Water Shows

ZunZun is very active in environmental education. Stephen has worked as a field biologist/ecologist, outdoor guide and environmental educator for twenty years, and both Stephen and Gwynne consider environmental education a main focus of their work. Recently they have focused their work on water issues, and have been hired by water districts and environmental organizations throughout California. A partial list of these organizations is:

In April 2004 they were the featured artists for the California Water Educators Conference in San Jose.

All of ZunZun's water shows highlight the connections of their audience to their watershed. As in all of their shows, they incorporate a variety of instruments (many of Latin American origin), audience participation, and humor for a truly memorable show. Some of the topics they cover in their water shows are: water conservation, watershed, water reclamation, water pollution, and natural history of aquatic creatures.

All of their shows are created to the specific needs of the organizations that hire them.

Here is an outline of a show they perform for Watershed Watch:

The Musical Watershed

The purpose of this show is to familiarize young audiences with the concept of watershed and the importance of watershed in our lives. The show will cover such topics as conservation, water pollution, habitat and storm drains. The show relies on audience participation and music throughout the show.

1) Introduction- We introduce the term “Watershed” with an exercise. We have everyone in the room shake their bodies like a dog would when shedding water from its coat. We explain that water is always moving in many directions just like the droplets from the dog’s coat, and in fact, is in a constant cycle (we talk about the water cycle here). A watershed is all of the waterways (droplets from the dog’s coat) connected together.

2) Musical Rainstorm / Water Falls to the Earth– This segment creates a musical rainstorm utilizing instruments from the Andean Mountains of South America (bombo, charango, chakjas, kena, zampona). The sounds culminate in a song from Peru, which celebrates the coming of the rains for the planting season “Carnavalito”. We review the water cycle, evaporation, condensation and precipitation, as this helps tie our watershed show into the Science Standards for the State of California.

3) Water Dance / Watersheds are Defined- We explain that as water falls, it transforms into a variety of ecosystems. We demonstrate this with a giant piece of blue cloth, which we bring out into the audience. We demonstrate a lake by laying the cloth on a section of the audience. A river is the cloth passed over a section of the audience as we run. An aquifer is us pulling the cloth around the feet of the audience in the front row to demonstrate underground waterways. An estuary is us going back and forth with the cloth, between high and low tides. An ocean is us passing the cloth like waves over the audience while singing “Surfing USA”.

4) Storm Drain/Our Connection to Watershed, No Matter Where We Are- We demonstrate that no matter where you are, you are connected to your watershed through storm drains. To define a storm drain, we ask if any of the audience has seen “those square holes on the playground with metal slates on top”. We demonstrate how pollutants such as car oil, paint, detergent, and pesticides flow into our watersheds untreated by way of storm drains, which in turn greatly effects the wildlife populations (demonstrated by some unhappy fish puppets). This segment demonstrates the effects of storm drain pollution throughout the watershed from stream to ocean by a fisherman who takes three audience members fishing in a local stream, only to catch some trash (pollution) and a fish covered with oil and paint. We then review washing a car, spraying pesticides and the concept that “Storm Drain – It’s Only For Rain!”

5) Basura Batucada / Demonstrate How You Can Make A Difference- This segment introduces the ideas of conservation and pollution prevention in watersheds by utilizing trash found by us within the watershed (the beach and river near our home in Santa Cruz) to create musical instruments. Objects such as plastic bottles and bags and cans, when thrown into the watershed, are a hazard to wildlife populations and unsightly as well. We should all try and recycle materials rather than throw them away, and also make attempts to clean up our surroundings. We demonstrate the Brazilian rhythm of Samba and have audience members come up and play these rhythms on the found trash items.

6) Low Flow Limbo / More Make A Difference- We talk about water conservation and how our consumption of water can adversely affect our watershed. We ask the audience questions about water use such as: Is it good to leave water running when brushing your teeth? Do you have a dripping faucet in your house? Should you water your lawn in the middle of the day when the sun is out? Should you take a ½ hour shower? Then we discuss how more water consumption for us often means less water for all the other creatures that share our watershed. We demonstrate this through a limbo song played with steel drums and marimbula bass, while 8 participants pass under the limbo pole. The first time they pass the pole is high, but with each turn, the pole gets lower due to poor water conservation efforts. We ask the limbo dancers to imagine they are fish trying to go upstream and how difficult it gets as waters get lower.

7) Conclusion- We thank the audience, go over the Watershed Watch materials and have the audience dance to a salsa rhythm as they float out the door with their class while paddling (dancing) to the salsa beat!