Little Explorers: The World of Art, Music and Dance

Another example of the fallacious "if you shoot it, they will come" theory of filmmaking, this initial entry in the Little Explorers series, created by Brett and Sharon Levinson (educators and parents), offers non-narrated footage of people playing various instruments, a ballerina dancing, a tap-dancer, and 9 masterworks of art (by Van Gogh, Degas, Michelangelo [David's upper half], etc.) arranged in no apparent order. Although it would be nigh impossible to provide a comprehensive introduction to "art, music and dance" in the space of thirty minutes, there is just not much rhyme or reason to the repetitive selections presented here (4 of 9 artworks are either by Monet or Degas; we see the same three little girls twirling around a room in would-be ballerina fashion over and over; and the choice of instruments featured seems completely serendipitous--we see an xylophone, for instance, but no violin, cello, or trumpet). I'm all for introducing kids to the fine arts; I'm just not convinced that the Jackson Pollock-let's-throw-it-on-video-and-see-what-sticks approach is the best way to go about it. Not recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (R. Pitman)