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The Eleventh Hour show graphic and show opener.

Lipsyte welcomes viewers and announces the show. He announces guests coming up on the program and cuts away to a clip on the history of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).

American Ballet Theatre 50 - Fiftieth Anniversary -

Other newspaper article clippings overlay Baryshnikov article: "Ballet Theater Steps Gingerly Into the Post-Baryshnikov Era"; "ABT at a Crossroads"

B&W photo still Richard Pleasant, Founder American Ballet Theater (ABT).

B&W footage the ABT dancers in a classical ballet scene from an early performance.

B&W photo still American Ballet Theater's Artistic Committee - 1947

B&W photo still, Oliver Smith, Director, 1947.

B&W photo Agnes DeMille, Dancer and Choreographer, circa 1947

Clip of an ABT performance, most likely from the ballet "Rodeo" by Aaron Copeland and choreographed by Agnes DeMille.

Cynthia Gregory, Former Prima Ballerina, speaking from a ballet studio to unseen interviewer. Ballet barres in bkgd. She speaks about the variety of the ABT, with many different kinds of ballet to dance from classic to dramatic.

Clip of principal male dancer, Mikhal Baryshnikov, performing in amazing leaps, bounds and twists in the air, with the American Ballet Theater.

American Ballet dancers Leslie Brown and Wes Chapman rehearsing in ballet studio for a production of "Giselle".

Footage of feet in ballet shoes, pink leg warmers, doing several plies jumps.

Young beautiful ballerina in ballet studio wearing a white tulle ballet skirt practicing solo.

Shot from behind Lipsyte - he talks with Jane Hermann in her office about the financial condition of the company presently (1990)

Back in the studio with Robert Lipsyte he cuts to a pictorial history of the dance world.

B&W vintage photo still of male and female ballet dancers in a pose. Var newspaper headlines overlay - "After the Boom, Tough Times for Dance", "Tharp and Six Dancers to Join Ballet Theater", "Armitage Says Her Troupe Is Disbanding Temporarily", "Harlem Troupe's Dancers Being Laid Off Over Deficit".
with narration by Lipsyte.

Tilt down wide shot Host Lipsyte and tonight's guests in the studio.

Tobi Tobias
Well, I think people cannot afford to see everything they need to see. Although the Dance Theatre of Harlem has done tremendous outreach into communities.

Robert Lipsyte
Can I rewind you for just a moment you said that they need to see what does that mean?

Tobi Tobias
Well, I think since we're quoting of something Rostropovich once said, he's he said, I don't go to the theater to be entertained, I go to feel life. And I think that the arts are central to our existence. And that's what I mean by need.

Robert Lipsyte
And people are not able to afford the arts. I mean, individual ticket buyers,

Tobi Tobias
in many cases, there are many things in the art very important things in the arts that people can't afford. And of course, the younger audience is not being built because of this

Robert Lipsyte
Well Kitty Carlisle Hart, You caused all these problems with money that you gave years ago. How are you going to get us out of this?

Kitty Carlisle Hart
Well, we're going to try to get more money from the legislature which has been very kind of the opposite. To now we've had it we've seen our appropriation grow every year. We are in a bad way at the moment, this year is not good. But one of the things that Ms Tobias said is so true, that the artists are good for the children. You know, when we have, we have a wonderful arts and education program. And when we see the children in performing arts, they learn race relations, so much better than any kind of teaching, or any kind of sermonizing would ever teach them. They realize when they're dancing, if they make a mistake, the guy next door looks foolish. If they're in a play, and they blow a line. They look foolish, but the other guy looks foolish. And it when they get to know each other, nobody hates anybody that they know. And they because they there's no fear then. And I think one of the most important things for our children is the art to teach them discipline and and kindness and understand everything.

Robert Lipsyte
Yeah, Arthur the irony of what kitty just said, is that you're fighting for funds with homeless shelters, right hospitals, and a lot of things that people think are more broadly important

Arthur Mitchell
Right at the same time, but almost stem from the individual. And that's what you learned from the very first lesson you take in dance, you're only going to get out of it, what you put into it. Once you become aware of yourself through studying the Arts you will sit better dress better, you take care of the environment around you, you'll be much more aware, because our best and greatest resources are our children, and you must feed them. And we do this with plants who do this with everything else in our society except the human being. And this is what the arts will do. I mean, we live in a visual society, yes. But at the same time, the quality of life is what's most important. And to get the magic to get that excitement, the goose people that you get when you go to the live theater and see that magic on the stage. Nothing can replace that. And that's part of the service of the artist, that we must keep that alive and young people.

Kitty Carlisle Hart
Horray! Nobody could say it better than Arthur

Robert Lipsyte
public service announcement. But we still have, you know, the problems of fighting for for the dollar. Do you see Do you see the dance dance coming out or the arts coming out of the president fiscal problem in any sort of different way than they are now.

