My Next Step

A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.

In this Broadway Brevity short, a soda jerk/songwriter dreams (literally) of performing his songs on Broadway.

Zeng Hongqi, a rap-loving senior, is forced to lead the opera club for credits. Despite recruitment struggles and opposition from the student union president, an unexpected opportunity leads the club to a crucial competition.

In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can't stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.

With China under control of a weak Emperor, two officials compete to steer the future destiny of the land. Chiu believes the people are the future of China, while the diabolical Tu wishes to grind the people beneath an iron heel. Tu decides to take out Chiu's family, but one lone infant escapes.

On a golden afternoon, wildly curious young Alice tumbles into the burrow and enters the merry, madcap world of Wonderland full of whimsical escapades.

Laura sees a shooting star falling to earth and finds it in a park, down on the floor and with a broken point. The star is a living being, and Laura takes her home to reattach its point with a band-aid. The little star has special powers and can make people fly, or bring inanimate objects to life. But the more she stays on Earth, the weaker she becomes and her colors fade away and her powers start to fail. Laura must find a way to send the little star back into outer space.

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.

Sophie is snatched from her orphanage early one morning by the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), whom she witnesses engaged in mysterious activities. She is soon put at ease, as she learns that BFG's job is to collect, catalog and deliver pleasant dreams to children. She joins him that night, but a mean giants follow them, planning to eat the children of the world.

Gary, a musician, is trapped in an unhappy relationship with his live-in lover, Dora. He becomes enthralled with a beautiful seductress who enters his dreams, and tries to control his dream-state so he can spend more and more time with her. When Gary sees his mystery woman's face on a bus billboard, he discovers she is real, and fate brings him an opportunity to meet her.

Turtle Dreams, produced for WGBH-TV, originally aired September 2, 1983. Shot by Ping Chong. Composed by Meredith Monk, performed by her and her Vocal Ensemble.

Middle schooler Ben spends his free time watching sci-fi films, playing video games and reading comic books. Surprisingly, his affinity for all things fantastical yields a real result – when he has a vivid dream about technology, his prodigy best friend Wolfgang manages to create a working spacecraft. Joined by their buddy Darren, the boys take off into outer space and encounter some very odd extraterrestrial life.

Honey Daniels dreams of making a name for herself as a hip-hop choreographer. When she's not busy hitting downtown clubs with her friends, she teaches dance classes at a nearby community center in Harlem, N.Y., as a way to keep kids off the streets. Honey thinks she's hit the jackpot when she meets a hotshot director casts her in one of his music videos. But, when he starts demanding sexual favors from her, Honey makes a decision that will change her life.

Disillusioned by years of futile bloodshed, General Chang Ta initially refuses the emperor’s call to defend the collapsing dynasty. It is his wife, Chen Pi-niang, a woman of exceptional intelligence and resolve, who urges him to answer his duty. At Tzu Lang Chow, she bids him farewell with a lock of her hair, a symbol of devotion and sacrifice, as he marches toward a seemingly hopeless battle. While Chang Ta fights at the front, Chen Pi-niang organizes local militias and leads a daring volunteer fleet of fishing boats to deliver supplies and strike the enemy. As defeat closes in and betrayal looms, husband and wife each face their fate with unyielding loyalty to their country.