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Photo by Mike Yoder

"Tree of Life" cast members.

Photo by Mike Yoder

Cast members rehearse in a Kansas University performance collaboration of “Tree of Life.”

By all accounts, nobody knew where this project was headed when it started.

How could they, with scientists and artists — many of whom had never met before — sitting around the same table?

“Not a clue,” says John Staniunas, chair of the department of theater and film at Kansas University. “I think the appropriate word would be it ‘evolved.’”

Appropriate indeed.

When KU unveils its “Tree of Life” project on Friday, it will mark the culmination of a two-year, multidisciplinary project designed to depict evolutionary theory in an artistic way.

“I don’t think KU has ever produced anything quite so grand,” says Staniunas, who is the stage director of the show.

“Tree of Life” is the result of the Creative Campus project at KU, which began about two years ago. It was made possible in part by a grant from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Creative Campus Innovations Grant Program.

It started with symposia in 2007 to discuss how evolution could be discussed onstage.

The end result is an hourlong performance that involves dancers, the KU Wind Ensemble, a film, actors and the Turtle Island String Quartet.

It will be presented in three acts:

• The first, about the cultural “tree of life,” about how our cultures intermix. It will involve film, music and dancers and emphasize a primal feel.

• The second, more about science, with actors and music.

• And the third, again focusing on music and dancers, which addresses how the cultural and scientific trees intertwine.

Related science

For David Balakrishnan, a founder of the two-time Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island String Quartet, the project was both intriguing and intimidating.

“I was completely freaked out by the idea,” he says. “We all evolved in it together. It was a very concept-driven type of situation, which is always a little dangerous for the arts.”

Balakrishnan composed all of the music for the production. He called it the biggest project of his life, and he approached it as a story-telling concept.

“We wanted to explain how we got here, in the more metaphoric aspect,” he says.

Mandy Shriwise understands the symbolism behind the work.

The KU senior from Overland Park is one of the University Dance Company dancers who has been working on “Tree of Life” this semester.

“In the university, academic discourse is obviously pushed,” she says. “But other organizations — like the Spencer (Museum of Art) and the Lied Center — also foster artistic commentary for what’s going on in the world.”

She notes the dancers perform both together and as soloists, which represents both the individual burden we share for the environment and the future of the human species, and the need for us to collectively solve the environmental problems we face.

“Hopefully, it’s something more people can relate to,” Shriwise says.

Evolution controversy

Chris Haufler agrees.

He’s the chair of the ecology and evolutionary biology department at KU, and he was involved in the early discussions about “Tree of Life,” when scientists and artists were determining the direction the project should take.

“I think it started out with the notion that elements of science and humanities could be joined with the creative elements of performance, and that started the creative juices rolling,” he says.

He notes that he never expected to have official university meetings with representatives from music and dance, and he suspected they felt the same way about scientists.

But when asked if he worried that artists might water down scientific principles, he responded: “I think that would be fabulous if they did.”

“I’ve been involved in scientific literacy elements during my career,” Haufler says. “We need to be trying to help the public understand what us egghead scientists are studying every day. The more esoteric we become, the more disconnected we become from the public.”

And that, he says, helps feed the disconnect between people who don’t believe in evolutionary theory — as evidenced in culture wars between those who oppose teaching evolution in schools, and those who do — and the scientists who make it a living.

“I hope (audiences) get a better appreciation of the science as much as possible,” Haufler says. “We should be opening their minds for thinking about the science and place it into the context with the other elements of their lives. And if we accomplish that, good. Maybe we won’t do it for everybody there. But at this point in the life of our science, any opportunity to take advantage of the opening of the door can’t be missed.”

Balakrishnan, of the Turtle Island String Quartet, says he hopes the overall message of the project isn’t preachy.

“We don’t want to throw (the controversy) in everybody’s face,” he says. “But arts are in some ways about healing — going beyond words and into the heart of the matter. One of the tragic things about this controversy is it divides people. This is a way to bring together the various viewpoints — artistically and visually — and try to leave both a feeling of hopefulness without being new-agey, and also leave a sense of importance for our planet.”

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