Natasha Tsakos

Natasha Tsakos is a conceptual director, interactive designer, and performance artist from Geneva, Switzerland, living in Florida. Her work explores the symbiosis of technology and live performance. She is the president and founder of NTiD inc.[1]

Natasha Tsakos
Born
Geneva, Switzerland
EducationBFA
Alma materUniversity of Florida
OccupationConceptual director, writer and performer
Known forDeveloping the concept of Technoformances
WebsiteNatasha Tsakos


Career
Natasha Tsakos in CLIMAX, photo by Craig Smit

Tsakos is a classically trained actor, playwright and director. She has written 12 original works, directed 30 plays, 6 commercial-length films for Ford Motors as part of the Fiesta Movement, and 2 music videos.[2] Her work has been commissioned by Nickelodeon, Miami Art Museum, Miami Light Project, Adrienne Arsht Center, Art Basel, Discovery Channel, and featured on HBO, MTV, and BBC.[2][3] Tsakos was voted one of the State of Florida's "Power Players" by Florida International Magazine in 2008.[4] and named one of Miami's top 100 creative people by Miami New Times in 2011.[2]

</ref> She was a member of Octavio Campos' Hybrid Theater company Camposition,[5] and the principal character in its anti-bullying film Intention Intervention;[6] She was also the lead performer in the roving interactive entertainment troupe Circ X,[7] appearing in more than 10,000 events with two US national tours. Tsakos performed with Cirque du Soleil for the Super Bowl's opening ceremony in 2007[8] and at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival with Red Bull.[9]


Technoformances
Natasha Tsakos in UP WAKE, Photo by Carolina Pagani

Tsakos' original creations have been referred to as "technoformances", which combine virtual technology, electronic music, and movement studies.[10] The art form largely took off after her show UP WAKE, which first appeared in 2002 as a short-form dance theatre performance and was adapted into a full-length production in 2006.[11]

UP WAKE inaugurated the Grand Opening of the Adrienne Arsht Center, formerly known as Miami Performing Arts Center, and toured globally.[12][13] In the performance, Tsakos interacted with live 3D animation[14] as her character Zero journeyed through a day of dream and wake, unable to distinguish the two. UP WAKE was named best dance performance of the year in Florida by The Sunpost; which wrote "with startling use of animation, a magical briefcase, and a movement vocabulary that ranged from MTV to avant-garde, Tsakos achieved the rarest of feats: she made a profound statement on the way we live now in an utterly original language."[15]

A year prior to the launch of Project Natal, better known as Xbox' Kinect, Tsakos was brought on as a creative developer to work in collaboration with Digital Worlds' research department at the University of Florida to develop a new form of sensor-less motion capture technology.[16] The preliminary phases premiered at the eComm Conference in San Francisco in April 2010 and SIGGRAPH 2010.

A year later she produced CLIMAX, a provocative multimedia show about the environment for EcoArt Fashion Week during Art Basel. CLIMAX closed Al Gore's Climate Reality Project in 2011 and opened the G20 Summit, held in Los Cabos, Mexico in 2012.[17]

Tsakos was commissioned again in 2012 by Miami Light Project to create a new show for its "Here and Now Festival" series. According to the Miami Herald, the technology for OMEN included "3D mapping technology in which projected animation transforms flat surfaces into fantastical yet realistic looking images".[18] Tsakos described the phenomenon of data visualization and projection mapping applied to theatrical productions, as the "data-tainment movement".[19]

In 2013, the Governor's School for the Arts commissioned Tsakos for its 25th anniversary to create a production that included its 355 music, dance, performing and visual arts students. The result was a full-length interdisciplinary show called ZO, following artists as they pursue their dreams for stardom by auditioning for an insane talent show.[20] ZO premiered at the Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, Virginia. That same year, Tsakos was named a finalist in the Arts category for the World Technology Awards.[21]

Tsakos later collaborated with Mexican media agency Circus to create the show QUARRY; a performance focused around the concept of how concrete is made, from the natural forces to the industrialization process involved.[22] QUARRY was presented at Centro Banamex in Mexico City and incorporated a 200-foot screen set behind 15 foot cylinders, IMAG projections, and 15 performers dancing to projection mapped animation.

