1.
Adobe Acrobat
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Adobe Acrobat is a family of application software and Web services developed by Adobe Systems to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format. The family comprises Acrobat Reader, Acrobat and Acrobat. com, the basic Acrobat Reader, available for several desktop and mobile platforms, is freeware, it supports viewing, printing and annotating of PDF files. Additional, Premium, services are available for reader on paid subscription, the commercial proprietary Acrobat, available for Microsoft Windows and macOS only, can also create, edit, convert, digitally sign, encrypt, export and publish PDF files. Acrobat. com complements the family with a variety of content management. Adobe has changed the names of the products of the Acrobat set several times, also dividing, merging, initially, the name Acrobat was used as the parent name of a set of products which included Acrobat Reader, Acrobat Exchange and Acrobat Distiller. Over time, Acrobat Reader became Reader, and the name Acrobat Exchange was simplified to Acrobat, between versions 3 and 5, Standard and Professional versions were one product known simply as Acrobat. In April 2015, Adobe introduced the Adobe Document Cloud, along with the first of several applications with DC at the end of the name. One of the goals was to have all of a users PDFs available on any of the users devices, such as editing a PDF on an iPad. As of October,2015, the Document Cloud also includes integration with Dropbox and includes electronic signature improvements, as of April 2015, the main members of the Acrobat family include, Desktop applications, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. Adobe Acrobat Standard DC Adobe Acrobat Pro DC Mobile applications with the Document Cloud launch, from DC2015 the Acrobat family is available in two tracks, the original track, now named Classic, and the Continuous track. Updates for the Classic track are released quarterly, and do not include new features, whereas updates for the Continuous track are issued more frequently, the last pre-DC version, Acrobat XI, was last updated on October 11,2016, and will remain supported until October 2017. Arabic and Hebrew versions are available from WinSoft International, Adobe Systems internationalization and localization partner, the Arabic and Hebrew versions are developed specifically for these languages, which are normally written right-to-left. The Web Capture feature can convert single web pages or entire web sites into PDF files, a comprehensive list of security bulletins for most Adobe products and related versions is published on their Security bulletins and advisories page and in other related venues. In particular, the history of security updates for all versions of Adobe Acrobat has been made public. From Version 3.02 onwards, Acrobat Reader has included support for JavaScript and this functionality allows a PDF document creator to include code which executes when the document is read. Malicious PDF files that attempt to attack security vulnerabilities can be attached to links on web pages or distributed as email attachments. While JavaScript is designed without direct access to the system to make it safe. Adobe applications had become the most popular client-software targets for attackers during the last quarter of 2009
2.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
3.
Balance (ability)
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In biomechanics, balance is an ability to maintain the line of gravity of a body within the base of support with minimal postural sway. Sway is the movement of the centre of gravity even when a person is standing still. A certain amount of sway is essential and inevitable due to small perturbations within the body or from external triggers, an increase in sway is not necessarily an indicator of dysfunctional balance so much as it is an indicator of decreased sensorimotor control. Maintaining balance requires coordination of input from sensory systems including the vestibular, somatosensory. There are environmental factors that can balance such as light conditions, floor surface changes, alcohol, drugs. There are balance impairments associated with aging, age-related decline in the ability of the above systems to receive and integrate sensory information contributes to poor balance in older adults. As a result, the elderly are at a risk of falls. In fact, one in three adults aged 65 and over will fall each year, in the case of an individual standing quietly upright, the limit of stability is defined as the amount of postural sway at which balance is lost and corrective action is required. Body sway can occur in all planes of motion, which make it an increasingly difficult ability to rehabilitate, there is strong evidence in research showing that deficits in postural balance is related to the control of medial-lateral stability and an increased risk of falling. To remain balanced, a person standing must be able to keep the vertical projection of their center of mass within their base of support, ankle sprains are one of the most frequently occurring injuries among athletes and physically active people. The most common residual disability post ankle sprain is instability along with body sway and it is found that nearly 40% of patients with ankle sprains suffer from instability and an increase in body sway. Injury to the causes an proprioceptive deficit and impaired postural control. Individuals with muscular weakness, occult instability, and decreased postural control are more susceptible to injury than those with better postural control. Balance can be affected in individuals with neurological conditions. Patients who suffer a stroke or a spinal cord injury for example and it has also been determined that impaired balance is strongly associated with future function and recovery in some cases, particularly in stroke patients. Additionally, balance problems have been identified as the strongest predictor of falls, another population where balance is severely affected is Parkinsons disease patients. Balance can also be affected in a normal population through fatigue in the musculature surrounding the ankles, knees. Studies have found, however, that muscle fatigue around the hips and it is thought that muscle fatigue leads to a decreased ability to contract with the correct amount of force or accuracy
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Performing arts
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Performing arts are a form of art in which artists use their voices and/or their bodies, often in relation to other objects, to convey artistic expression. It is different from visual arts, which is when artists use paint/canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects, performing arts include several disciplines, each performed in front of a live audience. Artists who participate in performing arts in front of an audience are called performers, examples of these include actors, comedians, dancers, magicians, circus artists, musicians, and singers. Performing arts are supported by workers in related fields, such as songwriting, choreography. A performer who excels in acting, singing, and dancing is commonly referred to as a triple threat, well-known examples of historical triple threat artists include Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Judy Garland. Performers often adapt their appearance, such as costumes and stage makeup, stage lighting. Performing arts may include dance, music, opera, theatre and musical theatre, magic, illusion, mime, spoken word, puppetry, circus arts, performance art, recitation and public speaking. There is also a form of fine art, in which the artists perform their work live to an audience. Most performance art also involves some form of art, perhaps in the creation of props. Dance was often referred to as an art during the Modern dance era. Theatre is the branch of performing arts, concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience, using a combination of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound, any one or more of these elements is performing arts. In addition to the standard narrative style of plays. In the context of performing arts, dance generally refers to movement, typically rhythmic and to music. Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movement to codified, in dance, the connection between the two concepts is stronger than in some other arts, and neither can exist without the other. Choreography is the art of making dances, and the person who practices this art is called a choreographer, music is an art form which combines pitch, rhythm, and dynamic in order to create sound. It can be performed using a variety of instruments and styles and is divided into genres, as an art form, music can occur in live or recorded formats, and can be planned or improvised. Starting in the 6th century BC, the Classical period of performing art began in Greece and these poets wrote plays which, in some cases, incorporated dance. The Hellenistic period began the use of comedy
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Sport
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Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a tie game, others provide tie-breaking methods, to one winner. A number of such two-sided contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion, many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, each against each other, however, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. Sports are usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition, winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, records of performance are often kept, and for popular sports, this information may be widely announced or reported in sport news. Sport is also a source of entertainment for non-participants, with spectator sport drawing large crowds to sport venues. Sports betting is in some cases severely regulated, and in some cases is central to the sport, kearney, a consultancy, the global sporting industry is worth up to $620 billion as of 2013. The worlds most accessible and practised sport is running, while football is the most popular spectator sport. The word Sport comes from the Old French desport meaning leisure, other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling, hunting, and games and diversions, including ones that require exercise. Rogets defines the noun sport as an activity engaged in for relaxation, the singular term sport is used in most English dialects to describe the overall concept, with sports used to describe multiple activities. American English uses sports for both terms, the precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources. They also recognise that sport can be physical, primarily mind, predominantly motorised, primarily co-ordination. The inclusion of sports within sport definitions has not been universally accepted. Whilst SportAccord recognises a number of mind sports, it is not open to admitting any further mind sports. According to Council of Europe, European Sports Charter, article 2, other bodies advocate widening the definition of sport to include all physical activity. For instance, the Council of Europe include all forms of physical exercise, in competitive events, participants are graded or classified based on their result and often divided into groups of comparable performance
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Martial arts
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Although the term martial art has become associated with the fighting arts of eastern Asia, it originally referred to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s. The term is derived from Latin, and means arts of Mars, Martial arts may be categorized along a variety of criteria, including, Traditional or historical arts vs. contemporary styles of folk wrestling and modern hybrid martial arts. Such traditions include eskrima, silat, kalaripayat, kobudo, and historical European martial arts, Many Chinese martial arts also feature weapons as part of their curriculum. Similarly, modern Western martial arts and sports include fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat or singlestick. Combat-oriented Health-oriented Many martial arts, especially those from Asia, also teach side disciplines which pertain to medicinal practices and this is particularly prevalent in traditional Asian martial arts which may teach bone-setting, herbalism, and other aspects of traditional medicine. Spirituality-oriented Martial arts can also be linked with religion and spirituality, numerous systems are reputed to have been founded, disseminated, or practiced by monks or nuns. Throughout Asia, meditation may be incorporated as part of training, in those countries influenced by Hindu-Buddhist philosophy, the art itself may be used as an aid to attaining enlightenment. Japanese styles, when concerning non-physical qualities of the combat, are strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Concepts like empty mind and beginners mind are recurrent, aikido, for instance, can have a strong philosophical belief of the flow of energy and peace fostering, as idealised by its founder Morihei Ueshiba. Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the spiritual and philosophical development. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as taekkyeon and taekwondo, is the value of peace in a practitioner. The Koreans believe that the use of force is only justified through defense. Many such martial arts incorporate music, especially strong percussive rhythms, the oldest works of art depicting scenes of battle are cave paintings from Spain dated between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE that show organized groups fighting with bows and arrows. Chinese martial arts originated during the Xia Dynasty more than 4000 years ago and it is said the Yellow Emperor Huangdi introduced the earliest fighting systems to China. The Yellow Emperor is described as a general who, before becoming Chinas leader, wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology. One of his opponents was Chi You who was credited as the creator of jiao di. The foundation of modern Asian martial arts is likely a blend of early Chinese, during the Warring States period of Chinese history extensive development in martial philosophy and strategy emerged, as described by Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Legendary accounts link the origin of Shaolinquan to the spread of Buddhism from India during the early 5th century AD, with the figure of Bodhidharma, to China
7.
