Performing Arts
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RAT ART: CROATIAN INDEPENDENTSPerforming Arts Eastern Europe Cinema Studies Art History
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.
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CREATION OF THE WORLD: A SAMBA-OPERASpanish Language Performing Arts Music Latin-American Studies Anthropology Directed by Women
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.
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DEBUTCultural Studies New York City Urban Studies Political Science Performing Arts Narrative Films Music Cinema Studies Asian-American Studies Asian Studies American Studies Directed by Women
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.
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CHEN AND CHINA'S SYMPHONYSociology Performing Arts Music Asian Studies
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.
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CONCERTO AT WORKPerforming Arts Music American Studies Directed by Women
This behind-the-scenes documentary chronicles the collaborative efforts of young
composer Peter Lieberson, pianist Peter Serkin, and conductor Seiji Ozawa as they shape
Lieberson's first orchestral piece for debut by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
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EVERYDAY ARTSpanish Language Performing Arts Music Latin-American Studies Cultural Studies Anthropology Directed by Women Cuban Studies
This contemporary portrait of folkloric traditions in Cuba, focusing on the everyday life
of musicians and dancers.
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IRELAND, MOTHER IRELANDPerforming Arts Music Irish Studies
This concert, performed at the elegant 18th-century Dublin residence of the American
Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, features tenor James W. Flannery,
accompanied by pianist William Ransom and harpist Cormac DeBarra, who perform a
wide range of Irish favorites, including traditional melodies.
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SINGING IN COLORChildren & Young Adult Women's Studies Sociology Performing Arts Peace & Conflict Music Cultural Studies African Studies African-American Studies
This video follows the world-famous Chicago Children's Choir on their 1996 tour of
South Africa and shows how music can convey a message of peace.
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DESTINATION BARBADOSSpanish Language Performing Arts Music Latin-American Studies Cultural Studies Short Films
This video, which documents one of the oldest cultural festivals in the Western
Hemisphere, celebrates the vitality of calypso music today on the island of Barbados.
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THE LAST OF THE ONE NIGHT STANDSShort Films Performing Arts Music American Studies
This video portrays the big-band era in American entertainment, profiling the Lee
Williams Band which, from 1938 to 1952, barnstormed throughout the Midwest, bringing
Swing music to rural America.
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LE PETOMANE: FIN-DE-SIÈCLE FARTISTE
Under the stage name "Le Petomane," Joseph Pujol was the toast of turn-of-the-century
Paris. Audiences at the Moulin Rouge where first shocked, then won over, by this tall,
mustachioed man in a red velvet suit...a suite with a hole cut in the derriere to release his
remarkable talent.
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SHAKESPEAREUrban Studies Short Films Performing Arts Literature Latino Studies Europe Education
A high school teacher and one of his students don Elizabethan garb and travel back in time
to London in 1609 to have lunch with William Shakespeare at the Mermaid Tavern.
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THE STORYTELLERSPerforming Arts Literature Islamic Studies Cultural Studies Anthropology Immigration
Celebrates the traditional art of storytelling through profiles of three storytellers--Judith
Black, whose stories explore the Jewish immigrant experience; Michael Cotter, a
Minnesota farmer whose stories focus on the extraordinary qualities of ordinary people;
and Rex Ellis, whose stories deal with the historical period of enslavement of Afro-
Americans.
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IN/WORD/OUTPerforming Arts Literature American Studies
This video profiles five contemporary American performance poets who have taken their
poetry and its celebration of language and creative expression into new public venues.
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SCANDALIZE MY NAMEUrban Studies Sociology Political Science Performing Arts New York City Cultural Studies American Studies African-American Studies Directed by Women
Scandalize My Name examines the way Red Scare politics were used to impede the emergence of African-Americans as full participants in the political, social, and cultural aspects of postwar American life. Because television was born into this era and adopted the political attitudes of the time, the story is told through the confrontations of African-American performers with blacklists, loyalty oaths, and discrimination in casting.
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VERSO NEGRO: Black Verse Poetry of the Spanish CaribbeanSpanish Language Puerto Rican Studies Performing Arts Music Literature Latino Studies Latin-American Studies Directed by Women
Featuring poetry performances that often resemble contemporary rap, this film examines an important aspect of Afro-Caribbean cultural heritage.
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A BAILAR!: THE JOURNEY OF A LATIN DANCE COMPANYSociology Performing Arts Music Latino Studies Dance American Studies Directed by Women
Tells the story of Eddie Torres, who recruits the best of New York's salseros-Hispanic
club and street dancers-and, with the musical collaboration of Tito Puente, molds them
into a professional dance troupe.
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DANCE ON THE WINDPerforming Arts Dance African-American Studies
This video intersperses interviews with African-American dancer Eno Washington with
lively performance footage and archival footage revealing links between African and
African-American dances.
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TWO FOR BALLET
This behind-the-scenes documentary examines the working relationship of choreographer
Eric Hyrst and composer Webster Young, observes Hyrst's rehearsals with the dancers
and features excerpts from several of the ballets.
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IMAGE OF A DANCERPerforming Arts Dance American Studies
Scenes of class sessions at the Marin Ballet in California, and the choreography and
rehearsals leading to a public performance, are interspersed with interviews with three
young dancers and commentary from their instructors on the intensely competitive world
of professional dance.
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