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The NFAA was established 26 years ago to ensure the future of American art by
assisting young talent in nine disciplines both financially and educationally through the
annual youngARTS Week. To date, it has provided over $84 million to more than 10,000
especially gifted teens throughout the United States.
Featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of students at work and at
play, REHEARSING A DREAM captures the artistic passion of a new generation of
ambitious, idealistic performers and visual artists as they participate in the demanding
youngARTS Week. They work alone and together under the guidance and inspiration of
major celebrity talents, including ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov, actress and singer
(and former Miss America) Vanessa Williams, dancer and choreographer Jacques
d'Amboise and conductor-composer Michael Tilson Thomas.
Often feeling like outsiders in their hometowns and high schools, these eager
teenagers experience the joy of transforming into confident, outgoing artists during this
week-long program.
As 1981 NFAA winner Vanessa Williams explains, being chosen for
ARTS Week is "an affirmation that you were right. Whether it was singing or dancing or
acting, you knew that you were good enough to get there, and people recognized it."
The students perform and exhibit their work, compete for awards, and begin to feel
for the first time a connection with kindred spirits all over the country. And they leave full
of confidence, joy and a commitment to pursue their dreams.
At the farewell party,
featured performer Shalita, who won a scholarship to Julliard following the program, says
through tears, "ARTS Week put the cement on my dirt path. This was the best week of
my life - it was everything they said it was, and so much more."
REHEARSING A DREAM marks the fourth collective Oscar® nomination for
documentary filmmakers Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, who established the New
York-based Simon & Goodman Picture Company in 1987. They have also won three
Emmy® Awards and the Dupont-Columbia Award for Independent Programming. Simon
and Goodman received an Oscar® nomination and an Emmy® Award for Best
Documentary for the 1990 HBO special "Chimps: So Like Us"; among their other HBO
credits are 1997's "Heart of a Child" and the 13-part HBO Family series "Kindergarten."
REHEARSING A DREAM was produced and directed by Karen Goodman and Kirk
Simon; editor, Nancy Baker; cinematographers, Buddy Squires and Steve McCarthy.
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