Wednesday, May 09 9:01 am
Seahorses are some of the many puppets in Luna's Sea, which makes its New York premiere at the Museum on May 12. Photo courtesy of Linda Wingerter
This Mother’s Day weekend, travel from the shores of Africa to the deep-sea habitats of bioluminescent creatures with a live puppet theater production that makes its New York premiere. Luna’s Sea tells the story of a girl named Luna on a magical journey through the world’s oceans using dance, puppetry, optical illusions, and black-light theater. Luna’s Sea will hold performances at the Museum on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13. The show’s creator, Linda Wingerter, recently shared the history of Luna’s Sea as well as some of the details about how the production’s spectacular puppets are made.
How did the idea for Luna’s Sea come about?
Linda Wingerter: I’m a children’s book illustrator by trade with a background in puppetry. Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium and the Cornerstone Playhouse in Mystic asked me if I would write, create, and build a stage show based on animals at the aquarium.
What kind of research did you conduct at the aquarium?
Wingerter: The aquarium gave us unlimited time to spend on site with our puppeteers to study the animals. We brought some of our in-progress puppets right to the tanks and had our puppeteers move them alongside the animals. My co-puppet-builder, Jen McClure, and I would then make adjustments. Read more »
Monday, April 30 9:24 am
Chili peppers, now used in cuisines across the world, originated in the Americas. Courtesy of Flickr/User Peter.Lorre
Chili peppers, a spicy fruit featured in cuisines around the world, were used in Mexico long before going global, as was the agave-derived distilled drink tequila. This week, the Museum’s Adventures in the Global Kitchen series presents Tequila and Chilies, which will include a conversation with Juan Carlos Aguirre, the executive director of Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders. Aguirre, who will be providing samplings of chili-based dishes from across Mexico alongside tequila from Richard Sandoval Restaurants, recently offered a quick history lesson about the ubiquitous chili pepper.
How long has the chili pepper been an integral ingredient in Mexican cooking?
Chili peppers have been used in Mexican cuisine for thousands of years. They were one of the first plants in the region to be “domesticated.”
How did the chili pepper spread throughout the world?
Chili peppers are originally from the Americas and were incorporated into different cuisines around world after the continent was discovered by Europeans. The Philippines and Mexico were once part of the Spanish Empire, and the chili pepper was exported from Mexico to the Philippines and then all over Asia. So its use in Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, and other Asian cuisines actually comes from the Americas. Read more »
Friday, April 27 10:47 am
Biological anthropologist Nina Jablonski reveals the unique history behind skin at May's SciCafe. © Heidi Lewis
Skin is the body’s largest organ, and one with a complex cultural and evolutionary past. At the upcoming SciCafe on Wednesday, May 2, biological anthropologist Nina Jablonski will discuss how human skin evolved, particularly as an adaptation to ultraviolet radiation. She recently answered a few questions about skin and its role in our lives.
When did you decide to study the history of human skin?
Nina Jablonski: By accident. About 23 years ago, a colleague asked me to give a lecture to his class about skin because he was going to be out of town for a conference. I obliged. In preparing for the lecture, I realized just how little had been written about the evolution and meaning of human skin.
Why is human skin unique?
Jablonski: The “primary uniqueness” of human skin is that it is mostly hairless. Because of this, the skin itself, rather than hair covering it, is the body’s main protection against physical assault. Many of the most important and distinctive attributes of skin are consequences of hairlessness. Our mostly hairless skin is tough, colorful, and available for deliberate decoration. Read more »
Monday, April 23 1:05 pm
Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis will perform at the Museum on April 28 to celebrate New Orleans. © Keith Major
As part of the national celebrations for Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) in April, the Museum will honor jazz’s birthplace on Saturday, April 28, with the day-long Global Weekends program New Orleans: Culture Remixed. Headlining the event is famed jazz trombonist and music producer Delfeayo Marsalis, whose family includes saxophonist Branford Marsalis, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, drummer Jason Marsalis, and pianist Ellis Marsalis. Delfeayo recently answered a few questions about his music.
What was it like growing up in a family of famous jazz musicians?
I think the great part about my family is the amount that all the brothers influenced, encouraged, and inspired each other. There’s the question of sibling rivalry, but that’s only one part of it. The old-school way is that competition is always going to bring out the best. In music, it’s similar to when Beethoven or Mozart were composing, and they had their contemporaries: they were competing, but they were also inspiring and being inspired. That’s always been important for my family. Even if it’s competition with yourself, you say, ok, I will play better than I played yesterday.
What’s unique about playing the trombone?
It’s actually an instrument with much responsibility. It’s the bridge between the rhythm section and the horn section, so sometimes we play like the tuba or bass, sometimes we harmonize with trumpet and sax or clarinet, and other times we play counterpart. In New Orleans style, the trombone needs the most flexibility. Read more »
Friday, April 20 10:20 am
David Gruber, a speaker at this Sunday’s Milstein Science Series, helped photograph the Bloody Ball Wall in Creatures of Light. © AMNH/D. Finnin
From fireflies to jellyfishes, an astonishing range of animals create their own light. On Sunday, April 22, kids can explore activity carts about glowing organisms while scientists David Gruber, Marc Branham, and Edith Widder share their research about these creatures and the deep-sea vehicles and cameras required to study them. David Gruber, an assistant professor at The City University of New York (CUNY) and a Museum research associate who consulted on the exhibition Creatures of Light: Nature’s Bioluminescence, recently answered a few questions about his deep-sea photography and the Museum.
What was it like consulting on Creatures of Light?
David Gruber: One of the best parts was meeting with the designers who made the models of organisms. We would make tiny tweaks until they got more and more realistic, and we created some of the most detailed models of several organisms. As the models were being designed, many anatomy questions came up that weren’t anywhere in the scientific literature, so we often went back to the animals themselves to answer questions the designers brought up.
Part of your work for the exhibition involved photographing a coral wall. Were some of these animals harder to photograph than others?
Gruber: Unlike corals that sit in place, the fish are harder because they move around. One of the animals people will see is a glowing eel that jumped into one of our photographs. We didn’t even know it was there until we got back to lab and reviewed the film. Read more »
