TED Talks
LADAMA: How music crosses cultures and empowers communities
Singing in Spanish, Portuguese and English, LADAMA brings a vibrant, energizing and utterly danceable musical set to the TED stage. In between performances of their songs "Night Traveler" and "Porro Maracatu," they discuss how...
TED Talks
Natasha Tsakos: A multimedia theatrical adventure
Natasha Tsakos presents part of her one-woman, multimedia show, "Upwake." As the character Zero, she blends dream and reality with an inventive virtual world projected around her in 3D animation and electric sound.
TED Talks
TED: There's no such thing as not voting | eric Liu
Many people like to talk about how important voting is, how it's your civic duty and responsibility as an adult. eric Liu agrees with all that, but he also thinks it's time to bring joy back to the ballot box. The former political...
TED Talks
TED: The magic of Khmer classical dance | Prumsodun Ok
For more than 1,000 years, Khmer dancers in Cambodia have been seen as living bridges between heaven and earth. In this graceful dance-talk hybrid, artist Prumsodun Ok -- founder of Cambodia's first all-male and gay-identified dance...
TED Talks
Natalie Jeremijenko: The art of the eco-mindshift
Natalie Jeremijenko's unusual lab puts art to work, and addresses environmental woes by combining engineering know-how with public art and a team of volunteers. These real-life experiments include: Walking tadpoles, texting "fish,"...
TED Talks
TED: Living sculptures that stand for history's truths | Sethembile Msezane
In the century-old statues that occupy Cape Town, Sethembile Mzesane didn't see anything that looked like her own reality. So she became a living sculpture herself, standing for hours on end in public spaces dressed in symbolic costumes,...
TED Talks
TED: The Sacred Art of the Ori | Laolu Senbanjo
every artist has a name, and every artist has a story. Laolu Senbanjo's story started in Nigeria, where he was surrounded by the culture and mythology of the Yoruba, and brought him to law school, to New York and eventually to work on...
TED Talks
TED: Black life at the intersection of birth and death | Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa
It is the artist's job to unearth stories that people try to bury with shovels of complacency and time, says poet and freedom fighter Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa. Performing her poem "The Joys of Motherhood," Katwiwa explores the...
TED Talks
Madame Gandhi and Amber Galloway-Gallego: "Top Knot Turn Up" / "Bad Habits"
"Music is so much more than sound simply traveling through the ear," says sign language interpreter Amber Galloway-Gallego. In a spirited performance, musician and activist Madame Gandhi plays two songs -- "Top Knot Turn Up" and "Bad...
TED Talks
Sarah Kay: "A Bird Made of Birds"
"The universe has already written the poem you were planning on writing," says Sarah Kay, quoting her friend, poet Kaveh Akbar. Performing "A Bird Made of Birds," she shares how and where she finds poetry. (Kay is also the host of TED's...
TED Talks
TED: Why women should tell the stories of humanity | Jude Kelly
For many centuries (and for many reasons) critically acclaimed creative genius has generally come from a male perspective. As theater director Jude Kelly points out in this passionately reasoned talk, that skew affects how we interpret...
TED Talks
TED: Ballroom dance that breaks gender roles | Trevor Copp and Jeff Fox
Tango, waltz, foxtrot ... these classic ballroom dances quietly perpetuate an outdated idea: that the man always leads and the woman always follows. That's an idea worth changing, say Trevor Copp and Jeff Fox, as they demonstrate their...
TED Talks
TED: Art made of the air we breathe | emily Parsons-Lord
emily Parsons-Lord re-creates air from distinct moments in earth's history -- from the clean, fresh-tasting air of the Carboniferous period to the soda-water air of the Great Dying to the heavy, toxic air of the future we're creating. By...
TED Talks
Amanda Palmer: The art of asking
Don't make people pay for music, says Amanda Palmer: Let them. In a passionate talk that begins in her days as a street performer (drop a dollar in the hat for the Eight-Foot Bride!), she examines the new relationship between artist and...
TED Talks
TED: How my mom inspired my approach to the cello | Paul Rucker
Multidisciplinary artist and TED Fellow Paul Rucker has developed his own style of cello; he puts chopsticks between his strings, uses the instrument as a drum and experiments with electronics like loop pedals. Moving between reflective...
TED Talks
TED: What will you tell your daughters about 2016? | Chinaka Hodge
With words like shards of glass, Chinaka Hodge cuts open 2016 and lets 12 months of violence, grief, fear, shame, courage and hope spill out in this original poem about a year none of us will soon forget.
TED Talks
TED: A dance to honor Mother earth | Jon Boogz and Lil Buck
Movement artists Jon Boogz and Lil Buck debut "Honor thy mother," a delicate, powerful performance of spoken word, violin and dance that draws on the tormented relationship between nature and humanity.
TED Talks
TED: Insightful human portraits made from data | R. Luke DuBois
Artist R. Luke DuBois makes unique portraits of presidents, cities, himself and even Britney Spears using data and personality. In this talk, he shares nine projects -- from maps of the country built using information taken from millions...
TED Talks
Anna Deavere Smith: Four American characters
Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show "On the Road: A Search for American Character."
TED Talks
Sue Austin: Deep sea diving ... in a wheelchair
When Sue Austin got a power wheelchair, she felt a tremendous sense of freedom -- yet others looked at her as though she had lost something. In her art, she conveys the spirit of wonder she feels wheeling through the world. Includes...
TED Talks
Eddi Reader: "What You've Got"
Singer/songwriter Eddi Reader performs "What You Do With What You've Got," a meditation on a very TED theme: how to use your gifts and talents to make a difference. With Thomas Dolby on piano.
TED Talks
Mai Lan: "Autopilote" / "Pumper"
Singing in French and English, Mai Lan brings her cool charisma to the TED stage in a performance of her songs "Autopilote" and "Pumper."
TED Talks
How theater weathers wars, outlasts empires and survives pandemics | Cara Greene Epstein
When catastrophe strikes, art prevails -- and has done so for centuries. In this fascinating talk, writer and director Cara Greene Epstein places the closing of theaters during the coronavirus pandemic in a historical context, exploring...
TED Talks
TED: The search for "aha!" moments | Matt Goldman
In 1988, Matt Goldman co-founded Blue Man Group, an off-Broadway production that became a sensation known for its humor, blue body paint and wild stunts. The show works on the premise that certain conditions can create "aha moments" --...