“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us.” – Carl Sagan
 
bluedot presents a bespoke live score, celebrating a literary work that inspired a generation of star gazers: Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Published in 1980, Cosmos took viewers on an exhilarating tour of the universe across 13 chapters, corresponding to 13 episodes in a now-famous televised series.

Exploring 14 billion years of cosmic evolution, the development of science and civilisation, Cosmos inspired millions with its poetic musings on extra-terrestrial life and the future of science. Premiering at bluedot 2020, Cosmos with the Hallé Orchestra will combine stunning visuals and a selection of uplifting orchestral pieces, celebrating this extraordinary work. The show will host a range of very special guests and spoken word performances, honouring the late Carl Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan (an Emmy Award-winning writer in her own right), who will appear later in the weekend in conversation with Professor Teresa Anderson MBE, at Mission Control.

This premiere will celebrate Carl Sagan’s place in the founding of bluedot festival, which was inspired by the “pale blue dot” – a photo of Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager spacecraft from 4 billion miles away, at Sagan’s own request. Of the photograph, he said: “it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known”.