(light music) - [Voiceover] This is a production of WEDU PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg.

Sarasota.

(playful music) - [Dalia] Funding for WEDU Arts Plus is provided by the Community Foundation, Tampa Bay.

(groovy music) In this edition of WEDU Arts Plus, go behind the scenes of a Sarasota Florida documentary.

- We have a lot of history makers living right now in our timeframe that we interviewed that are living amongst us and walking amongst us, that we'll be talking about in a hundred years.

- [Dalia] Creating beautiful bowls out of wooden logs.

- I don't start with a certain shape in mind because it's depending on the piece of wood.

I like to turn stuff when it's green so you could literally go out and cut a tree down, take a piece of wood, put it on the lathe.

You can make a bowl the same day.

- [Dalia] An artist insightful journey.

- We as a society need to change the way we're doing things, you know, cause we're not doing too well.

Stop throwing daggers, you know, people should just be happy.

- [Dalia] And the athleticism of ballet.

- Our bodies are our instrument.

Those are our tools.

That's the same as football players.

They're using their bodies as an instrument, as a tool, to get where they need to be in the game.

- It's all coming up next on WEDU Arts Plus.

(groovy music continues) Hello, I'm Dalia Colon and this is WEDU Arts Plus.

The story of Sarasota, Florida is the story of America from its time as a sleepy fishing village to the transformative city it is today.

Triforce Pictures takes us behind the scenes of the Sarasota experience, a documentary exploring the evolution of community and what the future might hold for this arts and culture hub.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) - Growing up in high school, I was a vinyl DJ and I loved it.

I loved taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster and around 21 years old that lifestyle didn't suit me anymore.

That's how I got into filmmaking.

Film has all these different avenues of picture and sound and people, and being out and about and learning new things.

And so that's it, it's taking the audience on an emotional rollercoaster, and that's where it's taking me today to filmmaking.

(dramatic music) Growing up in the eighties and nineties, Steven Spielberg was the dude.

Steven Spielberg still is my dude, and so he inspired me to create wonder.

So in 2001, I packed up my bags, I moved to Los Angeles, then went to the Columbia College of Hollywood and studied directing and writing and producing.

I started my own production company called Triforce Pictures.

We didn't wanna wait for people to give us opportunities to make films so I created commercials, and we did short films and all these things for Triforce.

But most of the time on the big shows I worked as a production assistant.

And I truly believe that if anyone really wants to get into the film business, you should try being a production assistant because it first and foremost, you learn all the jobs.

I lived there and worked for 11 years working on tons of television shows, like "The West Wing," "ER," "Six Feet Under."

Movies like "Where The Wild Things Are," "Little Miss Sunshine."

And that's where I really got the opportunity, and the privilege to create who I am today.

I said there's opportunity to come back to Sarasota and work hard, meet people and create great content.

(upbeat piano music) The Sarasota experience is a WEDU PBS original documentary feature, about the past, the present, and the future of Sarasota.

While exploring what creates a thriving community.

♪ It's magical for all if you believe ♪ ♪ There's hidden gem ♪ ♪ There's mystical and meed ♪ ♪ From little in Lemberg ♪ ♪ From the sigh she has to keep ♪ ♪ Sarasota is unique ♪ Being a local, I just, this was everything I ever wanted to do was make a film about the town that I love.

The town that I grew up in.

- We wouldn't have been able to do it without the support of so many people.

Everyone got behind it and they were excited.

(people laughing) I would describe the Sarasota experience as a look into little beach town, not so little anymore.

You can see the ups and downs and how similar we are to other communities in all parts of the country.

(soft piano music) For me, the biggest thing that I learned was how history just repeats itself.

We have a lot of history makers living right now in our timeframe that we interviewed that are living amongst us and walking amongst us, that we'll be talking about in a hundred years.

- By creating this documentary that gets to the heart of the issues of things in Sarasota, we're really getting to shed light on things that I want to show how beautiful Sarasota is and our potential.

(soft piano music continues) And action!

(curious piano music) - Burns court sequence was really something to watch.

- This 300 foot, one shot cinematic scene is now the opening shot and it involves highlighting many of the performing arts organizations of Sarasota.

And we follow and go and pass them, and it's just this dynamic shot.

The reason why you do one shot is to show the camaraderie to show everybody's together at one time, and I believe that this was showing a microcosm of Sarasota.

It took a month to prep.

