: THE MOON: Ruler of Emotions Pack your imagination and buckle up, because we’re about to soar through the solar system in this brand-new performance. Music, dance, and space projections will be your guides on this incredible, imaginative journey.

The idea for the voyage started more than 100 years ago. That’s when composer Gustav Holst (pronounced GOOS-tahv holst) looked up in the sky and wondered about the solar system (a place we understand thanks to the science of astronomy—the study of objects in space).

Taking inspiration from astrology (the belief that the planets have characteristics and affect human behavior), Holst imagined different personalities for—and gave special nicknames to—our neighbors in space. To express those ideas, he wrote music called The Planets.

Ever since then, the music has inspired people, including the artists who created this show. They started by changing Holst’s music (and creating new parts) to be performed by an on-stage band. Then they added dancing and big picture projections. Together, the dancers and musicians will express each planet in music and movement and help us all become “voyagers among the planets.”

MARS: The Bringer of War

VENUS: The Bringer of Peace

MERCURY: The Winged Messenger

JUPITER: The Bringer of Jollity

Listen for…how the music changes to “describe” each

planet (a planet, scientifically speaking, is a mostly round object that orbits, or circles around, the sun).

Watch for…the dancers, how they move, and how

their movements change to express the different music and the planets.

Think about…what the music and movement might

SATURN: The Bringer of Old Age

URANUS: The Magician

be like for Saturn, “The Bringer of Old Age.” How could movements suggest old age? Try some ideas yourself, like walking as if you were a very, very old person.

Attention all astronomers! It’s time to open this

poster to explore some science and learn more about the “personalities” of the planets.

NEPTUNE: The Mystic

THE SUN: Giver of Life

EARTH: The Place We Call Home

Grownups—please see our online grownup

guide for discussion questions, background, resources, and a range of fun activities for extending this performance experience at: tinyurl.com/y4ex57nc

Blast Off!

Your space mission—with the help of science, music, and dance— is to discover the planets in a brand new way… and create a new one of your very own.

THE MOON: Ruler of Emotions So some people think of the moon as a planet, but scientifically speaking, it isn’t because a planet orbits the sun, but a moon orbits a planet. Earth’s moon is the only object in space on which humans have walked, and American astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first to do it 50 years ago.

Astrologers see the moon as linked with human feelings or emotions.

Listen for…the slow steady “tink” from the piano, suggesting space ship equipment.

MY Planet

Now it’s your turn to wonder and imagine. Draw your own planet and tell us about it below.

Planet Name:

Planet Nickname:

THE SUN Giver of Life

Did you know the sun is a star—a yellow dwarf star, to be exact? The power and energy of this intense ball of gases keeps the planets and other objects in orbit around it (that’s why we call it a solar—relating to the sun—system). The sun is more than four billion years old, and is hot, hot, hot at more than 27 million degrees Fahrenheit in its middle.

Without the sun’s light and heat, there would be no life on Earth.

Astrologists count the sun as a planet that represents the ability to live, along with the qualities of leadership and health.

Listen for…swirling, hopeful sounds.

MERCURY The Winged Messenger

Mercury is the smallest and closest planet to the sun. It’s also the fastest, zipping around the sun in just 88 Earth days (here on Earth it takes us slowpokes 365 days).

The ideas of wings and a messenger come from Greek and Roman mythology, and astrologers note Mercury as a thinker.

Listen for…swift, bouncy, quickly changing patterns.

VENUS The Bringer of Peace Although it’s similar in size to Earth, Venus’s thick atmosphere makes it the hottest planet in the solar system (a whopping 900 degrees Fahrenheit). After the moon, Venus is the brightest object we can see in the night sky.

Astrologers believe Venus represents a calm, refined nature that restores peace.

Listen for…gentle solos and sweet jazz-like melodies that flow to a soothing ending.

EARTH The Place We Call Home Although there is no separate music for Earth, our “home sweet home” is pretty special. Besides hosting human, animal, and plant life, it stands out among its neighbors for its oceans—it’s the only planet with liquid water on the surface (covering 70 percent of it). We’re also lucky that our atmosphere shields us from getting clobbered by meteoroids (small space rocks).

While astrologists don’t see Earth as a planet, they associate it with features like dependability, practicality, and hard work.

Listen for…the sounds of life on Earth and the single piano notes that suggest the wonder of each new day, at the end of the music for “The Sun.”

MARS The Bringer of War Often called the Red Planet for its bold color, Mars might seem hot, but it actually is cold, rocky, and dry (though it does have the largest volcano in the solar system). Most astronomers consider our next-door neighbor to be the planet most like Earth.

Personality-wise, since Mars is named for the Roman god of war, it’s easy to imagine it as fierce and always itching for a fight.

Listen for…the repeated rhythmic pattern (called an ostinato, os-tin-NAH-to).

JUPITER The Bringer of Jollity

SATURN The Bringer of Old Age

If you’re thinking big, look no further than Jupiter—it’s twice as big as all the other planets in our solar system combined. Jupiter sports a distinctive Great Red Spot, which is actually a centuries-old storm on the planet’s gassy surface. The giant planet has more than 75 moons and even has a ring system—interestingly, first discovered by an American spacecraft named Voyager.

While the other outer planets of the solar system have rings, Saturn’s seven icy rings are the most spectacular.

This massive gas ball has more than 53 moons, the largest of which is named Titan.

With its big size comes some big characteristics, like hope, good cheer, and joyous humor.

Listen for…full, fast-paced sounds that suggest dancing and folk songs.

URANUS The Magician

Astrologically, Saturn is seen as a lord and ruler who works in a slow and steady way and lives to an old age.

This planet has some unusual characteristics up its sleeves. One, it rotates on its side. Two, its surface is a hot dense fluid of water, ammonia, and methane that gives the planet a blue hue and that also smells a lot like rotten eggs. Three, it’s the coldest planet in the system (try staying warm at minus 371 degrees Fahrenheit!) and along with Neptune, is known as an ice giant.

Listen for…the slow beginning march that sounds like a clock ticking and how the feel of the music changes at the end.

Given all that, its astrological qualities might not surprise you—odd and a little unpredictable.

Listen for…playful patterns and changes in the music.

NEPTUNE The Mystic If you could make it to the surface of this chilly and dark ice giant, you would be whipped by supersonic winds at more than 1,200 miles per hour. Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun and it takes 165 Earth years for the planet to make one orbit.

What kind of personality does it have?

What movement goes with it, and why?

Astrologists associate it with special, mysterious powers beyond normal human senses and abilities.

Listen for…the very slow, gentle beginning and later fast rising and falling notes that suggest shimmering.

What sound or song goes with it, and why?

David M. Rubenstein Chairman Deborah F. Rutter President Mario R. Rossero Senior Vice President Education

Additional support for VOYAGERS: A Dance Among the Planets is provided by A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation; the Kimsey Endowment; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Anne and Chris Reyes; and the U.S. Department of Education.

Funding for Access and Accommodation Programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Major support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by David M. Rubenstein through the Rubenstein Arts Access Program.

Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts.

The contents of this Cuesheet have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Š 2019 The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The Kennedy Center offers sensory-friendly shows for a variety of performances. To learn more: goo.gl/uAihKc