Acro dance
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Acro dance is a style of dance that combines classical dance technique with precision acrobatic elements. It is defined by its character, its unique choreography, which seamlessly blends dance and acrobatics. It is a dance style in amateur competitive dance as well as in professional dance theater. Acro dance is known by other names including acrobatic dance and gymnastic dance, though it is most commonly referred to simply as acro by dancers. Acro is a challenging dance style for dancers as it requires them to be trained in both dance and acrobatic skills. Acro dancers must be in excellent physical condition as well, because acro is a demanding activity. Acrobatic dance emerged in the United States and Canada in the early 1900s, acrobatic dance did not suddenly appear in vaudeville, rather, it appeared gradually over time in a variety of forms, and consequently no individual performer has been cited as its originator. Sherman Coates, who performed with the Watermelon Trust from 1900 to 1914, was recalled by fellow dancers as the first acrobatic dancer they had ever seen. In 1914, acrobat Lulu Coates formed the Crackerjacks, a vaudeville troupe that included acrobatic dance in their performance repertoire up until the group disbanded in 1952. Many other popular vaudeville companies combined acrobatics and dance in their shows, since the decline of the vaudeville era, acrobatic dance has undergone a multi-faceted evolution to arrive at its present-day form. Also, vaudeville acrobatic dances were often more than acrobatics set to music, whereas modern acro dance is fundamentally dance. A defining characteristic of acro is the smooth, graceful transitions between dance and acrobatic movements, also, a dance must have a significant percentage of dance movement, with respect to its acrobatic content, in order for it to be categorized as acro. The dance movements in acro are founded in ballet, jazz, lyrical, Acro dance movements are not restricted to these dance styles, but the complete absence of these styles will typically cause a dance to be categorized as something other than acro. The acrobatic movements and acts of balance performed in a dance are referred to as tricks. A variety of tricks are performed in acro dance, varying widely in complexity. Aside from the requirement that dancers possess the requisite skills to perform tricks. Solo tricks can be performed by independent dancers in solo or group dances, examples of this are, Double tricks—also known as partnering tricks—can only be performed by a pair of dancers. An example of this is the tuck, in which one dancer forms a saddle with his hands
8.
Circus
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The term circus also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Philip Astley is credited with being the father of the circus when he opened the first circus in 1768 in England. Early circuses were almost exclusively demonstrations of equestrian skills with a few types of acts to link the horsemanship performances. Performances developed significantly through the next fifty years, with large scale theatrical battle reenactments becoming a significant feature, as styles of performance have changed since the time of Astley, so too have the types of venues where these circuses have performed. The earliest modern circuses were performed in open air structures with limited covered seating, from the late 18th to late 19th century custom-made circus buildings were built with various types of seating, a centre ring, and sometimes a stage. The traditional large tents, commonly known as Big Tops were introduced in the mid 19th century as touring circuses superseded static venues and these tents eventually became the most common venue and remain so to the present day. Contemporary circuses perform in a variety of venues including tents, theatres, many circus performances are still held in a ring usually 13 m in diameter. This dimension was adopted by Philip Astley in the late 18th century as the minimum diameter that enabled a horse rider to stand upright on a cantering horse to perform their tricks. In the book De Spectaculis early Christian writer Tertullian claimed that the first circus games were staged by the goddess Circe in honour of her father Helios, the modern and commonly held idea of a circus is of a Big Top with various acts providing entertainment therein. For many, circus history begins with Englishman Philip Astley, while for others its origins go back much further—to Roman times. In Ancient Rome, the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse and chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, gladiatorial combat, the Roman circus buildings were, however, not circular but rectangular with semi circular ends. The lower seats were reserved for persons of rank, There were also various state boxes for the giver of the games, the circus was the only public spectacle at which men and women were not separated. It was constructed during the monarchy and, at first, built completely from wood, after being rebuilt several times, the final version of the Circus Maximus could seat 250,000 people, it was built of stone and measured 400m in length and 90m in width. Next in importance were the Circus Flaminius and the Circus Neronis, a fourth circus was constructed by Maxentius, its ruins have helped archaeologists reconstruct the Roman circus. For some time after the fall of Rome, large buildings fell out of use as centres of mass entertainment. Instead, itinerant performers, animal trainers and showmen travelled between towns throughout Europe, performing at local fairs, Astley performed stunts in a 42 ft diameter ring, which is the standard size used by circuses ever since. Astley referred to the arena as a Circle and the building as an amphitheatre. Joseph Grimaldi, the first mainstream clown, had his first major role as Little Clown in the pantomime The Triumph of Mirth, or, the Royal Circus opened in London on 4 November 1782 by Charles Dibdin and his partner Charles Hughes
9.
Gymnastics
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Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and control. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest, alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, most forms of competitive gymnastics events are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. Each country has its own governing body affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic events and it typically involves the womens events of vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Mens events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, other FIG disciplines include rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics. Disciplines not currently recognized by FIG include wheel gymnastics, aesthetic group gymnastics, mens rhythmic gymnastics and TeamGym. The word gymnastics derives from the common Greek adjective Greek, by way of the related verb γυμνάζω, whose meaning is to train naked, train in gymnastic exercise, generally to train, the verb had this meaning, because athletes in ancient times exercised and competed without clothing. It came into use in the 1570s, from Latin gymnasticus, from Greek gymnastikos fond of or skilled in bodily exercise, Gymnastics originated in ancient Spain and was originally intended for military training, where it was used by soldiers to prepare for warfare. Don Francisco Amorós y Ondeano, was born on February 19,1770 in Valencia and he was a Spanish colonel, and the first person to introduce educative gymnastic in France. Jahn promoted the use of bars, rings and high bars in international competition. The Federation of International Gymnastics was founded in Liege in 1881, by the end of the nineteenth century, mens gymnastics competition was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. During the 1920s, women organized and participated in gymnastics events, the first womens Olympic competition was primitive, only involving synchronized calisthenics and track and field. These games were held in 1928, in Amsterdam, by 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and uniform grading structures had been agreed upon. At this time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world with highly disciplined and difficult performances, television has helped publicize and initiate a modern age of gymnastics. Both mens and womens gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, in 2006, a new points system for Artistic gymnastics was put into play. With an A Score being the difficulty score, which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high scoring elements in a routine, the B Score, is the score for execution, and is given for how well the skills are performed. The following disciplines are governed by FIG, Artistic Gymnastics is usually divided into Mens and Womens Gymnastics
10.