Tobi Tobias
I hope for miracles. I also lived through a time and know historically of an earlier time when miracles were worked on almost nothing. The great Isamu Naguchi curtain and Balanchine's Orpheus cost, nothing, a piece of silk. They didn't have it, they needed $500 Balanchine went out and got it never reported about how he got it. One of the most beautiful sites in the world to see that curtain going down. Anthony Tudor would take a group of dancers away to the country for six weeks and came back with a masterpiece. dancers were willing to work for very little to they're still, as you know, vastly underpaid in our culture.

Robert Lipsyte
Yeah. Well, I mean, it's one thing to subsidize the arts as artists invariably do. But Arthur if you furlough people for six months, Will they come back? Can they come back? What's going to happen,

Arthur Mitchell
Well we want them to come back, I think they will come back. And the unfortunate thing is that the company is reached such a high level of performance. And there's that uniqueness, I think, unique to dance do that when the curtain goes up, you see a unity. And to achieve that unity is absolutely incredible. And since they're performing so well, we'd hate to lose that momentum. And some of them are going to finish their degrees and getting in college. Some are going to be teaching, some of them are guessing. But they all said Well, Mr. Mitchell, we want you to know that we love you. We love Dance Theater, and we will be back.

Robert Lipsyte
Yeah. And you're calling for one of Tobi Tobias's miracles.

Arthur Mitchell
Right?

Robert Lipsyte
Do you think there are miracles out there?

Kitty Carlisle Hart
Oh, no question about it. The arts have always been involved in miracles. And it's true dancers will dance no matter what singers will sing no matter what. But we don't want them to have to do it for nothing. And my job is to find the money so that Arthur Mitchell can keep his school open for the summer, along with the with the bank that we put up the money with Anna match from the Arts Council. The governor is very interested in children and in and in their well being. So we've had support from the governor, we've had support from the legislator. And miracles of course happen. Anybody who walks out on the stage and has the curtain go up knows that a miracle has got to happen, because it's too tough otherwise.

Arthur Mitchell
Well, there have been some leadership roles coming forth from the New York State Council Chase Manhattan Bank, the Shubert Foundation, and yesterday, there was a major article in The New York Times. And author gelb was the new chairman of the board of the New York Times Foundation has stepped forward and said he'd like to take a leadership role them all with the New York Times to have this saved, because it's an I shouldn't say save, but in terms of ensure the perpetuity of the arts and particularly Dance Theater, for this community, for the city and for this country. And that's the sort of leadership thing that we need. And I think that is the sort of miracle that needs to happen. But the question that comes up from everyone, everyone says, Oh, Mr. Mitchell, we love the company. I wish I had a million dollars I said, But look, if every view would send not only dance theater but all the Arts $1 $5 $10 there wouldn't be any problems, but everyone's waiting for someone to come and drop millions. But if you keep putting one drop into the bucket, eventually the bucket gets full.

Robert Lipsyte
Tobi that drop in the bucket. I mean, is the audience still out there? Is dance still responsive to their audience?

Tobi Tobias
That's a complicated question and you find me actually dwelling on miracles. And I wanted to inject first the idea that artistic gift is little miracle. You also happen we are we are sitting on either side of a miracle maker. Yes. And his own artistic gift is a dancer with the City Ballet and it wasn't easy for him to get there. But also author Mitchell, along with his co founder Karel Shook, making the Dance Theatre of Harlem Who would have thought that this could have happened?

Robert Lipsyte
I think Tobi will leave it with just those kind of artistic miracles Tobi Tobias Arthur Mitchell, Kitty Carlisle Hart, thanks so much for being with us.

Host Lipsyte seated in front of four small tv screens with var. "dance" shots introduces next off-site segment of the program, the "passionate youngsters who simply have to dance"...

Young girl (ballet dancer) smiling, leaning over desk and signing book, male leaning on desk besides her.

Pretty young woman, Elizabeth Walker, blond hair pulled back and she's looking down. Pan down on her revealing her gray leg warmers and she is tying on her pink ballet slippers.

Walker as she's moving amongst the throngs of other dancers in the room. She narrates that she's 17 and has many decisions to make about her dance career.

Edward Vallella, director of the Miami City Ballet (and former star of New York City Ballet), giving direction to young dancers gathered in a gymnasium for tryouts for the Miami City Ballet.

Pan bulletin board with many sheets of papers pinned on - mostly yellow legal pad papers with "School of American Ballet" written across top.

Close up classic ballerina's feet in pink ballet slippers, one foot leaning against the other and practicing dance movements.

Dance teacher, Antonina Tumkovsky, holding onto Walker's outstretched leg and arm as she balances and goes through the dance move on one leg.

Antonina Tumkovsky speaking with unseen unknown interviewer about ballet student, Elizabeth Walker.

Walker speaking with unknown unseen interviewer about how she enjoys entertaining people and the gratifying applause at the end of the show.

Wide shot of several ballerinas practicing pile jumps in unison as teacher Tumkovsky looks on. With narration.

Close up on Walker as she practices her moves in the studio.

Male and female ballet dancers rehearsing, dancing, trying out, as Edward Vallella from the Miami Ballet looks on.

Another wide shot of the gymnasium filled with dancers milling about. Vallella seen peaking with Walker.

Credits over studio, guests are seen in bkgd.

End reel.