In this video from August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand the playwright discusses the influence that the blues has had on his writing. The clip also features a performance from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and commentary from several theater scholars.

Ever since there have been babies, there has been a need to carry those babies. The cradleboard is art meets science and function for parents and children. This unique design was made for easy transport and care of a child.

In order to practice conducting, you need an orchestra! Learn about what it takes to become an orchestra conductor in this video from Treasures of New York: Juilliard. At Juilliard, the world-famous performing arts school located in New York City, students have the opportunity to work with musicians to hone their conducting skills.

“No Hablo Español” explores the conflicted cultural identity of a Latina high school student who can’t speak Spanish. Playwright Rosa Estevez explains why parents born in a Spanish-speaking country might prefer English for their children. People behind the scenes describe the play’s fresh pathways for discussing cultural identity, the importance of authenticity and language, and the role of the dramaturg in advocating for the playwright. The play was part of the New Voices Young Playwrights Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Learn how the National Theater conceived a new version of the iconic Balcony Scene in this behind-the-scenes mini-documentary about the making of Great Performances: Romeo and Juliet. During the ongoing shutdown of London due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Theater created a compelling hybrid of theater and film that brings an exciting contemporary perspective to the play.

“Shakespeare’s potential for reinvention is endless,” said director Simon Godwin. “Over 17 days of filming, the company was united by a sense of shared exploration. As well as being given intimate access to the thoughts and feelings of characters, we were able to bring to life remarkable, forgotten spaces at the National Theatre. Desire, dreams and destiny came together to make Romeo & Juliet sing in an entirely new way.”

San Francisco's Ben Venom creates punk quilts for everyday rockers who want to be cozy, as well as quilts that are a little less functional and sit more comfortably in a framed-art context. Venom takes his inspiration from the historical and social aspect of quilting, and particularly the Gees Bend community of quilters in Alabama, who are highly regarded as some of the most significant contributors to African American art history.

Bill Rice recalls how German soldiers began surrendering towards the end of the war in Europe. He also discusses how his platoon was involved in liberating prison camps in Germany in this video teaching module from the KACV's local perspective on "The War."

In Los Angeles, jam skaters draw from a community and culture built over generations at Venice Beach and at rinks across the city. Over the past year, roller skating hit the mainstream as a safe and relatively accessible pandemic-era pastime, its international popularity bolstered by people recording their shaky progress on social media. Skates were sold out for months, and skaters have become major influencers on Instagram and TikTok. But longtime skaters are quick to remind everyone: This isn’t a fad.

Blend phonemes and practice long "i" sounds with NYCDOE Universal Literacy Reading Coach Anna Scretching-Cole. Students will practice blending and reading with the long "i" sound with a focus on the "igh" and "-y" spelling.

When it comes to corn, Indigenous people have long known the benefits. Host Dr. Lee Francis of Laguna Pueblo discusses the health benefits of a classic Indigenous staple food: blue corn mush. What makes blue corn blue? Why is ash added to traditional blue corn mush? What makes it so healthy?

Andrew Branca, a high school student from Central Academy of Technology and Arts, in North Carolina talks about how he was inspired to write Boal after attending a summer theater workshop on Brazilian theater activist Augusto Boal. Cast members discuss what it was like to collaborate on the playwriting process and why they felt it was important to start a serious discussion on racism and Islamophobia.

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

Dancer Amit Patel is reinventing Bollywood dance and making space for queer expression in the South Asian community. At 10, he began Bollywood dance training with Mona Khan Company and later started contemporary dance. He realized he could express himself outside of Bollywood’s traditional male roles. Today, he teaches "Bollywood Heels," a mix of Kathak gestures and jazz performed in 5-inch heels.

Inspired by James Brown and the Black Panthers, the Black Resurgents are one of the dance crews who pioneered Oakland's boogaloo dance, the foundation of many other funk styles. However, their cultural contributions are little-known outside of the Bay. Meet these veteran dancers passing on their tradition to a new a generation, bridging the gap between boogaloo, pop-locking and turf dancing.

Oakland, California, home to the Black Panthers, also birthed the pioneering funk-driven freestyle dance Oakland Boogaloo, characterized by strong hits and poses. In the late 1960s and 1970s, before the emergence of hip hop, the city’s African American youth took inspiration from James Brown, the Temptations, Charlie Chaplin, cartoon characters, and sci-fi robots, and created a repertoire of original moves like the “Dime Stop,” the “Hit, the “Mack Pose” and “the Ditallion.” Youth in nearby San Francisco and Richmond soon developed variants of boogaloo, respectively known as strutting and robotting. Today, these techniques are collectively known as “the funk styles,” owing to their development during the funk era. Despite its pioneering status, Oakland boogaloo’s cultural contributions are little-known outside of Bay Area dance circles.

Cartography is the art and science of graphically representing a geographical area on a flat surface such as a map. For Indigenous peoples, cartography is more than just topography or mapping locations. For many Indigenous communities, it's about values, culture and traditional understandings.

Meet San Francisco artist Sirron Norris, who discusses his public and commercial art projects. Although he works on projects like "Bob's Burgers," he still makes time to teach a cartoon-drawing class for kids every Saturday. He says that the best part about drawing cartoons is that there's no expectations. He teaches the children this, and that as long as they are proud of what they've created, then what they've created is perfect.

Chad Hasegawa paints portraits of bears and notable artists, and his style is influenced heavily by the Abstract Expressionist movement, and a thrifty approach to materials. He has created murals throughout San Francisco and shown his paintings and sculptures in galleries. His work balances between abstract and figurative art, with dense, wild brushstrokes that are often pieced together to create recognizable forms.

La Mezcla is an all-female San Francisco dance company rooted in Latinx traditions, Chicano culture and social justice. Founder Vanessa Sanchez and the other dancers blend tap dance and zapateado or traditional footwork from Veracruz, Mexico, to create a style they call “zapatap.” Watch as they perform dynamic choreography in front of iconic Mission District murals and landmarks, then bring us back to the 1940s West Coast Zoot Suit era (popularized by Bay Area playwright Luis Valdez) when young Mexican-Americans or “pachucas” proudly repped Chicana identity and resistance, while defying cultural and style taboos. Rocking big hair and flashy zoot suits, the women of La Mezcla reclaim this early history, combining tap with son Jarocho Zapateado.

If Cities Could Dance is a Webby Award-winning video series featuring dancers from cities across the United States. Step into the shoes of dancers from across the country who dare to imagine what it would look like if their city could dance.

Enjoy a sweet way to learn about opposites, and explore what is the same and what is different as you read, watch and play together.

Chompers is a trio of abstract coyotes with levers to lift and lower their heads and open their mouths so that they can appear to be howling at the moon. They were built by the artists at Opera-Matic, a neighborhood art group from Chicago that specializes in community engagement. Opera-Matic was invited to bring Chompers to the BLINK festival in Cincinnati. The BLINK festival was a celebration of light and art with a focus on interactivity. The “coyotes” were a big hit with festival-goers, especially children. They are mounted on recycled ice cream bikes for easy mobility in parades.

This video explains how scientists construct computer-generated climate models to forecast weather, understand climate, and project climate change. It discusses how different types of climate models can be used and how scientists use computers to build these models.