Miami-Based Team Prepares First-Ever Microgravity Performance for Launch
The PARABOLES team brings together professionals from Cirque du Soleil, National Geographic, and NASA.
May 22, 2025: MIAMI, FL – What does performance look like without gravity? This fall, a team of artists, scientists, and filmmakers will attempt to answer that question with PARABOLES, the first fully realized, human-performed multimedia work captured in microgravity. The project is led by multimedia artist and showmaker Natasha Tsakos in collaboration with the MIT Space Exploration Initiative and Zero-G.
Set aboard a dedicated parabolic flight, PARABOLES will unfold across 25 gravity-defying arcs, each offering 22 seconds of weightlessness. Three performers and two cinematographers will operate within a free-floating zone, capturing the fleeting poetry of motion and meaning in an environment free of earthly bounds.
“This is not a stunt. It’s a profound reimagining of form, for a new frontier,” says Tsakos. “PARABOLES is the next step for art-kind. For two decades, my moonshot has been to create shows for space, original forms and formats for our spacefaring future.”
The project goes beyond documentation or symbolic gestures. It will result in a cinematic art film, a short documentary, and an immersive installation, all premiering in 2026. It also incorporates biometric research on microgravity’s impact on cognition and movement, and aims to develop the first training curriculum designed specifically for artists preparing to work in space. “Because a society that does not nurture its arts, cannot sustain its humanity,” Tsakos states. “Not on Earth, and not in space.”
Watch images of the Paraboles team training for their performances in space
The production has already secured key partnerships: MIT SEI is managing flight logistics; Live Arts Miami and O Cinema are supporting training and premiere exhibition; and Zero-G is providing rehearsal flights. However, the team is now turning to public supporters to complete funding through a Kickstarter campaign launching May 20. Contributions will directly support astronautical training, production, and flight costs.
“We need hopeful reimaginings now more than ever,” says Tsakos. “The space industry is booming: with infrastructure, with investment. But where are the artists? What narratives will we export to space?”
The PARABOLES team brings together professionals from Cirque du Soleil, National Geographic, NASA, and more. Their mission is as philosophical as it is logistical: to ensure that the cultural imagination expands alongside aerospace innovation.
“I believe artists must be part of this historical evolution,” Tsakos affirms. “We are not abandoning the Earth. We are infusing a vital element into a rapidly growing industry that will shape humanity’s future.”