Ballet
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Ballet /ˈbæleɪ/ is a type of performance dance that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread, highly technical form of dance with its own based on French terminology. It has been influential and has defined the foundational techniques used in many other dance genres. Becoming a ballet dancer requires years of training, Ballet has been taught in various schools around the world, which have historically incorporated their own cultures to evolve the art. Ballet may also refer to a dance work, which consists of the choreography. A well-known example of this is The Nutcracker, a ballet that was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa. Ballets are choreographed and performed by trained artists, the word came into English usage from the French around 1630. Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries before being spread from Italy to France by an Italian aristocrat, Catherine de Medici, in France, ballet developed even further under her aristocratic influence. The dancers in these early court ballets were mostly noble amateurs, Ballets in this period were lengthy and elaborate and often served a political purpose. Ornamented costumes were meant to impress viewers and restricted freedom of movement. The ballets were performed in large chambers with viewers on three sides, French court ballet reached its height under the reign of King Louis XIV. Known as the Sun King, Louis symbolized the brilliance of France, in 1661 Louis founded the Académie Royale de Danse to establish standards and certify dance instructors. In 1672, Louis XIV made Jean-Baptiste Lully the director of the Académie Royale de Musique from which the first professional ballet company, Lully is considered the most important composer of music for ballets de cour and instrumental to the development of the form. Ballet went into decline in France after 1830, though it continued to develop in Denmark, Italy, the arrival in Europe on the eve of First World War of the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, revived interest in the ballet and started the modern era. The Russian choreographer Michel Fokine challenged tradition and called for reforms that reinvigorated ballet as an art form, in the 20th century, ballet had a wide influence on other dance genres, and subgenres of ballet have also evolved. In the United States, choreographer George Balanchine developed what is now known as neoclassical ballet, other developments include contemporary ballet and post-structural ballet. Also in the century, ballet took a turn dividing it from classical ballet to the introduction of modern dance. Stylistic variations have emerged and evolved since the Italian Renaissance, early, classical variations are primarily associated with geographic origin
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Diving
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Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics. Diving is a recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime, Diving is one of the most popular Olympic sports with spectators. Competitors possess many of the characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment. Some professional divers were originally gymnasts or dancers as both the sports have similar characteristics to diving, dmitri Sautin holds the record for most Olympic diving medals won, by winning eight medals in total between 1992 and 2008. Although diving has been a popular pastime across the world since ancient times, the exact origins of the sport are unclear, though it likely derives from the act of diving at the start of swimming races. The 1904 book Swimming by Ralph Thomas notes English reports of plunging records dating back to at least 1865. The 1877 edition to British Rural Sports by John Henry Walsh makes note of a Mr. Young plunging 56 feet in 1870, and also states that 25 years prior, the English Amateur Swimming Association first started a plunging championship in 1883. The Plunging Championship was discontinued in 1937, Diving into a body of water had also been a method used by gymnasts in Germany and Sweden since the early 19th century. The soft landing allowed for more elaborate gymnastic feats in midair as the jump could be made at a greater distance and this tradition evolved into fancy diving, while diving as a preliminary to swimming became known as Plain diving. The event consisted of standing and running dives from either 15 or 30 feet and it was at this event that the Swedish tradition of fancy diving was introduced to the sport by the athletes Otto Hagborg and C F Mauritzi. Fancy diving was introduced into the championship in 1903. Plain diving was first introduced into the Olympics at the 1904 event, the 1908 Olympics in London added fancy diving and introduced elastic boards rather than fixed platforms. Women were first allowed to participate in the events for the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. In the 1928 Olympics, plain and fancy diving was amalgamated into one event – Highboard Diving, the diving event was first held indoors in the Empire Pool for the 1934 British Empire Games and 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Most diving competitions consist of three disciplines,1 m and 3 m springboards, and the platform, competitive athletes are divided by gender, and often by age group. In platform events, competitors are allowed to perform their dives on either the five, seven, in major diving meets, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships, platform diving is from the 10 meter height. Divers have to perform a set number of dives according to established requirements, a possible score out of ten is broken down into three points for the takeoff, three for the flight, and three for the entry, with one more available to give the judges flexibility
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Aerobatics
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Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft altitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, additionally, some helicopters, such as the MBB Bo 105, are capable of limited aerobatic maneuvers. An example of a fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops, the term is sometimes referred to as acrobatics, especially when translated. Most aerobatic maneuvers involve rotation of the aircraft about its longitudinal axis or lateral axis, other maneuvers, such as a spin, displace the aircraft about its vertical axis. Maneuvers are often combined to form a complete sequence for entertainment or competition. Aerobatic flying requires a set of piloting skills and exposes the aircraft to greater structural stress than for normal flight. In some countries, the pilot must wear a parachute when performing aerobatics, aerobatic training enhances a pilots ability to recover from unusual flight conditions, and thus is an element of many flight safety training programs for pilots. While many pilots fly aerobatics for recreation, some choose to fly in aerobatic competitions, in the early days of flying, some pilots used their aircraft as part of a flying circus to entertain. Among the earliest innovators in aerobatics the Frenchman Euclids name is foremost, maneuvers were flown for artistic reasons or to draw gasps from onlookers. In due course some of these maneuvers were found to allow aircraft to gain tactical advantage during combat or dogfights between fighter aircraft. Aerobatic aircraft fall into two categories—specialist aerobatic, and aerobatic capable, specialist designs such as the Pitts Special, the Extra 200 and 300, and the Sukhoi Su-26M and Sukhoi Su-29 aim for ultimate aerobatic performance. This comes at the expense of general use such as touring. Flight formation aerobatics are flown by teams of up to sixteen aircraft, some are state funded to reflect pride in the armed forces while others are commercially sponsored. Coloured smoke trails may be emitted to emphasise the patterns flown and/or the colours of a national flag, usually each team will use aircraft similar to one another finished in a special and dramatic colour scheme, thus emphasising their entertainment function. Teams often fly V-formations — they will not fly directly behind another aircraft because of danger from wake vortices or engine exhaust, aircraft will always fly slightly below the aircraft in front, if they have to follow in line. Aerobatic maneuvers flown in an aircraft are limited in scope as they cannot take advantage of the gyroscopic forces that a propeller driven aircraft can exploit. Jet-powered aircraft also tend to fly faster, which increases the size of the figures. Jet aerobatic teams often fly in formations, which restricts the maneuvers that can be safely flown
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
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Hydria
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A hydria is a type of water-carrying vessel in the and metalwork and pottery of Ancient Greece. Two horizontal handles on either side of the body of the pot were used for lifting and carrying the pot, the third handle, a vertical one, located in the center of the other two handles, was used when pouring water. If the third handle is missing, the type is called a kalpis and this water vessel can be found in both red- and black-figure technique. They often depicted scenes of Greek mythology that reflected moral and social obligations, as well as holding water hydriai could be used for holding ashes in burials and collecting ballots in elections. By the mid-5th century BC, Greek artisans were also creating hydria from bronze, a 6th-century example is in the Historisches Museum, Berne. Such vessels were known from Minoan pottery. Regina Vasorum is a famous late hydria in the Hermitage Museum, aquamanile Hydriske Galleries of Greek hydriai
15.
Bow and arrow
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The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures. Archery is the art, practice, or skill of applying it, a bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles called arrows. A string joins the two ends of the bow and when the string is drawn back, the ends of the bow are flexed, when the string is released, the potential energy of the flexed stick is transformed into the kinetic energy of the arrow. Archery is the art or sport of shooting arrows from bows, today, bows and arrows are used primarily for hunting and for the sport of archery. Someone who makes bows is known as a bowyer, and one who makes arrows is a fletcher —or in the case of the manufacture of arrow heads. The bow and arrow appears around the transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, at the site of Nataruk in Turkana County, Kenya, obsidian bladelets found embedded in a skull and within the thoracic cavity of another skeleton, suggest the use of stone-tipped arrows as weapons. After the end of the last glacial period, use of the bow seems to have spread to every inhabited continent, including the New World, the oldest extant bows in one piece are the elm Holmegaard bows from Denmark which were dated to 9,000 BCE. High-performance wooden bows are made following the Holmegaard design. Microliths discovered on the south coast of Africa suggest that arrows may be at least 71,000 years old, the bow was an important weapon for both hunting and warfare from prehistoric times until the widespread use of gunpowder in the 16th century. Organised warfare with bows ended in the mid 17th century in Europe, the British upper class led a revival of archery from the late 18th century. Sir Ashton Lever, an antiquarian and collector, formed the Toxophilite Society in London in 1781, under the patronage of George, the basic elements of a bow are a pair of curved elastic limbs, traditionally made from wood, joined by a riser. Both ends of the limbs are connected by a known as the bow string. By pulling the string backwards the archer exerts compressive force on the section, or belly, of the limbs as well as placing the outer section, or back. While the string is held, this stores the energy released in putting the arrow to flight. The force required to hold the string stationary at full draw is used to express the power of a bow. Other things being equal, a draw weight means a more powerful bow. The various parts of the bow can be subdivided into further sections, the topmost limb is known as the upper limb, while the bottom limb is the lower limb. At the tip of each limb is a nock, which is used to attach the bowstring to the limbs, the riser is usually divided into the grip, which is held by the archer, as well as the arrow rest and the bow window
16.
Red-figure pottery
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Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BC and remained in use until the late 3rd century BC and it replaced the previously dominant style of black-figure vase painting within a few decades. Its modern name is based on the depictions in red colour on a black background. The most important areas of production, apart from Attica, were in Southern Italy, the style was also adopted in other parts of Greece. Etruria became an important centre of production outside the Greek World, Attic red-figure vases were exported throughout Greece and beyond. For a long time, they dominated the market for fine ceramics, only few centres of pottery production could compete with Athens in terms of innovation, quality and production capacity. Of the red figure vases produced in Athens alone, more than 40,000 specimens, from the second most important production centre, Southern Italy, more than 20,000 vases and fragments are preserved. Starting with the studies by John D. Beazley and Arthur Dale Trendall, some vases can be ascribed to individual artists or schools. The images provide evidence for the exploration of Greek cultural history, everyday life, iconography, red figure is, put simply, the reverse of the black figure technique. Both were achieved by using the three-phase firing technique, the paintings were applied to the shaped but unfired vessels after they had dried to a leathery, near-brittle texture. In Attica, the normal unburnt clay was of orange colour at this stage, the outlines of the intended figures were drawn either with a blunt scraper, leaving a slight groove, or with charcoal, which would disappear entirely during firing. Then the contours were redrawn with a brush, using a clay slip. Occasionally, the decided to somewhat change the figural scene. In such cases the grooves from the original sketch sometimes remain visible, important contours were often drawn with a thicker slip, leading to a slightly protruding outline, less important lines and internal details were drawn with diluted glossy clay. Detail in other colours, like white or red, were applied at this point, the relief line was probably drawn with a bristle brush or a hair, dipped in thick paint. The suggestion of a hollow needle seems somewhat unlikely, the application of relief outlines was necessary, as the rather liquid glossy clay would otherwise have turned out too dull. After the techniques initial phase of development, both alternatives were used, so as to differentiate gradations and details more clearly, the space between figures was filled with a glossy grey clay slip. Then, the vases underwent triple-phase firing, during which the glossy clay reached its characteristic black or black-brown colour through reduction, the new technique had the primary advantage of permitting a far better execution of internal detail
17.
