Reality of a Dreamer
After HMS burst on to the Chicago dance scene in 1990 and becoming one of its prized collaborators (receiving 2 Chicago Dance Coalition Ruth Pages and another nomination between 1991-1994), and on the heels of the success of Why Am I Hiding, HMS wondered if perhaps it could advocate for the arts on public television the way it had begun to do for social issues.
The result was Reality of a Dreamer, HMS’ first dance special, focusing on Chicago’s acclaimed River North Dance Company, artistic director Sherry Zunker Dow and the company’s choreographers and dancers behind the scenes and in performance.
The night after the WTTW premiere, River North sold out its fall engagement and shortly thereafter became a fouding company of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. A year later it premiered nationally on PBS, and River North’s national and international successes followed one after another.
An acknowledged catalyst of the company’s emergence to prominence in the Chicago and national dance scenes, Reality of a Dreamer won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Entertainment Special and Excellence In Lighting, and received the Silver Plaque from the Chicago International Film Festival for Outstanding Cultural Programming.