Performing Arts

Introduces viewers to the step show, an exciting dance style popular among black fraternities and sororities. In addition to many rousing, crowd-pleasing performances, the program examines the cultural roots of steppin' in African dancing, military marching and hip-hop music, and discusses its contemporary social significance on college campuses.

Profiling four artists who have had to cope with adversity, while persevering in their respective performing arts careers, this documentary celebrates the healing and restorative powers of music, dance and friendship.

Follows a class of six- and seven-year-olds through a six-week summer drama school at Philadelphia's Freedom Theatre, where intensive theater training provides the youngsters with valuable lessons of self-discipline and self-confidence.

A wacky, free-wheeling satire which examines key moments in the history of nuclear power, from the flowering of medieval alchemy in the 16th century, to the development of the atomic bomb, Hiroshima and its aftermath, and the cultural and political fallout of the Cold War '50s.

Robert Wilson is internationally regarded as one of the most significant and innovative theater artists working today. This behind-the-scenes video, drawing on rehearsal and performance footage, reveals how Wilson created his unique one-man performance of Hamlet and captures the rich texture of Wilson's multi-dimensional theatrical style.

The Bread and Puppet Theater has become famous in America over the last thirty years for its street theater and political satire utilizing giant papier-māche puppets, masks and twelve foot high stilt walkers.

Portrays the life and career of this Italian husband and wife duo of actors and playwrights, who are best known for their satirical and politically radical theater presentations.

Examines the Communist Party's rigorously enforced art policies during China's Cultural Revolution from 1966-1976, when pictorial artists were given strict aesthetic guidelines for the production of works designed to promote the ideology and imagery of Mao Tse- tung's illusory new society.

Offers a fascinating overview of artistic activity in Croatia during the recent war in the former Yugoslavia, revealing the diversity and vitality of its artists as well as how their work was profoundly influenced by the conflict.

This music and dance spectacular, sung and danced by members of the award-winning Beija Flor Samba School and photographed during the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, dramatizes the legend of genesis according to Yoruba mythology.

This cinema-verite documentary explores the realities of life as a classical musician through the story of Hexagon, a newly-formed chamber ensemble. The documentary chronicles their challenging first year and a half, from the group's seemingly casual first rehearsal to its high-pressure launching into the mainstream of the classical music scene.

Chronicles the 1987 U.S. tour by the National Symphony Orchestra of the People's Republic of China, including interviews with conductor Zuohuang Chen, a survivor of the Cultural Revolution who studied music in the U.S., Chen's mentor, Seiji Ozawa, director of the Boston Symphony, plus stirring performances of both Western and Chinese music.