- [Filmmaker] The night started at 11:00 AM, when the barricades got dropped off, and then it was kind of just really all systems go at that point.

- [Filmmaker] We rehearsed it for the first like four hours.

- [Filmmaker] The whole neighborhood was pumped.

You could feel the energy the whole time on the street.

- All the performers donated their time.

(whispers) Thank you so much.

It took us 12 times to get the shot.

And I'm really, really happy with what we accomplished.

(somber piano music) I think that many things are gonna resonate with people and if you take one thing home about this documentary, I would want you to take home that life is bigger than just us.

And I really hope that this documentary is galvanizing for people to reach out to one another, to be more loving, to be more civil.

It's not what your community can do for you it's what you can do for your community, for now and for our future.

- Thank you guys so much.

I'm really fortunate that, you know, we live in a community that really supports the arts in the way they do.

Filmmaking is honestly the most interesting thing I've ever done in my life.

When you watch these things, it's very exciting.

And so to know that I got to be part of it, was really special.

- The question is, am I proud of this project?

I've never been so proud of something in my life.

I don't think there's anything that I can show of how lucky I feel to be able to collaborate with all these people, to make this documentary that I'm so proud to share with everyone.

(light music) - [Dalia] For more information visit WEDU.org/sarasota and triforcepictures.com.

For the the artist Scott Boris, wood is his medium of choice.

With a lathe and a desire to create, he takes chunks of wood and spins cuts and sands them until they become unique wooden bowls.

(wood thudding) (chainsaw rumbling) - I can make a bowl out of any log but not every log will make a really neat bowl 'cause I wanna capture that stuff that God already put in the the tree.

I would love to capture that in my piece.

(light music) (zipper buzzing) (wood thudding) I am Scott Boris, I am a wood artist.

So I just started as a small, stuff that we needed for the house, plus for other people, and then the turning came in when I got a lathe and I just thought I could do something with small chunks of wood.

It's literally taking a chunk of wood and spinning it and cutting off everything that's not a bowl.

(wood thudding) Carvers, I think they can make shapes that we can't do 'cause we're kind of still stuck with these, the rounder shapes, but it's a lot quicker because while that thing spin in, I can go (Scott vocalizes) and send shavings flying.

(machine clicking) And it's very quiet.

It's not a turn on the table saw and put on your hearing protection.

You just get the sound of the wood be cut and it is rhythm.

Sometimes I have to be careful, turning too long, I get a little hypnotized 'cause it's (Scott vocalizes) and you get the repetitiveness.

(machine slicking) It's very relaxing, I think that's one reason I do this is it's a way to relieve stress.

Make a big pile of saw and the stress goes away.

(machine clicking) So if I split it there, oh, that works out well.

And this tree just grew last week.

(metal clanking) There you go.

And this will give you the high points and then the low points on those bowls.

Yeah, 'bout right in there.

Well, that's the hope.

Maybe I'll take that in and we can start with that.

(door creaking) I don't start with a certain shape in mind because it's depending on the piece of wood.

I like to turn stuff when it's green so you could literally go out and cut a tree down, take a piece of wood, put it on the lathe, you can make a bowl the same day.

You can't use it, 'cause it's wet.

I know the stuff I'm turning is harvested properly.

I'm not cutting a tree down because I want to turn a bowl.

It's the tree already came down.

A lot of the wood I get comes from other people's firewood.

I need something that's long enough so I may have to lose up to six inches off either end to cut off the cracks.

And then I'm looking for limbs and other defects that I might be able to capture.

And so I had testicular cancer a few years ago.

So if I can find tumors on a tree and turn them into stuff to me that's like, that's kind of fun after what I went through.

Then cut it up into a blank because my lathe can only fit a 20 inch diameter something and then I have to whittle that thing down so it'll actually spin.

(machine clicking) The tools we use are fairly long so that we have more leverage.

Once I kind of get it up on the lathe then I need to create a, what they call a tenon.

It looks like a little hockey puck and it allows me to use something called a chuck, and it grabs onto that bulb and then start working on the outside shape and get it to where I want it.

And then it's just shape.

It's just, you know, whittling it until you get the right shape and then dry it.

So when I turned my bowl, that's not the final shape.

As it dries, it'll shrink and usually it'll warp, and and get a little bit longer because of the shape.

And then I deal with it after that.

(tool rumbling) After the dry, then I do a lot of sanding, shaping.

I've got some fairly aggressive stuff that makes clouds of sawdust.