Pottery of ancient Greece
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The shards of pots discarded or buried in the 1st millennium BC are still the best guide available to understand the customary life and mind of the ancient Greeks. There were various specific regional varieties, such as the South Italian ancient Greek pottery, throughout these places, various types and shapes of vases were used. Some were highly decorative and meant for consumption and domestic beautification as much as serving a storage or other function. As the culture recovered Sub-Mycenaean pottery finally blended into the Protogeometric style, the rise of vase painting saw increasing decoration. Geometric art in Greek pottery was contiguous with the late Dark Age and early Archaic Greece, the pottery produced in Archaic and Classical Greece included at first black-figure pottery, yet other styles emerged such as red-figure pottery and the white ground technique. Styles such as West Slope Ware were characteristic of the subsequent Hellenistic period, interest in Greek art lagged behind the revival of classical scholarship during the Renaissance and revived in the academic circle round Nicholas Poussin in Rome in the 1630s. Though modest collections of vases recovered from ancient tombs in Italy were made in the 15th and 16th centuries these were regarded as Etruscan. It is possible that Lorenzo de Medici bought several Attic vases directly from Greece and it was Gerhard who first outlined the chronology we now use, namely, Orientalizing, Black Figure, Red Figure, Polychromatic. Where the 19th century was a period of discovery and the out of first principles the 20th century has been one of consolidation. Efforts to record and publish the totality of public collections of vases began with the creation of the Corpus vasorum antiquorum under Edmond Pottier, Beazley and others following him have also studied fragments of Greek pottery in institutional collections, and have attributed many painted pieces to individual artists. Scholars have called these fragments disjecta membra and in a number of instances have been able to identify fragments now in different collections that belong to the same vase, some vase shapes were especially associated with rituals, others with athletics and the gymnasium. Within each category the forms are roughly the same in scale and whether open or closed, some have a purely ritual function, for example white ground lekythoi contained the oil used as funerary offerings and appear to have been made solely with that object in mind. Many examples have a second cup inside them to give the impression of being full of oil. There was a market for Greek pottery since the 8th century BC. An idea of the extent of trade can be gleaned from plotting the find maps of these vases outside of Greece. Only the existence of a second hand market could account for the number of found in Etruscan tombs. South Italian wares came to dominate the trade in the Western Mediterranean as Athens declined in political importance during the Hellenistic period. The process of making a pot and firing it is fairly simple, the first thing a potter needs is clay
18.
Minoan civilization
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The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean islands which flourished from about 2600 to 1100 BC. It preceded the Mycenaean civilization of Ancient Greece, the civilization was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Arthur Evans. It has been described as the earliest of its kind in Europe, the term Minoan, which refers to the mythical King Minos, originally described the pottery of the period. Minos was associated in Greek mythology with the labyrinth and the Minotaur, according to Homer, Crete once had 90 cities. The Minoan period saw trade between Crete and Aegean and Mediterranean settlements, particularly the Near East, traders and artists, the Minoan cultural influence reached beyond Crete to the Cyclades, Egypts Old Kingdom, copper-bearing Cyprus, Canaan and the Levantine coast, and Anatolia. Some of its best art is preserved in the city of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, although the Minoan language and writing systems remain undecipherable and are subjects of academic dispute, they apparently conveyed a language entirely different from the later Greek. The reason for the end of the Minoan period is unclear, theories include Mycenaean invasions from mainland Greece, the term Minoan refers to the mythical King Minos of Knossos. Its origin is debated, but it is attributed to archeologist Arthur Evans. Minos was associated in Greek mythology with the labyrinth, which Evans identified with the site at Knossos. However, Karl Hoeck had already used the title Das Minoische Kreta in 1825 for volume two of his Kreta, this appears to be the first known use of the word Minoan to mean ancient Cretan, Evans said that applied it, not invented it. Hoeck, with no idea that the archaeological Crete had existed, had in mind the Crete of mythology, although Evans 1931 claim that the term was unminted before he used it was called a brazen suggestion by Karadimas and Momigliano, he coined its archaeological meaning. Instead of dating the Minoan period, archaeologists use two systems of relative chronology, the first, created by Evans and modified by later archaeologists, is based on pottery styles and imported Egyptian artifacts. Evans system divides the Minoan period into three eras, early, middle and late. These eras are subdivided—for example, Early Minoan I, II and III, another dating system, proposed by Greek archaeologist Nicolas Platon, is based on the development of architectural complexes known as palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, Malia and Kato Zakros. Platon divides the Minoan period into pre-, proto-, neo-, the relationship between the systems in the table includes approximate calendar dates from Warren and Hankey. The Thera eruption occurred during a phase of the LM IA period. Efforts to establish the volcanic eruptions date have been controversial, the eruption is identified as a natural event catastrophic for the culture, leading to its rapid collapse. Although stone-tool evidence exists that hominins may have reached Crete as early as 130,000 years ago, evidence for the first anatomically-modern human presence dates to 10, the oldest evidence of modern human habitation on Crete are pre-ceramic Neolithic farming-community remains which date to about 7000 BC
19.
Bull-leaping
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Bull-leaping is a motif of Middle Bronze Age figurative art, notably of Minoan Crete, but also found in Hittite Anatolia, the Levant, Bactria and the Indus Valley. It is often interpreted as a depiction of a performed in connection with bull worship. Frescoes in Tell el-Daba dating to the 18th dynasty show similar designs besides genuinely Egyptian motifs and they could also have been included as palace decorations because the palace was built for an Aegean princess diplomatically married to a Hyksos pharaoh. Furthermore, a vase was discovered in Hüseyindede in 1997. Bull-leaping is thought to have been a key ritual in the religion of the Minoan civilization in Bronze Age Crete, as in the case of other Mediterranean civilizations, the bull was the subject of veneration and worship. Representation of the Bull at the palace of Knossos is a symbol in the art. The assumption, widely debated by scholars, is that the iconography represents a ritual sport and/or performance in human athletes literally vaulted over bulls as part of a ceremonial rite. Bull-leaping is still practiced in the south west of France, where it is known as the course landaise. The town of Mont-de-Marsan in Gascony is renowned for its fine sauteurs or leapers and écarteurs dressed in brocaded waistcoats and they compete in teams, attempting to use their wide repertoire of skillful evasions and acrobatic leaps to avoid the cows charges. The cow is typically guided by the use of a rope attached to its horns. In France the courses landaises are held from March to October on the occasion of festivals in cities and villages, including Nogaro, Mont-de-Marsan, Dax, Castelnau-dAuzan. A similar but even more dangerous tradition of non-violent bull-leaping, recortes, is practiced in parts of Spain. Athletes, known as recortadores, compete at dodging and leaping over bulls without the use of the cape or sword, another example of related sport is Jallikattu, a Pongal celebration related sporting event in Tamil Nadu, India. In this sport, the participants are trying to leap onto a bull and this ancient event has been depicted in rock art dated at least to the 3rd century BC. Torero Bullfighting Collon, D. Bull-Leaping in Syria, Egypt, mcInerney, J. Bulls and Bull-leaping in the Minoan World, Expedition Magazine 53.3, n. pag. Marinatos, Nannó, The Export Significance of Minoan Bull-Leaping Scenes, Egypt, marinatos, Nannó, Minoan Religion, Ritual, Image, and Symbol, Studies in Comparative Religion. Columbia, South Carolina, University of South Carolina Press,1993, the bull-leaping fresco from below the Ramp House at Mycenae, a study in iconography and artistic transmission, ABSA91. Sipahi, Tunç, New Evidence From Anatolia Regarding Bull Leaping Scenes in the Art of the Aegean, younger, J. Bronze Age Representations of Aegean Bull-Games, III, Aegaeum 12, 507–46
20.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
21.
