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Tavis Smiley

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19 Sep, 2014

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Copeland discusses her life as a ballerina and the boundaries she breaks daily in this interview for PBS.

Ballet found me, I guess you could say. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me. I would love to choreograph and dance around.

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Riley discusses  working with Yo-Yo Ma and “jookin”, the style of street dancing that’s getting him called Baryshnikov.

I was like I ever heard of Yo-Yo was in middle school bathrooms, yeah. I looked him up and found out all the amazing things he was a part of and all the awards he’s won and how he was this prodigy at a very young age playing for all our presidents. And I just thought it was amazing.

18 Sep, 2014

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Baryshnikov discusses his career and his position as a mentor and leader in the dance world in this interview for PBS.

Well, introducing a new generation of the dancers to the theater because you have an opportunity to audition people for your company. In your mind, you’re having already kind of a perception what kind of look of a dancer, what kind of stature, what kind of proportions, just purely physical first.

17 Sep, 2014

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Moreno discusses her life and career on stage and screen, focusing on West Side Story, in this interview for PBS.

I did the audition with my heart in my throat. A friend of mine had taught me some steps in advance in case those were the steps to America that were going to be taught me in an audition. Most people don’t know that dancing auditions, you learn the steps right now.

16 Sep, 2014

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Rivera discusses her six decade spanning career and current one woman show, Chita: A Legendary Celebration, in this interview for PBS.

I have a blessed life. I really do. I have a great family, a great daughter. I love life. I love living. I love people. I love all the blessings that God’s given me, you know. I appreciate it and I work at it and it’s all work, you know. And I love the spirit of dance. It’s an amazing thing when the body and the spirit meet, you know. It’s a good thing.

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Hines discusses his life and career, including latest project Tappin’ Thru Life, in this interview for PBS.

And in my show, my show really has evolved into a love letter to my mother. Because it was my mother that really nurtured Gregory and I, and she had the vision. She had the vision for her sons. I say that in my show. At the show, I sing a song – and my father went along for the ride now. He did, but she had the vision. I sing, “You’re Just Too Marvelous” to her picture.

15 Sep, 2014

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Jamison discusses her dance career and being artistic director for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in this interview for PBS.

The idea that dance can move people not just here in this country, but as we are cultural ambassadors for our country, the idea is that you’re there in a theater in a live performance where your eyes can do and go where they want to go. And where they go is usually to the heart and soul of that dancer.

12 Sep, 2014

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Jones discusses his new movie, Keep on Keepin’ On, a documentary about the mentoring relationship between jazz legend Clark Terry and a blind piano prodigy in this interview for PBS.

And just everything there is – and that’s what touches me so much about it is there’s so many coincidental situations there that the whole film is about divine intervention. I always loved that phrase when they say that coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. Very true ’cause, man, there’s so many coincidental things that are going on in that film.

11 Sep, 2014

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Harris discusses Frontera, his latest film, in this interview for PBS.

Well, it is a topic very much in the news, for sure. We shot this film about a year and a half ago, I guess, in New Mexico. Michael Berry, who wrote it and directed it, grew up in southern Arizona and his co-writer, Louis. It’s a subject matter he wanted to deal with and I think he deals with it really well. I mean, it’s not a preaching kind of deal. It doesn’t really take sides. It just kinds of presents a situation that the country’s trying to deal with right now.

10 Sep, 2014

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Kennedy discusses her newest documentary, Last Days in Vietnam, and how her family connections there informed the movie in this interview for PBS.

I’m so thrilled to be able to share this film and, you know, what we uncovered in researching this film and developing it further was that as these events took place and it got very chaotic during those last 24 hours, the Americans in Washington, the president and others, Kissinger said we just need to get the Americans out of the country. We’ve got to leave the Vietnamese behind.

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Kem discusses his newest CD, Promise to Love, in this interview for PBS.