In 2013, Tsakos worked with the Discovery Channel to produce two theatrical pieces; SUPER INTENSO! and SUPER WOMAN which premiered at the Gotham Hall in New York City. SUPER INTENSO! later celebrated Discovery Brazil's 20th anniversary in São Paulo in 2014.

Tsakos opened the Tribeca Film Festival' Imagination Talks with her piece "FACE FORWARD: A MANIFESTO FOR THE FUTURE" and was the official host for the all-day summit, presenting some of today's most influential minds including Google's Captain of Moonshots, Astro Teller; the founding director of Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab, Jeremy Bailenson and Chief Entrepreneur Officer at 3D Systems, Ping Fu.[23]

Tsakos worked in Havana, Cuba between 2014 and 2015 developing an original conception with renown Cuban singer Isaac Delgado and choreographer Santiago Alfonso, but the show never went into full production.

Public speaking

Tsakos has spoken at conferences such as the TED Conference in Long Beach, California,[24] the 2009 International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality,[25] 2010 National Innovation Conference,[26] La Ciudad de Las Ideas in 2009,[27] 2010,[28] and 2016,[29] The Penny Stamp Speaker Series at the University of Michigan,[30] the 2013 National Theatre Conference,[31] TEDxBroadway 2014,[32] TEDxPuraVidaJoven 2014,[33] SIME Stockholm 2014,[34] TEDx SanDiego 2015,[35] the 2016 NOVUS Summit at the United Nations General Assembly Hall,[36] Google,[37] Kellogg Innovation Network,[38] YPO,[39] IBM Summit, amongst others.

Education

Tsakos graduated in 2000 with a BFA in Theatre from New World School of the Arts at the University of Florida. She was honored in 2016 with the Alumni Recognition Award, the first such award in New World School of the Arts history.[40]

In 2015, Tsakos won Singularity University's Global Impact Challenge competition, and was awarded a Google grant to attend SU's Graduate Studies Program at NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley. The program focuses on accelerating technologies to address Humanity's greatest challenges.[41] In 2017, Tsakos became the ambassador of Singularity University's Miami Chapter.[42]

Bibliography
  • The Lost Architect (2013)
  • Colours: a nonsense The first edition (2013)
  • Colours: a nonsense The second edition (2014)
gollark: Not really.
gollark: i.e. the physical processes involved in the brain do not actually work the same if you swap all the atoms for... identical atoms.
gollark: Anyway, if you actually *did* end up breaking consciousness if you swapped out half the atoms in your brain at once, and this was externally verifiable because the conscious thing complained, that would probably have some weird implications. Specifically, that the physical processes involved somehow notice this.
gollark: I mean, apart from the fact that it wasn't livable in the intervening distance, which might be bad in specifically the house case.
gollark: If I build an *identical* house in the same place, with all the same contents, somehow, I don't care that much.