Court (royal)
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The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure. It can also refer to the residence of the monarch where the court resides or a series of complexes. In the largest courts, the households, many thousands of individuals comprised the court. Foreign princes and foreign nobility in exile may also seek refuge at a court and this is shown above Near Eastern and Eastern courts often included the harem and concubines as well as eunuchs who fulfilled a variety of functions. At times the harem was walled off and separate from the rest of the residence of the monarch, in Asia concubines were often a more visible part of the court. Lower ranking servants and bodyguards were not properly called courtiers though may be included as part of the court or royal household in the broadest definition, entertainers and others may have been counted as part of the court. A royal household is the highest ranking example of this, a group of individuals dependent on the patronage of a great man, classically in ancient Rome, forms part of the system of clientage that is discussed under vassal. Individual rulers differed greatly in tastes and interests, as well as in political skills, accordingly, some founded elaborate courts based on new palaces, only to have their successors retreat to remote castles or to practical administrative centers. Personal retreats might arise far away from official court centres, etiquette and hierarchy flourish in highly structured court settings, and may leave conservative traces over generations. Most courts featured a strict order of precedence often involving royal and noble ranks, orders of chivalry, some courts even featured court uniforms. One of the markers of a court is ceremony. Most monarchal courts included ceremonies concerning the investiture or coronation of the monarch, some courts had ceremonies around the waking and the sleeping of the monarch called a levée. Orders of chivalry as honorific orders became an important part of court culture starting in the 15th century and they were the right of the monarch to create and grant as the fount of honour. Two of the earliest titles referring to the concept of a courtier were likely the ša rēsi, the imperial court of the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople would eventually contain at least a thousand courtiers. The courts systems became prevalent in other such as those in the Balkan states, the Ottoman Empire. Byzantinism is a term that was coined for this spread of the Byzantine system in the 19th century, however, by the Sui Dynasty the functions of the royal household and the imperial government were clearly divided. During the Heian period, Japanese Emperors and their families developed an exquisitely refined court that played an important role in their culture. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, a court culture can be recognized in the entourage of the Ostrogoth Theodoric the Great
22.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
23.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
24.
Juggling
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Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, Juggling can be the manipulation of one object or many objects at the same time, using one or many hands. Jugglers often refer to the objects they juggle as props, the most common props are balls, clubs, or rings. Some jugglers use more dramatic objects such as knives, fire torches or chainsaws, the term juggling can also commonly refer to other prop-based manipulation skills, such as diabolo, devil sticks, poi, cigar boxes, contact juggling, hooping, yo-yo, and hat manipulation. The words juggling and juggler derive from the Middle English jogelen, there is also the Late Latin form joculare of Latin joculari, meaning to jest. In the 21st century, the term juggling usually refers to toss juggling, david Levinson and Karen Christensen describe juggling as the sport of tossing and catching or manipulating objects keeping them in constant motion. Juggling, like music, combines abstract patterns and mind-body coordination in a pleasing way, the earliest record of juggling is suggested in a panel from the 15th Beni Hasan tomb of an unknown Egyptian prince, showing female dancers and acrobats throwing balls. Juggling has been recorded in early cultures including Egyptian, Nabataean, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Roman, Norse, Aztec. Juggling in ancient China was an art performed by some warriors, one such warrior was Xiong Yiliao, whose juggling of nine balls in front of troops on a battlefield reportedly caused the opposing troops to flee without fighting, resulting in a complete victory. In Europe, juggling was an acceptable diversion until the decline of the Roman Empire, Jugglers in this era would only perform in marketplaces, streets, fairs, or drinking houses. They would perform short, humorous and bawdy acts and pass a hat or bag among the audience for tips, some kings and noblemen’s bards, fools, or jesters would have been able to juggle or perform acrobatics, though their main skills would have been oral. In 1768, Philip Astley opened the first modern circus, a few years later, he employed jugglers to perform acts along with the horse and clown acts. Since then, jugglers have been associated with circuses, in the early 19th century, troupes from Asia, such as the famous Indian Jugglers referred to by William Hazlitt, arrived to tour Britain, Europe and parts of America. In the 19th century, variety and music hall theatres became more popular, performers started specializing in juggling, separating it from other kinds of performance such as sword swallowing and magic. The Gentleman Juggler style was established by German jugglers such as Salerno, rubber processing developed, and jugglers started using rubber balls. Previously, juggling balls were made from balls of twine, stuffed leather bags, wooden spheres, solid or inflatable rubber balls meant that bounce juggling was possible. Inflated rubber balls made ball spinning easier and more readily accessible, soon in North America, vaudeville theatres employed jugglers, often hiring European performers. In the early to mid-20th century, variety and vaudeville shows decreased in popularity due to competition from motion picture theatres, radio and television, Music and comedy transferred very easily to radio, but juggling could not
25.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
26.
Han dynasty
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The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered an age in Chinese history. To this day, Chinas majority ethnic group refers to itself as the Han people and it was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods, the Western Han or Former Han and the Eastern Han or Later Han, the emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas controlled by the central government using an innovation inherited from the Qin known as commanderies. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States, from the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 AD, the Han dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty. The coinage issued by the government mint in 119 BC remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang dynasty. The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations, the Xiongnu, a nomadic steppe confederation, defeated the Han in 200 BC and forced the Han to submit as a de facto inferior partner, but continued their raids on the Han borders. Emperor Wu of Han launched several campaigns against them. The ultimate Han victory in these wars eventually forced the Xiongnu to accept vassal status as Han tributaries, the territories north of Hans borders were quickly overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Imperial authority was seriously challenged by large Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, following Liu Bangs victory in the Chu–Han Contention, the resulting Han dynasty was named after the Hanzhong fief. Chinas first imperial dynasty was the Qin dynasty, the Qin unified the Chinese Warring States by conquest, but their empire became unstable after the death of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Within four years, the authority had collapsed in the face of rebellion. Although Xiang Yu proved to be a commander, Liu Bang defeated him at Battle of Gaixia. Liu Bang assumed the title emperor at the urging of his followers and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu, Changan was chosen as the new capital of the reunified empire under Han
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Festival
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A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect of that community and its religion or traditions. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, next to religion and folklore, a significant origin is agricultural. Food is such a resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn, such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere, Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanksgiving. The celebrations offer a sense of belonging for religious, social, or geographical groups and they may also provide entertainment, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. In Ancient Greece and Rome, festivals such as the Saturnalia were closely associated with social organisation, in modern times, festivals may be attended by strangers such as tourists, who are attracted to some of the more eccentric or historical ones. The word festival was used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century. In Middle English, a festival dai was a religious holiday and its first recorded used as a noun was in 1589. Feast first came into usage as a noun circa 1200, the term feast is also used in common secular parlance as a synonym for any large or elaborate meal. When used as in the meaning of a festival, most often refers to a religious rather than a film or art festival. In the Philippines and many other former Spanish colonies, the Spanish word fiesta is used to denote a religious feast to honor a patron saint. Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities, the most important religious festivals such as Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, and Eid al-Adha serve to mark out the year. Others, such as harvest festivals, celebrate seasonal change, events of historical significance, such as important military victories or other nation-building events also provide the impetus for a festival. An early example is the established by Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses III celebrating his victory over the Libyans. In many countries, royal holidays commemorate dynastic events just as agricultural holidays are about harvests, there are numerous types of festivals in the world and most countries celebrate important events or traditions with traditional cultural events and activities. Most culminate in the consumption of specially prepared food and they bring people together, Festivals are also strongly associated with national holidays. Lists of national festivals are published to make participation easier, among many religions, a feast is a set of celebrations in honour of Gods or God. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable, the Sed festival, for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptian pharaohs rule and then every three years after that
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Tang dynasty
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The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a point in Chinese civilization. Its territory, acquired through the campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Lǐ family, who seized power during the decline, the dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era, it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of Chinas most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, there was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asias first simultaneous kingship, there were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became an influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence, although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which includes the Tang poet Li Bai, the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tangs Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Changan, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui. On the news of Emperor Yangs murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18,618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang
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Chinese variety art
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Chinese variety art refers to a wide range of acrobatic acts, balancing acts and other demonstrations of physical skill traditionally performed by a troupe in China. Many of these acts have a history in China and are still performed today. Elements such as clowns and large animals belong exclusively to the Western circus, Eastern elements include Shaolin monks, Peking opera characters and the Monkey King, for example. Chinese performing arts have a long history, variety show is known to existed as early as the Qin dynasty or possibly earlier. During the Qin and Han periods, Jiaodi or Baixi variety show was popular with the common people and it consisted of a variety of acts such as conjuring, acrobatics, wrestling, musical performances, dance, martial arts, horsemanship, and juggling. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the scholar Zhang Heng was one of the first to describe the theme shows in the royal palaces in his Ode to the Western Capital. A grand acrobatic show was held by Emperor Wu of Han in 108 BC for foreign guests, the performances became more elaborate and during the Tang Dynasty, the performing arts became popular in the Emperor’s court, and the acts became more refined. Eventually, the performing arts lost favor in the Imperial Court, they moved back to the common people, during the Song Dynasty the variety shows may be performed in the entertainment centres called the wazi. Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, the performers came off the street, during the end of the Qing Dynasty, it regained popularity with the Imperial Court and has remained a popular art form to this day. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949, troupes have been established in the provinces, autonomous regions, and special municipals with theaters specifically dedicated to the variety arts. Some troupes have become famous, playing to packed houses at home. It wasnt until the 1990s, however, that the art form was packaged as a theme show. The 1994 show Golden Wind of the Southwest led the way in successfully re-promoting the art as a whole, below is a list of performances available in the variety art. Some are more standard, while others are more regional, there is always new innovation taking place
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Impressionism
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Impressionism originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s. The Impressionists faced harsh opposition from the art community in France. The development of Impressionism in the arts was soon followed by analogous styles in other media that became known as impressionist music. Radicals in their time, early Impressionists violated the rules of academic painting and they constructed their pictures from freely brushed colours that took precedence over lines and contours, following the example of painters such as Eugène Delacroix and J. M. W. Turner. They also painted scenes of modern life, and often painted outdoors. Previously, still lifes and portraits as well as landscapes were painted in a studio. The Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air, the Impressionists, however, developed new techniques specific to the style. The public, at first hostile, gradually came to believe that the Impressionists had captured a fresh and original vision, even if the art critics and art establishment disapproved of the new style. In the middle of the 19th century—a time of change, as Emperor Napoleon III rebuilt Paris, the Académie was the preserver of traditional French painting standards of content and style. Historical subjects, religious themes, and portraits were valued, landscape, the Académie preferred carefully finished images that looked realistic when examined closely. Paintings in this style were made up of brush strokes carefully blended to hide the artists hand in the work. Colour was restrained and often toned down further by the application of a golden varnish, the Académie had an annual, juried art show, the Salon de Paris, and artists whose work was displayed in the show won prizes, garnered commissions, and enhanced their prestige. The standards of the juries represented the values of the Académie, represented by the works of artists as Jean-Léon Gérôme. In the early 1860s, four young painters—Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley and they discovered that they shared an interest in painting landscape and contemporary life rather than historical or mythological scenes. A favourite meeting place for the artists was the Café Guerbois on Avenue de Clichy in Paris, where the discussions were led by Édouard Manet. They were soon joined by Camille Pissarro, Paul Cézanne, during the 1860s, the Salon jury routinely rejected about half of the works submitted by Monet and his friends in favour of works by artists faithful to the approved style. In 1863, the Salon jury rejected Manets The Luncheon on the Grass primarily because it depicted a woman with two clothed men at a picnic. While the Salon jury routinely accepted nudes in historical and allegorical paintings, the jurys severely worded rejection of Manets painting appalled his admirers, and the unusually large number of rejected works that year perturbed many French artists
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir, commonly known as Auguste Renoir, was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has said that Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau. He was the father of actor Pierre Renoir, filmmaker Jean Renoir and he was the grandfather of the filmmaker Claude Renoir, son of Pierre. Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in 1841 and his father, Léonard Renoir, was a tailor of modest means, so in 1844, Renoirs family moved to Paris in search of more favorable prospects. The location of their home, in rue d’Argenteuil in central Paris, although the young Renoir had a natural proclivity for drawing, he exhibited a greater talent for singing. His talent was encouraged by his teacher, Charles Gounod, who was the choir-master at the Church of St Roch at the time. However, due to the financial circumstances, Renoir had to discontinue his music lessons. Although Renoir displayed a talent for his work, he tired of the subject matter. The owner of the factory recognized his apprentice’s talent and communicated this to Renoir’s family, following this, Renoir started taking lessons to prepare for entry into Ecole des Beaux Arts. When the porcelain factory adopted mechanical reproduction processes in 1858, Renoir was forced to other means to support his learning. Before he enrolled in art school, he also painted hangings for overseas missionaries, in 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris. There he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet, at times, during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paint. Renoir had his first success at the Salon of 1868 with his painting Lise with a Parasol, although Renoir first started exhibiting paintings at the Paris Salon in 1864, recognition was slow in coming, partly as a result of the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War. This loss of a favorite painting location resulted in a change of subjects. Renoir was inspired by the style and subject matter of modern painters Camille Pissarro. Although the critical response to the exhibition was largely unfavorable, Renoirs work was well received. That same year, two of his works were shown with Durand-Ruel in London, hoping to secure a livelihood by attracting portrait commissions, Renoir displayed mostly portraits at the second Impressionist exhibition in 1876. He contributed a diverse range of paintings the next year when the group presented its third exhibition, they included Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette
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Viktor Vasnetsov
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Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, Viktor Vasnetsov was born in the remote village of Lopyal in Vyatka Governorate in 1848, the second of the six children. His father Mikhail Vasilievich Vasnetsov, known to be inclined, was a member of priesthood. His grandfather was an icon painter, two of Mikhail Vasnetsovs three sons, Viktor and Apollinary, became remarkable painters, the third one becoming a schoolteacher. It was in Lopyal that Viktor started to paint, mostly landscapes and scenes of village life, recalling his childhood in a letter to Vladimir Stasov, Vasnetsov remarked that he had lived with peasant children and liked them not as a narodnik but as a friend. From the age of ten, Viktor studied in a seminary in Vyatka, during his seminary years, he worked for a local icon shopkeeper. He also helped an exiled Polish artist, Michał Elwiro Andriolli, having graduated from the seminary, Viktor decided to move to Saint Petersburg to study art. He auctioned his paintings of Woman Harvester and Milk-maid in order to raise money required for the trip to the Russian capital, in August 1867 Viktor entered the Imperial Academy of Arts. Three years later, the Peredvizhniki movement of realist painters rebelled against the Academism, Vasnetsov befriended their leader Ivan Kramskoi, referring to him as his teacher. He also became close to his fellow student Ilya Yefimovich Repin. It is ironic, but Viktor, whose name is associated with historical and mythological paintings, for his graphic composition of Christ and Pontius Pilate Before the People, the Academy awarded a small silver medal to him. In the early 1870s he executed a lot of engravings depicting contemporary life, two of them won him a bronze medal at the World Fair in London. At that period he started producing genre paintings in oil. Such pieces as Peasant Singers and Moving House were warmly welcomed by democratic circles of Russian society, in 1876 Repin invited Vasnetsov to join the Peredvizhniki colony in Paris. While living in France, Viktor studied classical and contemporary paintings, at that period, he painted Acrobats, produced prints, and exhibited some of his works at the Salon. It was in Paris that he became fascinated with fairy-tale subjects, starting to work on Ivan Tsarevich Riding a Grey Wolf, Vasnetsov was a model for Sadko in Repins celebrated painting Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom. In 1877 he returned to Moscow and these works were not appreciated at the time they appeared. Many radical critics dismissed them as undermining the realist principles of the Peredvizhniki, even such prominent connoisseurs as Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov refused to buy them
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Trapeze
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A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances, trapeze acts may be static, spinning, swinging or flying, and may be performed solo, double, triple or as a group act. It is officially the last performance of the circus, the art of trapeze performance was developed by Jules Léotard, a young French acrobat and aerialist, in Toulouse in the mid-1800s. He invented the flying trapeze, practising over his fathers swimming pool, the difficulty on a static trapeze is making every move look effortless. Swinging trapeze refers to an act performed on a trapeze swinging in a forward - backward motion, the performer builds up swing from a still position, and uses the momentum of the swing to execute the tricks. Usually tricks on a swinging trapeze are thrown on the peaks of the swing, most of the tricks begin with the performer sitting or standing on the bar and end with the performer catching the bar in his/her hands or in an ankle hang. This act requires a great deal of strength, grace, the trapeze bar is weighted and often has cable inside the supporting ropes for extra strength to withstand the dynamic forces of the swing. Flying trapeze refers to an act where a performer, or flyer, grabs the trapeze bar and jumps off a high platform, or pedestal board. People of any size are able to execute basic trapeze maneuvers, Flying trapeze is generally done over a net, or occasionally over water. The trapeze is supported by wire rather than ropes. Dance trapeze refers to a used by many modern dance companies in aerial dance. The ropes of the trapeze are often attached to a single swivel, allowing the trapeze to spin in either small or large circles. Double trapeze is a variation on the trapeze, and features two performers working together on the same trapeze to perform figures and bear each others weight. It can also be performed swinging, in case the act is called swinging double trapeze. Multiple trapeze refers to a number of different shapes and sizes of trapeze, including trapeze, triple trapeze. Shaped trapezes are apparatuses that can take any shape imaginable. Aerial Circus Training and Safety Manual, view at Google Books Elena Zanzu, M. A. Il Trapezio Oscillante, Storie di Circo nellAria. Aerial silk European Federation of Professional Circus Schools Desiree Belmarez, the physics of the flying trapeze Bloomington once capital of aerial kingdom - Pantagraph Fred and Harry Green- The Flying LaVans - McLean County Museum of History