Love is the universal language, man, and being expressed through another universal language, music, has been a treat to be able to form a wish list of the things that I hope for in relationship to testify. You know, my music is a testimony. It’s a wish list and, you know, I take pride in crafting a great love song. I think there’s no greater topic to be talked about.

9 Sep, 2014

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Glover discusses his career as a tap dancer and what he sees in the future for tap dance in this interview for PBS.

Man, this is my life, you know. At a very early age, as you know, I was introduced to some men and women who had dedicated their lives to this art form. And it’s my proud privilege to now dedicate my life to them and to the art form. So I have no choice, man. This is all I want to do. I’m thankful every moment and opportunity I get to share the information and, hopefully, I can continue on.

5 Sep, 2014

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D discusses current rap culture and his newest album, The Black in Man, in this interview for PBS.

And we’ve seen that the words that are spoken through song sometimes can actually give a universal law to people by challenging the things that are unjust and unfair. We didn’t make it up. But it’s also something that we have to learn that, before us, there’s a Curtis Mayfield, there’s a Pete Seeger. You know, people who we’ve lost in human life, but their spirit still lives.

4 Sep, 2014

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Mendes discusses his five decade spanning music career and his latest projects in this interview for PBS.

You know, I was playing Beethoven and Ravel, Debussy and things like that. All of a sudden, I hear this Dave Brubeck record, Take Five. I said, oh, man, I love that. So from that day on, I start, you know, learning those chords and listening to more jazz and, you know, being exposed to people like Bud Powell, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker. I mean, so jazz was the love of my life.

3 Sep, 2014

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Childs discusses his career and his latest project, a tribute to singer-songwriter, Laura Nyro, in this interview for PBS.

Joni Mitchell’s a genius. I think she’s brilliant, you know. I think she and Laura Nyro are kind of like the two most important singer-songwriters, although the term singer-songwriter is kind of like a limiting description of what they are. And I think they’re kind of like, in my opinion, the two that stand out the most.

2 Sep, 2014

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Culbertson discusses his 20-year career and the remake of his debut CD in this interview for PBS.

I think it’s more about an experience of listening to music again. You know, we’ve gotten just sort of like music is going everywhere with the digital age and now to put vinyl on a record player and to actually sit down and listen to it, I think it brings you back to at least, you know, my early years and it’s a beautiful thing.

27 Aug, 2014

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Holliday discusses her career and latest CD, The Song Is You, in this interview for PBS.

So it’s a whole other life now and so I had to see if there was a time – and actually, that American Idol performance, I’m glad you mentioned it because it did give me courage to say, well, maybe I should sing something again.

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O’Neill discusses his five seasons on Modern Family and 11 seasons on Married With Children in an interview with PBS.

I don’t know what to make of it. You know, the funny thing is that when they hired me in this one, in Modern Family, I’m not sure that they knew quite what to do with me because as it was written the guy was what I’m playing now, which is a very successful businessman. And I think they were thinking, “Al Bundy? Shoe salesman? Maybe we’ll…” The pilot, I was kind of like, you know, selling mufflers or something. They never said.

25 Aug, 2014

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Sandoval discusses his career and current tour in this interview for PBS.

Music is the engine who move my soul, you know, and I’m happy when I’m working. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say that. I shouldn’t say that, the working. That’s wrong. When I’m playing, when I writing, when I practicing, I’m happy. You know, you want to see me unhappy is when I no have nothing to do. And then my wife notice that and she tried to find something to entertain me.

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Parsons discusses his role in HBO’s The Normal Heart and  portraying the same role on Broadway in an interview with PBS.

It’s a beautiful cast, yes. Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch, myself, Joe Mantello, who was in the play version with me. It goes on. Everybody in it. The thing that startled me most when seeing it, the screening of the movie for the first time, was how grounded every performance was in it. A lot of that credit goes to Ryan Murphy, obviously – the direction he gave, the direction he didn’t give, and just sheerly for casting it.