A series of 16 programmes starring Debbie Allen as Lydia Grant, Lee Curreri as Bruno Martelli, Erica Gimpel as Coco Hernandez, Albert Hague as Professor Shorofsky, Tommy Aguilar as Garcy, Carol Mayo Jenkins as Elizabeth Sherwood, Valerie Landsburg as Doris Schwartz, P.R. Paul as Montgomery MacNeill, Gene Anthony Ray as Leroy Johnson, Lori Singer as Julie Miller, Carmine Caridi as Angelo Martelli

'You've got big dreams. You want fame. Well fame costs and right here's where you start paying...' warns dance teacher Lydia Grant. New student Julie Miller finds New York's celebrated dream factory, The High School for the Performing Arts, confusing yet challenging - a world encompassing the classical and the contemporary where Bach and the ballet meet boogie and bop, Handel gets hip, the synthesizer challenges the strings and only talent and dedication count.