{"id":245530,"date":"2012-11-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/tales-of-the-maya-skies\/"},"modified":"2012-11-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T08:00:00","slug":"tales-of-the-maya-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/tales-of-the-maya-skies\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Tales of the Maya Skies\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fleet Science Center brings digital film to Balboa Park, highlighting mathematical and cultural achievements of ancient civilization<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Antonio Rey | Editor SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\u2018Tales
Director Arne Jin An Wong used bright colors in the film. (Courtesy Reuben H. Fleet Science Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In conjunction with the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Calif., San Diego\u2019s Reuben H. Fleet Science Center will feature a timely digital planetarium show, explaining Maya science, art and mythology. \u201cTales of the Maya Skies\u201d screens at the Eugene Heikoff and Marilyn Jacobs Heikoff Dome Theater beginning Friday, Nov. 9, with an open-ended run.<\/p>\n

With cities and temples built in alignment to movements from the sun, moon and stars, the Maya documented astronomical events with amazing accuracy, the movie explains. Their methods helped to create the beginning of our modern-day calendar system, a feat that is documented well in the film.<\/p>\n

To help launch the show\u2019s run, the Fleet hosted a preview party on Oct. 24, where several dozens of guests were shown the film. The Science Center\u2019s executive director, Jeffrey Kirsch, spoke just before the screening, thanking attendees.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to see something extra special,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going back into the early part of time from the standpoint of human civilizations back [when] Maya were really dominating in Mexico and the Yucat\u00e1n peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latin Grammy Award-winner Lila Downs narrates the film, which is digitally displayed on the large, dome screen. Raised in the United States and Mexico, Downs\u2019 film credits include songs in \u201cFrida,\u201d \u201cTortilla Soup\u201d and \u201cReal Women Have Curves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carol Karasik and Alonso Mendez wrote \u201cTales of the Maya Skies,\u201d with music by Michael Stearns. Arne Jin An Wong of Tigerfly Studios directed the film, and Konda Mason was producer.<\/p>\n

Educational and entertaining, \u201cTales of the Maya Skies\u201d uses three-dimensional laser scanning and advanced graphic techniques to recreate both the architecture as well as the cultural aspects of the civilization. It is not an IMAX film, which the Heikoff Dome accommodates as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that period, they developed \u2026 a particular kind of astronomy dealing with being close the equator, so certain things happen with regularity,\u201d Kirsch said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to find out what the influence was on the stars, on their calendar and on the way they viewed the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u2018Tales
Looking up at the dome screen, digital images describe the simple math system (Courtesy Reuben H. Fleet Science Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The regularity Kirsch acknowledged was translated into patterns used to mark the seasons, guiding the Mayan agrarian society. Constellations were important, but the film highlighted the role of the sun as well as the planet Venus.<\/p>\n

In a release for the event, Chabot Executive Director Alexander Zissler said the core of the story is both understanding and appreciating the ancient civilization, as well as their world perceptions, several which hold today.<\/p>\n

The show includes comparisons with contemporary scientific understanding, weaving both current knowledge and a historical view to constellations, writing systems and astronomy. The first of its kind, full-dome digital film on the Latin American civilization, it is being screened across the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be amazed at how much overlap there is in terms of accuracy and prediction,\u201d Kirsch said. \u201cCertainly what they were seeing in the sky was incredibly studied and marked on their calendars.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the more popular subjects surrounding the Maya calendar is their belief in the world ending as their projected calendar cycle ends, after 5,000 years. That date is estimated to be Dec. 21 of this year, and Kirsch said timing with bringing the show to San Diego was only part coincidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are various predictions they made,\u201d he said, \u201cso we thought this would be a good time to have this show.\u201d Kirsch said that though the cycle ends Dec. 21, the civilization also predicted time would \u201ckeep on going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film did not address the subject, instead focusing on the ability of the Maya to combine science with a form of religion.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not really to worry here that we\u2019ve left that story untold,\u201d Kirsch said. \u201cWe have not done any editing, but it was just something that \u2026 when this show was conceived, it wasn\u2019t really thought of in this nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fleet Science Center is located at 1875 El Prado, in Balboa Park. Admission includes access to all museum exhibits, and is $15.75 for adults and $12.75 for children and seniors.<\/p>\n

Normal hours for the center are 10 a.m. \u2013 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. \u2013 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. \u2013 6 p.m. Sundays. For more information, including screening times and tickets, visit rhfleet.org or call 619-238-1233.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fleet Science Center brings digital film to Balboa Park, highlighting mathematical and cultural achievements of ancient civilization By Anthony King | SDUN Editor In conjunction with the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, Calif., San Diego\u2019s Reuben H. Fleet Science Center will feature a timely digital planetarium show, explaining Maya science, art and mythology. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018Tales of the Maya Skies\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}