Atlas' Burden: Ben MacFadyen at TEDxWhitechapel

In this moving performance, Ben MacFadyen recreates the mythical story of Atlas, who carries the burden of caring for the world his mother Gaia has created and that humans are carelessly destroying. "Listen... the long forgotten song of the land is calling. Its melody will be the wind in our sails towards a new horizon."

Ben is a performance artist, storyteller, activist, community choir teacher and gardener. His passion for creatively reconnecting people to the natural environment has lead him towards facilitating political theatre as a vehicle for liberation, community singing as a tool for collective effervescence, and ritual rites of passage as transitioning to a new story of the world. He has set up environmental groups, worked extensively with Feral Theatre Company who create funeral for lost species performances www.feraltheatre.co.uk, supported the Catalyst course -- an inspiring 5 day residential leadership training www.catalystcourse.co.uk, and co-created 'Cultivate' -- a Brighton-based organisation engaging children with environmental issues http://www.cultivatebrighton.org.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)