Laughter Dome

“Laughter Dome” was a performance that took place at the Integratron in Landers, CA . In this performance I wanted to activate and respond to some of the new age elements that are part of the very fabric and history of Joshua Tree and the High Desert.

The Integratron is the famous brainchild of George Von Tassel, a former aerospace engineer who relocated to the high-desert in the fifties with the specific intention of searching out UFOs and communicating with extra-terrestrials.. Eventually, he claimed to have spoken with an architect from Venus who gave him the plans for a life-energy enhancing building which Von Tassel spent many years building. Though he never completed the building we are assured by the current owners that everyone from geologists to the military are highly interested in the power vortex of the structure as well as the three underground rivers that intersect beneath it.

The Integraton, Von Tassel legacy, is currently being used for sound baths and other sound related experiences and performance. I thought it would be an excellent location for laughter yoga, a technique developed in India that claims to improve health and increase longevity.

I had heard about laughter yoga for several years, but to prepare for the performance, I signed up for a 3 day training with the creator of Laughter Yoga Dr. Madan Kataria from Mumbai who happened to be giving a 3-day training in Pasadena in March of that year.

Before the performance the sisters who run the Integratron gave the participants a tour and history of the structure. The performance at the Integratron itself took place in the wooden parabolic dome which has special auditory properties. It was a typical Laughter yoga session with interactive “laughing for no reason” and group release laughter, though I customized the laughing catalysts to better fit the location and participants of HDTS. We did laughter that directly commented on the history of the Integratron, for example laughing as if we were George Von Tassel and also as if we were the Venusian architect who gave George the plans for the structure.