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Cradle (circus act)
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The cradle is a type of aerial circus act in which a performer hangs by his or her knees from a large rectangular frame and swings, tosses, and catches another performer. The aerialist being swung is referred to as a flyer, while the one doing the tossing and catching is referred to as a catcher or caster, the flyer usually starts and ends standing on the frame above the catcher. The flyer swings holding on to the hands, performs releases at the top of the swing. The frame can be static or swinging, a variant called Korean Cradle has the catcher/caster standing, secured by a safety belt. This type of performance has been used in many circuses. Static trapeze Duo Vertigo - Aerial Cradle Performance Specialists Simply Circus Aerial Arts FAQ Simply Circus Aerial Cradle Resource Page ciae Irrationael - Aerial Cradle Performance Specialists
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Aerial silk
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Aerial silk is a type of performance in which one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a fabric. Performers climb the suspended fabric without the use of safety lines and they use the fabric to wrap, suspend, fall, swing, and spiral their bodies into and out of various positions. Aerial silks may be used to fly through the air, striking poses and figures while flying, some performers use dried or spray rosin on their hands and feet to increase the friction and grip on the fabric. The three main categories of tricks are climbs, wraps and drops, climbs employed by aerialists range from purely practical and efficient, such as the Russian climb, to athletic and elegant tricks of their own, such as the straddle climb. Wraps are static poses where aerialists wrap the silks around one or more parts of their body, in general, the more complicated the wrap, the stronger the force of friction and the less effort required to hold oneself up. Some wraps, such as the straddle-back-balance, actually allow performers to release their hands. Foot locks are a sub-category of wraps where the silks are wrapped around one or both feet, for instance an ankle hang, in a drop, performers wrap themselves up high on the silks before falling to a lower position. Drops can combine aspects of free fall, rolling or otherwise rotating oneself before landing in a new pose, preparation for a drop can make for a pretty wrap, but the ultimate goal is the fall rather than the pose. Of the three types, drops require the most strength, and are also the most potentially dangerous. Rosin is employed to help maintain their grip. Aerial silks are an art and require a high degree of strength, power, flexibility, courage, stamina. The fabrics used as silks are very strong with some give, the fabric is 2-way stretch polyester lycra or Tricot Nylon. The width varies depending on the routine and the acrobat, the fabric is usually quite long, as it is doubled for rigging, giving the acrobat two strips of fabric to work with as they perform. Low stretch fabrics are used by beginners who have not yet developed proper climbing technique. Medium stretch fabrics are the choice of professional aerialists and graduates of professional training programs. Fabric width is mostly a personal choice, the thickness of the fabric when gathered is also influenced by the denier, or technical thickness of the fabrics weave. 40 denier is a common choice, the following applies to 40 denier nylon fabric,60 - Narrow when open, thin when gathered. Fairly common simply because the fabric is widely available, 72-84” - Average for adult performers 96 - Wide when open, thick when gathered
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Aerial hoop
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The aerial hoop is a circular steel apparatus suspended from the ceiling, on which circus artists may perform aerial acrobatics. It can be used static, spinning, or swinging, tabs are the connection points where the aerial hoop attaches to the rigging. Most aerial hoops connect at one point or two points. The number of tabs an aerial hoop has will depend on how it will be used, the effect. - Double tab hoops hung from two points will swing like a trapeze and do not spin. - Double tab hoops connected to an aerial point, the hoop can spin. - Single tabs hung from a point can spin. Aerial hoops can be hollow or solid, lighter hoops will spin more easily, once a solid hoop gets momentum, it will stay spinning for much longer. Sometimes aerial hoops have crossbars or hand or foot loops to aid the performer, Circus By Us Different Lyra Types simplycircus. com Simply Circus, Lyra Resource Page Simply Circus, Aerial Arts FAQ Basic Circus Arts Instruction Manual, Chapter 8 - Manual for Safety and Rigging. European Federation of Professional Circus Schools,2008, FM 5-125, Rigging Techniques, Procedures, and Applications. Simply Circus, Rigging I. Sharon McCutcheon, Geoff Perrem, Aerial Circus Training and Safety Manual. View at Google Books Elena Zanzu, M. A. Il Trapezio Oscillante, the Aerial Hoop Manual Volume 1. AerialDancing. com Aerial Arts FAQ Lyra Tutorials Page Coggs Circus Q/A, Aerial Lyra Champion 2015 This article articulates how someone built an aerial hoop-- the key tool is a hydraulic pipe bender
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Cirque du Soleil
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Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company. It is the largest theatrical producer in the world, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix. Initially named Les Échassiers, they toured Quebec in 1980 as a performing troupe and their initial financial hardship was relieved in 1983 by a government grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartiers voyage to Canada. Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984 and its theatrical, character-driven approach and the absence of performing animals helped define Cirque du Soleil as the contemporary circus that it remains today. Each show is a synthesis of styles from around the world, with its own central theme. Shows employ continuous live music, with rather than stagehands changing the props. Cirque du Soleil expanded rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s, going from one show to 19 shows in over 271 cities on every continent except Antarctica, the shows employ approximately 4,000 people from over 40 countries and generate an estimated annual revenue exceeding US$810 million. The multiple permanent Las Vegas shows alone play to more than 9,000 people a night, 5% of the citys visitors, in 2000, Laliberté bought out Gauthier, and with 95% ownership, has continued to expand the brand. In 2008, Laliberté split 20% of his share equally between two investment groups Istithmar World and Nakheel of Dubai, in order to finance the companys goals. In partnership with two groups, Cirque du Soleil had planned to build a residency show in the United Arab Emirates in 2012 directed by Guy Caron. Several more shows are in development around the world, along with a deal, womens clothing line. Cirque du Soleil also produces a number of private and corporate events each year. In 2000, Cirque du Soleil was awarded the National Arts Centre Award, in 2002, Cirque du Soleil was inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame. In 2015, TPG Capital, Fosun Industrial Holdings and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec purchased 90% of Cirque du Soleil, the sale received regulatory approval from the Government of Canada on 30 June 2015. At age 18, interested in pursuing some kind of performing career, Guy Laliberté quit college and he toured Europe as a folk musician and busker. By the time he returned home to Canada in 1979, he had learned the art of fire breathing, although he became employed at a hydroelectric power plant in James Bay, his job ended after only three days due to a labour strike. He decided not to look for job, instead supporting himself on his unemployment insurance. He helped organize a fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of a pair of friends named Daniel Gauthier
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Tightrope walking
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Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope walking and slacklining, tightwire is the skill of maintaining balance while walking along a tensioned wire between two points. It can be done using a balancing tool or freehand. Typically, tightwire performances either include dance or object manipulation, object manipulation acts include a variety of props in their acts, such as clubs or rings, hats or canes. Tightwire performers have even used wheelbarrows with passengers, ladders, the technique to maintain balance is to keep the performers centre of mass above their support point - usually their feet. Highwire is a form of tight wire walking but performed at much greater height, although there is no official height when tight wire becomes high wire, generally a wire over 20 feet high will be regarded as a high wire act. Skywalk is a form of highwire which is performed at great heights, a skywalk is performed outdoors between tall building, gorges, across waterfalls or other natural and man-made structures. Slackwire or slackrope is a type of wire or rope walking where the support is flexible or slack, the tension on the wire or rope is mainly provided by the weight of the performer and their props. The difference in required to maintain balance on a slackwire is that the performer moves the wire under his centre of mass. The flexibility of the wire or rope allows the performer to achieve this, slacklining is a popular form of slackwire walking which utilizes nylon webbing stretched tight between two anchor points. Slacklining is distinct from tightrope walking in that the line is not held rigidly taut, it is dynamic, stretching and bouncing like a long. The tension of the slackline can be varied to allow for a variety of skills to be performed. The tighter a slackline the closer the technique and performance is to tightwire, the slack in the slackline. When they are on the ground with their side by side. In the case of highwire-walkers, their feet are parallel with each other, therefore, a tightwire walkers sway is side to side, their lateral support having been drastically reduced. In both cases, whether side by side or parallel, the ankle is the pivot point, a wire-walker may use a pole for balance or may stretch out his arms perpendicular to his trunk in the manner of a pole. It distributes mass away from the point, thereby increasing the moment of inertia
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Jultagi
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Jultagi or eoreum is traditional Korean performance of tightrope-walking. It is included into South Koreas Important Intangible Cultural Properties number 58, there is no evidence when this acrobatic performance originated. Some scholars presumed it appeared during Silla and Goryeo era and it became more famous in Joseon dynasty era and still exists to this day. It is different from the styles of other countries, because it is usually accompanied by music plays by telling a story to entertain viewers. Jultagi is held on Public holidays in South Korea like Daeboreum, Dano, the Korean folk village in Seoul also presents this play to entertain tourists. It was also performed in events held in the royal palace, the tightrope walking performance is composed of a rope player, a clown and musical instrument players. An example of these plays can be seen in the movie King, another elaborate tightrope walking trick is jumping up after kneeling on the tightrope with one knee and then landing on the rope in a cross-legged sitting position. Some expert tightrope walkers can jump forward while standing on the rope without falling, Korean dance Korean culture Pungmul Slacklining Tightrope walking 줄타기
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Acrobatic gymnastics
