TANAQUIL LE CLERCQ: AFTERNOON OF A FAUN

SATURDAY, JUNE 21 @ 10:00PM

This film excerpt from American Masters — Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun opens with footage of Le Clercq performing in Concerto Barocco, a George Balanchine masterpiece, choreographed to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The two lead female roles represent the lead violins of Bach’s composition, Concerto in D minor for Two Violins.

Tanaquil, who went by the name Tanny, was a young student at the School of American Ballet when she caught the attention of Balanchine. Her body, tall and thin, was unusual at the time for a ballet dancer, but Tanny’s talent and personality led her to become Balanchine’s muse. Tanny’s body type became what people call “the ideal” Balanchine dancer, according to Barbara Horgan, Balanchine’s personal assistant at the New York City Ballet for 20 years.

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DESIGNING AMERICA

SATURDAY, JUNE 21 @ 6:00PM

Frederick Law Olmsted was among the first to regard landscape architecture as a profession and a fine art – in fact, with Calvert Vaux he virtually created that profession. Olmsted was also, far and away, the most eminent and successful person ever to practice it in this country. He was co-designer of Central Park, head of the first Yosemite commission, leader of the campaign to protect Niagara Falls, designer of the U.S. Capitol Grounds, site planner for the Great White City of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, planner of Boston’s “Emerald Necklace” of green space, and created park systems in many other cities. Olmsted’s park and parkway system in Buffalo, N.Y. is the oldest integrated system in America and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, JUNE 20 @ 9:00PM

President Obama announced on Thursday that the U.S. is preparing to send up to 300 additional U.S. military advisors to Iraq to support Iraqi security forces combating the ISIS insurgency. The president said the U.S. will also provide additional equipment, surveillance and military assets but added, “American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again.” Peter Baker of The New York Times and Michael Crowley of TIME Magazine will examine all the military and diplomatic options the U.S. is considering and why the White House is putting pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to put together a more inclusive government to stave off the sectarian violence.

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THE ROOSEVELTS

TUESDAY, JUNE 17 @ 9:00PM

Join Patricia Clarkson for a exclusive behind-the-scenes PBS Preview of Ken Burns’ new seven-part series – THE ROOSEVELTS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY. Follow the camera crews into the grand estates and intimate cottages of the Roosevelts and visit the studio as Burns records the voices of the stars who read the diaries, letters and contemporary accounts of this noteworthy family.

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FREEDOM RIDERS

SATURDAY, APRIL 1 @ 9:00PM

FREEDOM RIDERS is the powerful harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.

(2 hours)

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3 @ 7:00PM

American Pharaoh goes behind the scenes with the Egyptian national soccer team — the “Pharaohs” — and its former coach, American Bob Bradley, to capture their historic attempt to reach the 2014 World Cup, which created intense national pride and sparked headlines across the globe.

The film by Egyptian filmmaker Hossam Aboul-Magd follows the team’s efforts to qualify for soccer’s ultimate event for the first time in more than 20 years. The program also illustrates the relationship in Egypt between soccer, the revolution and political activism.

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THE ESCAPE ARTIST

SUNDAY. JUNE 22 @ 7:00PM & 11:00PM

EPISODE 2: With the tables turned, Will battles for justice by fair means and foul. But can a brilliant attorney save his own skin?

Written by David Wolstencroft (Spooks), this gripping legal thriller costars Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) as the hero’s rival, along with a courtroom full of ambitious attorneys and one very unnerving defendant.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, JUNE 13 @ 9:00PM

House Republicans are looking for new leadership after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s stunning primary loss to little-known, tea party-backed challenger David Brat. Cantor’s defeat has rattled the GOP leadership team and refocused attention on the sharp divisions within the Republican Party.  Some credit Brat’s victory over Cantor to the resurgence of the tea party. Others are concerned that the upset will create more gridlock and inhibit lawmakers from enacting any major policy reforms before the midterm elections.

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