First digital full-dome show highlighting a Mesoamerican culture

Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland has announced the U.S. premiere of its new digital video show, Tales of the Maya Skies.  Projected in their dome-shaped theater, the show explores the cosmology of the ancient Maya, their culture and contributions to astronomy.

Tales of the Maya Skies will be presented in English and in Spanish. Chabot has also produced a version in Mayan, the language of the ancient society known for their keen observations of the planets, stars, Sun and Moon.

Tales of the Maya Skies is the first digital full-dome show highlighting a Mesoamerican culture. Using three-dimensional laser scanning and advanced computer generated graphic techniques; the virtual reconstruction of architecture in Tales of the Maya Skies also supports archeologists in interpreting the ancient sites, contributing to their conservation. The innovative show couples the latest technology with ancient Maya science and culture, immersing the audience in the wonders of Chichén Itzá, the ancient Maya city in Mexico.

“The immersive landscape of the digital full-dome format is characteristic of the Maya culture itself. It is a wonderful blend of science, art and mythology, which encircles the audience,” said Alexander Zwissler, Executive Director/CEO of Chabot Space & Science Center and the Executive Producer of Tales of the Maya Skies.

With unprecedented realism Tales of the Maya Skies will inspire and educate audiences about the Maya’s achievements in detailing how astronomy connected them to the Universe. Latin Grammy Award winner Lila Downs narrates as audiences are transported to the jungles of Mexico, where the Maya built cities and temples aligned to movements of the Sun, Moon and planets. The Maya made sense of an ever changing world by observing, recording and predicting natural events such as solstices, eclipses, weather patterns, and planetary movements. Over thousands of years they observed and documented astronomical events with great accuracy. These observations, in combination with a sophisticated mathematical system, allowed the Maya to develop a precise calendar system.

Funding for the production of Tales of the Maya Skies was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Tales of the Maya Skies will be shown in digital full-dome theaters in the United States, Latin America and around the world.

Chabot Space & Science Center is a nonprofit interactive science center whose mission is to inspire and educate students of all ages about Planet Earth and the Universe. The Center is located at 10000 Skyline Blvd. just off Highway 13 in the Oakland hills. www.chabotspace.org - www.mayaskies.org.