A lot of my spinal sanding is done off the lathe, which is a little untraditional because I like the oval shapes 'cause people try to figure out how you make an oval when I'm spinning it.

And it should be a circle, but it's a lot of the wood drying process.

So everything's done in my lap, sanding with different things that I've found.

And putting the finish on, I don't want to have sanding marks.

(light music) I think Wisconsin has a wonderful mix of different woods to use.

I don't have no desire to turn anything from outside Wisconsin anymore, well, just because I think Wisconsin's got a perfect climate for the right types of wood.

So I love telling people where their stuff grew and have that connection and that story.

That's been, well, that's important to me.

I would love to have the bowl stay empty.

If I can do something, find some cool shape in a bowl that you don't want to cover up, then I win.

So I leave that up to people how they use it.

But if they don't use it for anything, I think that's cool too because the niche, you know, what's in the tree is fun to show off.

I think this is a cool way to take something that other people burn for firewood and make art out of it.

(light music) - Explore more of Scott Boris's art at greenwoodturnings.com.

Artist Clayton Singleton recognizes the importance of creation.

In this segment, travel to Norfolk, Virginia and learn more about his technique, inspiration and colorful works.

(groovy music) - Just like I'm just gonna let this happen.

It was like two in the morning in the studio, Barclay Sheaks, the professor had told us that we needed to be bolder or not bring him something that was just regular.

This was like during college.

It just hit me, I'm gonna use straight color gesso, just use it straight from the tube.

And I said this is what I need to do, is paint these figures in these almost story-like ways.

If a person is blue, a person's a person.

If the person is green, the person's a person.

You don't have to attach or rather you can't really attach your baggage to that person.

So that's what really got me going with these strong, bold, large scale paintings that people just were like, "oh that's weird, I'm digging it though."

'Cause if the paints aren't diluted, they're just what they are, and it's kind of like that's how we as people wanna be seen.

Is just what we are, just who we are.

So you don't need to alter me in any way to fit your palate.

So that's what really got that going.

(groovy music continues) - Clayton's just an amazingly spectacular genuine person.

And to have him as a friend or a companion or to know him in any capacity is a gift.

So this is me writing my vows, looking at a picture of us from our first date.

- That was the first official date.

- He actually worked at the same school.

And Clayton would walk by and he'd speak, and I'd speak and you know, I would just head back down, keep working.

According to him, he was making moves on me that I clearly didn't get the signals on, 'cause I just thought we were just cordial friends.

But I got the picture so very happy I got the picture.

(groovy music continues) - This painting is from a show called Cultural Shift, that show is basically about we as a society need to change the way we're doing things.

You know, 'cause we're not doing too well.

Stop throwing daggers, you know, people should just be happy.

And that picture of Kim that I use as a picture of like, was just total happiness.

I don't know about, you know, everybody else in the world but it's not too many times in life I felt safe.

I can just show up and Kim will know that I've had a bad day.

You know, and that's just paramount.

I mean like, who doesn't want that?

- He brings a lot of calm to people and his foresight and insight into life things.

It's just very helpful to people and people are drawn to that.

People are always like, you know, looking for hugs or just wanna share a story or wanna tell him something.

And it's just great to be around, just this awesomeness all the time.

(groovy music) - It's too soft.

So like, you need to burnish that some.

What does that feel like?

If you had to put an emotion to that particular still, what would it be?

- I like how he makes everything look real and he uses his own shapes and stuff and makes it his own.

Like when you look at his paintings, you can tell they're his.

I wanna be an artist just like him.

- And this comes down right here.

It's got a little you right there.

Sometimes you have to take their hand and show them how to move it.

- Mr. Singleton has taught me that through art you can express your emotions in a free way.

(groovy music continues) - My favorite painting of Clayton's is actually the one that's right behind us.

And amazingly enough, I don't know the title of it.

- "Ode to truth."

- "Ode to Truth," he gifted it to me and it was at my place and I would walk past it every day, and it took me about two months to realize there's a lady back there.

And it's just talks about how the truth is so freeing, and once you are confident in your truth.

And once you share your truth with with others, they can't really hurt you with it because you've owned it, you've accepted it so that's just what it is, this is me.

So I really like that.

(curious music) - I remember learning how to write in cursive and I was, and my handwriting was horrible.

So I had to practice a lot to make the letters look the way they needed to look.

So I would just write.

And so then it became like, let me just write what I want to say.