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Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive gymnastic discipline where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform figures consisting of acrobatic moves, dance and tumbling, set to music. The sport is governed by the International Federation of Gymnastics, at international level, there are four FIG categories of competition defined by age, 11-16, 12-18, 13-19, and 15+. Acrobatic gymnasts perform in pairs or groups and enter into and are judged at a level or age group category. In each partnership, the different sizes and abilities will be balanced to complement each other in order to carry out the complex moves. Some will mainly carry out supporting and pitching roles, and are known as bases and they are then balanced with smaller gymnasts who become the tops. The gymnasts carry out their moves and combine them with dance, all in time to. Partnerships are judged on artistry, difficulty of skill and the execution of skills, the rules for the sport, known as the Code of Points, are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. These rules are subject to every four years in line with the Olympic cycle. For example, the European Acrobatic Championships are being held in Lisbon, there are also numerous national, state, and regional competitions that are held in each country. Local and regional competitions often form the qualification stages required to compete at national championships, Acrobatic gymnastics events often attract sizeable audiences, because they are highly entertaining, exhilarating, and suspenseful due to what look to be risky or daring moves. At the London 2012 Olympics, acrobatic partnerships were seen performing before the Olympic gymnastic events and it has been said that its appearance, despite not being an Olympic discipline is testament to its ability to entertain. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded in the usual fashion, although in some competitions. Which routines are required at a competition depends on the level at which the gymnasts are competing, at the junior and senior levels, all three routines are required, whereas at lower age levels, a single simpler routine is required. Each of the routine types has a different emphasis, but all include tumbling, the different routine types are as follows, Balance - A balance routine requires that certain poses or balances and must be held static for a specific duration. These moves require strength, poise, elegance and flexibility, gymnasts will combine into towers, or pyramids with the tops holding a particular position balanced on their bases. Traditionally, balance routines were performed to slower music. Dynamic - These routines demonstrate power, strength and grace through the performance of acrobatic moves that involve the phases of spring, flight, rotation, and landing. This often involves the base, or bases in the partnership propelling the top through the air, the top is generally caught, or supported in the landing by their base
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Contortion
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Contortion is a performance art in which performers, contortionists, showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers, Contortion acts are typically performed in front of a live audience. An act will showcase one or more artists performing a set of moves or poses, often to music. The physical flexibility required to perform such acts greatly exceeds that of the general population and it is the dramatic feats of seemingly inhuman flexibility that captivate audiences. In some countries, such as Russia and Mongolia, contortion holds special cultural significance, many factors affect the flexibility of performers including age, genetics, stature, and adherence to rigorous physical training routines. Most contortionists are generally categorized as frontbenders or backbenders, depending on the direction in which their spine is most flexible, relatively few performers are equally adept at both. Backbending skills such as touching ones head to feet, or all the way to the buttocks. A Marinelli bend is a backbend while supported only by a grip at the top of a short post that is held in the mouth, splits and oversplits may be included in frontbending or backbending acts. An oversplit may be performed while the feet are supported by two chairs or by two assistants, enterology is the practice of squeezing ones body into a small, knee-high box or other contained space which initially appears to audiences as being too small to contain the performer. Dislocations of the shoulders or hip joints are sometimes performed as a novelty act by itself. One example is lifting the arm to the side until it passes behind the head, a medical publication from 2008 suggests that long-term damage to the spine is common in long-term practitioners. A study of five practitioners using Magnetic Resonance Imaging by Peoples et al documented limbus vertebrae, intervertebral disc bulges, three of the five practitioners also reported back pain. Contortion acts are highly variable with many incorporating elements of humor, drama, shock, Contortion is often incorporated into other performances such as dance and theater. The act often ends by stuffing the doll into a small box, Contortion positions can be performed on a Spanish web, an aerial act consisting of a rope with a hand/foot loop that is spun by someone underneath. Contortionists might manipulate props during their performance, for instance spinning hula hoops or juggling rings, balancing towers of wine glasses, a contortionist may perform alone, may have one or two assistants, or up to four contortionists may perform together as a group. The Ross Sisters were American contortionists most famous for their number in the 1940s movie Broadway Rhythm. Some loose-jointed people are able to pop a joint out of its socket without pain, however, as long as the joint socket is the right shape, most extreme bends can be achieved without dislocating the joint. Actual dislocations are rarely used during athletic contortion acts since they make the joint more unstable and prone to injury, box act - Circus act in which a contortionist squeezes his/her body into a small box or transparent container
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Balance board
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A balance board is a device used as a circus skill, for recreation, balance training, athletic training, brain development, therapy, musical training and other kinds of personal development. It is a similar to a see-saw that the user usually stands on, usually with the left. The users body must stay balanced enough to keep the boards edges from touching the ground, a different challenge is presented by each of the five basic types of balance boards and their subtypes. Some of them can be attempted successfully by three-year-olds and elderly people, Balance board is a better option for kids to improve stability and confidence with great combination of fun and fitness. Some people use a board for recreational purposes, enjoying the challenge that this equipment presents. The balance board is used as a skill for recreation. Many circus performers refer to the board as the rola bola. Skillful and dramatic balancing acts using the rola bola are performed by performers in traditional circus as well as by freelance circus skills artists. The performance can involve a single rola bola or a stack of multiple rola bolas on top of one another to increase the challenge, some circus performers also combine the use of the rola bola with other circus skills to present a different visual spectacle. The user stands on a board or other platform which is on top of an unstable ground-contacting member, the height of the fulcrum of most models is between 3 and 6 inches. Due to the instability, all of a users balance skills must be activated and coordinated in order to prevent the board from touching the ground. In rocker boards and wobble boards, the fulcrum is attached to the board, in rocker-roller boards and sphere-and-ring boards, the fulcrum is a separate piece. In sphere-and-ring boards, the fulcrum is constrained by a ring on the boards underside, positions other than standing are also used, in order to work on particular muscles and skills. See below, under the heading Fitness Exercises, for better foot traction, the stood-on surface of most models is manufactured with an unsmooth texture, for plastic models, in the molding, for wooden models, with grip tape or rubber. A smooth surface under the feet or shoes can cause a user to slip off a balance board, Wobble boards are the only type of balance board that is commonly made of plastic. Being no longer than their width, they dont need to be as strong, there are more than a hundred models of balance boards on the market in the United States. Each of them is a version of one of about fifteen types of balance board, more specifically, In other words, A rocker-roller board is a rocker board whose fulcrum is a separate piece. A sphere-and-ring board is a board whose fulcrum is a separate piece
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Rhythmic gymnastics
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Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or groups of five or more manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus, rope, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and freehand. Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport that combines elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance, the victor is the participant who earns the most points, determined by a panel of judges, for leaps, balances, pirouettes, apparatus handling, and execution. The choreography must cover the floor and contain a balance of jumps, leaps, pivots, balances. Each movement involves a degree of athletic skill. Physical abilities needed by a rhythmic gymnast include strength, power, flexibility, agility, dexterity, endurance, the sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, which designs the Code of Points and regulates all aspects of international elite competition. The largest events in the sport are the Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships, World Cup and this idea was extended by Catharine Beecher, who founded the Western Female Institute in Ohio, United States, in 1837. In Beechers gymnastics program, called grace without dancing, the young women exercised to music, during the 1880s, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze of Switzerland developed eurhythmics, a form of physical training for musicians and dancers. George Demeny of France created exercises to music that were designed to promote grace of movement, muscular flexibility, all of these styles were combined around 1900 into the Swedish school of rhythmic gymnastics, which would later add dance elements from Finland. Around this time, Ernst Idla of Estonia established a degree of difficulty for each movement, in 1929, Hinrich Medau founded The Medau School in Berlin to train gymnasts in modern gymnastics, and to develop the use of the apparatus. Competitive rhythmic gymnastics began in the 1940s in the Soviet Union, the FIG formally recognized this discipline in 1961, first as modern gymnastics, then as rhythmic sportive gymnastics, and finally as rhythmic gymnastics. The first World Championships for individual rhythmic gymnasts was held in 1963 in Budapest, groups were introduced at the same level in 1967 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rhythmic gymnastics was added to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, however, many federations from the Eastern European countries were forced to boycott by the Soviet Union. Canadian Lori Fung was the first rhythmic gymnast to earn an Olympic gold medal, the group competition was added to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The Spanish team won the first gold medal of the new competition with a team formed by Estela Giménez, Marta Baldó, Nuria Cabanillas, Lorena Guréndez, Estíbaliz Martínez, Olympic rhythmic gymnastics is for male and female participants. Gymnasts start at an age and become age-eligible to compete in the Olympic Games. The latter is still an active gymnast in the circuit of the sport with a career dating back to 2001. She and her fellow countrywoman Almudena Cid are among the oldest rhythmic gymnasts ever, Top rhythmic gymnasts must have many qualities, balance, flexibility, coordination, and strength are some of the most important. The FIG selects which apparatus will be used in competitions, only four out of the five possible apparatuses are sanctioned, up to 2010, the clubs were not used at the senior level
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