References
  1. Tsakos, Natasha. "Natasha Tsakos | Speaker | TED.com". Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  2. Goyanes, Ily (2011-02-02). "22. Natasha Tsakos". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  3. Guillermo Perez (March 29, 2005). "Miami Light Project's experiments in motion, sound" (PDF). South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  4. Luis R Rigual (June 2008). "People of Like Mind". Florida International Magazine.
  5. "Camposition | History". www.camposition.org. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  6. John Hood (November 4, 2011). "NiteTalk: Octavio Campos and Company Will Stir This Sleepless Night". NBC. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  7. Staff report (January 27, 2008). "Burlesque is back! Risque, rousing performances straddle the line between frivolous and serious". Miami Herald. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  8. "Cirque Du Soleil - Pregame show for Super Bowl XLI - vidéo Dailymotion". Dailymotion. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  9. CUCSD Events (2016-10-11), Reimagining 2030: Natasha Tsakos (6 of 13), retrieved 2017-02-27
  10. "The Radar Now". Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  11. "UP WAKE by Natasha Tsakos". www.upwake.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  12. llc., ZERO. "Zero Redefines Theater: Are You Ready to UP WAKE?". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  13. "The Headliners". Florida International Magazine. April 2008. p. 59.
  14. Daniel Carlin (December 7, 2010). "Animated performance artist Natasha Tsakos comes to Michigan Theater". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  15. "Best Dance Performance of the Year". The Sun Post. July 3, 2007
  16. "Digital Worlds - Markerless Motion Capture Technology".
  17. Tsakos, Natasha. "Performer Natasha Tsakos to Open the G20 Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico with her Multimedia Show CLIMAX". www.ireachcontent.com. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  18. Jordan Levin (January 31, 2012). "Here & Now Festival returns with fresh work by local artists". Miami Herald. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  19. Peter Rothman (September 11, 2012). "The Future of Work Ò Everyone is a Performance Artist, a brief Interview with Natasha Tsakos". H Plus Magazine. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  20. Annas, Teresa. "'Zo' much talent from the Governor's School of the Arts". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  21. "THE 2012 WORLD TECHNOLOGY AWARD FINALISTS". Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  22. "Quarry". Tecne Collective. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  23. "Get to Know a Genius: Natasha Tsakos | Tribeca". Tribeca. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  24. "TED2009: Speakers A-Z". conferences.ted.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  25. "ISMAR2009 Mixed and Augmented Reality Conference". UCF News - University of Central Florida Articles - Orlando, FL News. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  26. Greek America Foundation (2012-07-05), NIC 2010 - Natasha Tsakos: Theatre, Technology and the Moon, retrieved 2017-02-22
  27. LaCiudaddelasIdeas (2010-03-08), Natasha Tsakos, directora conceptual y productora de espectáculos, retrieved 2017-02-27
  28. Natasha Tsakos (2010-12-14), La Cuidad de la Ideas 2010: NATASHA TSAKOS, retrieved 2017-02-27
  29. LaCiudaddelasIdeas (2017-02-02), Natasha Tsakos, directora conceptual y artista visual, retrieved 2017-02-27
  30. "Natasha Tsakos - Penny W. Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series | Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan". stamps.umich.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  31. Natasha Tsakos (2013-09-21), Natasha Tsakos INTERVIEW TCG 2013, retrieved 2017-02-27
  32. TEDx Talks (2014-05-04), Technology in the performing arts: Natasha Tsakos at TEDxBroadway, retrieved 2017-02-22
  33. TEDx Talks (2015-01-15), Imagination, creativity and madness | Natasha Tsakos | TEDxPuraVidaJoven, retrieved 2017-02-22
  34. "Natasha Tsakos". Sime. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  35. TEDx Talks (2015-11-06), The Age of Magic | Natasha Tsakos | TEDxSanDiego, retrieved 2017-02-22
  36. "NOVUS SUMMIT" Archived August 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. NOVUS SUMMIT. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  37. Natasha Tsakos (2016-09-28), Google Performing Arts Summit: NATASHA TSAKOS Keynote "Creatively Mobile", retrieved 2017-02-22
  38. Natasha Tsakos (2016-09-24), KIN Global: Natasha Tsakos, Chris Gebhardt, Elliot Kotek, Robert C. Wolcott, retrieved 2017-02-22
  39. "YPO - Members from more than 30 chapters gathered for the... | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  40. Pinera, Juan M. "NWSA honors world-renowned multi-platform actor Natasha Tsakos in a 30th anniversary reception followed by an evening of Tony Kushner's "A Bright Room Called Day." - New World School of Arts". nwsa.mdc.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  41. Natasha Tsakos (2009-09-26), "NASA: ZERO-G & Me" an adventure with Natasha Tsakos, retrieved 2017-02-28
  42. "SingularityU Miami | Local Chapter of Singularity University". SingularityU Miami | Local Chapter of Singularity University. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
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