People can sit with words, and they can read them and analyze them, and come to a new conclusion.

And I think that, that was attractive to me.

"No, this circle was not originally painted by me "but I replenished red paint regularly.

"I take spray cans, crayons, "anything I get my hands on.

"Lipstick, nail polish, "I once scraped gravy from a dog dish, "saturated it, using red food coloring, "replenishing red paint regularly."

Everybody needs to make something.

Everyone needs to use his or her innate creativity.

And I feel like when you don't do that you seek to destroy things, you know, because you're not being creative.

Like it's in your spirit, it's in your molecules to create, you know, and we should.

You know, everybody needs to make something.

(groovy music) - I like how all the artwork ties into everyday life and different things that you go through and the inspiration of it.

- This piece right here is called "Brothers."

And though it's not actually a painting of my brother and I, it represents us.

It kind of gives us our personalities and our particular role in the relationship.

- I love the colors.

I'm all about colors anyway, but the colors allow you to really see the main focus, so on these, it's the athletes.

Not just, you know, regular hurdles, hurdles of life.

(laughs) - Every person needs to make something.

Whether you grow it.

(laughs) Whether you sew it, whether you sculpt it, painted, you know, I don't care what it is, whether it's dinner or whatever.

Make something, create something that did not exist before you.

That's powerful.

(groovy music continues) (light music) - See more of his work at claytonsingleton.com.

Ballet dancers have graced stages for centuries.

What people may not realize though, is that ballet artists are also incredible athletes.

Up next we visit the Cleveland Ballet to find out more.

(light music) - If I've been dancing professionally, like I'm dancing all day, every day.

My body doesn't feel young.

- The amount of stress you put on your body day in and day out, the amount of agility and stamina.

I don't if that's not an athlete, I don't know what you call it.

- [Voiceover] Most people's basic understanding of ballet is point shoes and tutus.

But ballet dancers want audiences to know there's so much more.

- Our job is to make it look easy on stage, and we're not supposed to show that it's difficult.

- [Voiceover] This season is the first year the Cleveland Ballet is partnering with the sports medicine department at university hospitals, which will allow the dancers to receive more preventive care.

The physical therapists who work with the dancers know how to treat the artists as athletes.

- Our bodies are our instrument.

Those are our tools.

That's the same as football players.

They're using their bodies as an instrument, as a tool, to get where they need to be in the game.

- I'll wake up one morning and I'm in so much pain and it's like, "oh my gosh "I can't do jumps or I can't do this today."

But then I go to physical therapy and I'll be like almost 100% better right after.

And I'm like, "oh wait, I can do this."

I think that if I keep on going to physical therapy, the life of my dance career will be a lot longer.

(giggles) - [Voiceover] It's Marla Minadeo's first season as a professional dancer.

Her mom, Gladisa Guadalupe, is the artistic director for the Cleveland Ballet.

Guadalupe had to retire after an injury and she thinks it could have been prevented.

- The career for dancer is very short, but if you take care of your body now, in a professional environment, and with professionals that in the medical field that understand the wear and tear, and how to prevent, they could have careers up to 45 and 50.

Why not that?

And that's what we want.

- [Voiceover] Dr. James Voos of UH, oversees the partnership and he's also the sports medicine physician for the Cleveland Browns.

He says, taking care of an athlete's body is important for football players and dancers, both professional and in training.

- Yeah, this is particularly close to me, having young dancers at home.

Contact athletes such as football players and our performing artists such as ballet dancers, put an incredible force on their body day in and day out.

That that force to jump and maintain poise and posture, day in and day out puts an incredible stress on the body.

While you may be moving more gracefully in ballet, those stresses on the body are very significant.

And so the ability to maintain flexibility to put together a preventative program is just as important in most sports.

- [Voiceover] Guadalupe says it takes months to put something on stage as a production but it takes decades for a dancer to be trained.

- I don't think people understand.

They just see the beauty.

The curtain goes up and they just see the end product.

They don't see the sweat and the hard work.

And that's my hope, that as much as I would like the audience to enjoy, which they do enjoy the performance, that they understand what this artist go through and respect the profession.

(light music) - Learn more at clevelandballet.org.

And that wraps it up for this edition of WEDU Arts Plus.

For more arts and culture, visit wedu.org/artsplus.

Until next time, I'm Dalia Colon.

Thanks for watching.

(dramatic music) (curious music) Funding for WEDU Arts Plus is provided by the Community Foundation, Tampa Bay.