SMALL WONDERS
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1996 Ben Hoffman
Exhilarating, heartwarming, profoundly moving! All that and very entertaining. This is a documentary which shows that one person can move and change the environment and lives of children. Teacher Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras has done just that. This film about her dedication and achievements leaves you with a great feeling and a hope for the future.
When school funds were cut, the Arts were the first to be axed. Music teacher Roberta would not take "no" for an answer. She rallied parents and friends to support her program to teach the violin to the little kids in three schools in NYC.: Central; Park East 1, Central Park East 2, and RiverEast Elementary School. Most of the children attending those schools were from minority and poor families but Roberta enriched their lives as she taught them to play and love the violin. Each year 150 children were chosen by lottery to be in the program. The sad part is that there was not enough funds available to include many more children and that it is just in NYC when it should be in every school in our country. Violins, not guns, should be our goal.
It is a delight to see the children from different ethnic groups, as they play Bach with an intensity and dedication one would not expect of youngsters. We see one of the annual concerts, this one at Carnegie Hall, with the great Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman aLong with many other famous professionals, joining them in the performances.
There is no question about Roberta Guaspari-Tzavaras' dedication and love of music and children. You will not want to miss this wonderful film.
Directed by Allan Miller
Rating: 4 Bytes
4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to miss 2 Bytes = Average 1 Byte = Save your money
Ben Hoffman
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