1.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
2.
Port Regis School
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Port Regis School is a co-educational preparatory school located in 140 acres of parkland on the Dorset Wiltshire border in southern England, situated between the towns of Shaftesbury and Gillingham. In 2014 the Independent Schools Inspectorate judged Port Regis to be excellent in all nine inspected categories, the original school was founded by Dr Alfred Praetorius in 1881 in Weymouth Street, London. This provided the name of the School, Port Regis, Gate of the King, in the 1930s, while at Broadstairs, the school was unusual in offering scholarships for the sons of physicians. In September 1943 Port Regis was evacuated to a wing of Bryanston School in Blandford, after a brief stay at the Earl of Verulams home at Gorhambury, the School moved in 1947 to Motcombe Park, one mile from Shaftesbury in Dorset, where it has been ever since. In 1972 the freehold of the property was acquired, more recent developments include the building of the Jowett sports hall, opened in 1980 by Anne, Princess Royal. The Centenary Hall was opened in 1984, the three most recently constructed school buildings are Cunningham Hall, Farrington Music School and the JM Upward Academic Centre. The Prep school and Pre-Prep together consist of around 360 pupils, with half of them boys. The abstract painter Roger Hilton taught art at the school from 1946 to 1947, lt. General Sir Hugh Cunningham was chairman of the schools governing body from 1982 to 1994
3.
Bryanston School
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Bryanston is a member of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference and the Eton Group. It has a reputation as a liberal and artistic school using some ideas of the Dalton Plan, the school opened on 24 January 1928 with 23 pupils and seven members of staff. In 2004, the school had around 650 pupils and 80 teachers, during the mid-1930s, Bryanston School was the location of Anglo-German youth camps where the Hitler Youth and Boy Scouts tried to develop links. In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the leading independent schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel. In 2014 the school opened a new building, the Tom Wheare Music School, designed by Hopkins Architects. The 300-seat concert hall was named after conductor Sir Mark Elder, the interior of the building won a 2015 Wood Award. G. Jeffreys Thorold Coade Robson Fisher Rev. David Jones Bob Allan Tom Wheare Sarah Thomas — first female head of Bryanston, alumni of the school are known as Old Bryanstonians, there is an alumni organisation called the Bryanston Society. The Society exists to further the cause of Bryanston in the broadest possible sense and it aims to bring together the whole Bryanston family through social and sporting events. The school estate has Europes tallest London Plane tree, each year, the JACT Ancient Greek Summer School is held at Bryanston, the school has played host to many of the United Kingdoms classicists, both as teachers and pupils. The school hosts the annual Dorset Opera Festival, which combines amateur, operas are staged at the conclusion of a two-week summer school. Bryanston Reflections, Et nova et vetera, Angela Holdsworth
4.
Parsons School of Design
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Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is one of the five colleges of The New School, Parsons was the first school in the United States to offer programs in fashion design, advertising, interior design, and graphic design. Parsons offers 13 undergraduate bachelors programs and 17 graduate masters programs and it is currently ranked as the #1 art and design school in the United States and #2 in the world, just behind the Royal College of Art in London. Parsons is a member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, First established as the Chase School, the institution was founded in 1896 by the American impressionist painter William Merritt Chase. Chase led a group of Progressives who seceded from the Art Students League of New York in search of a more free, more dramatic. The Chase School changed its name in 1898 to the New York School of Art, a few years later, he became president of the New York School of Art. Anticipating a new wave of the Industrial Revolution, Parsons predicted that art and his vision was borne out in a series of firsts for the School, establishing the first program in Fashion Design, Interior Design, Advertising, and Graphic Design in the United States. In 1909, the school was renamed the New York School of Fine, Parsons became sole director in 1911, a position which he maintained to his death in 1930. William M. Odom, who established the schools Paris Ateliers in 1921, as the modern curriculum developed, many successful designers remained closely tied to the School, and by the mid-1960s, Parsons had become the training ground for Seventh Avenue. In 1970, the School became a division of the New School for Social Research, the campus moved from Sutton Place to Greenwich Village in 1972. The merger with a vigorous, fully accredited university was a source of new funding and energy, in 2005, when the parent institution was renamed The New School, Parsons School of Design was renamed Parsons The New School for Design. As of 2015, the School has been renamed The New Schools Parsons School of Design, like most universities in New York City, Parsons campus is spread among scattered buildings, but the main building is located at 13th Street and 5th Avenue. Many other facilities are in buildings shared by other colleges in The New School, Parsons also has a campus abroad located in Paris’s First Arrondissement, known as Parsons Paris. 2 West 13th Street is most commonly known as the Sheila Johnson Design Center, the main Parsons campus is located at 2 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village in the borough of Manhattan. The renovation of the existing structures first and mezzanine levels was made possible in part by a $7 million gift from New School Trustee, the Urban Quad was designed by Lyn Rice Architects and encompasses a total area of 32,800 square feet. In addition to classrooms, the building includes the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery and Auditorium, the renovated ground floor also provides a new home for the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Archives, a collection of drawings, photographs, letters, and objects documenting 20th-century design. The building hosts the Adam and Sophie Gimbel Design Library, a resource collection supporting art, architecture, the collection consists of approximately 45,000 book volumes,350 periodical titles,70,000 slides and 45,000 picture files. Special collections holdings number over 4,000, including many rare, in 2014 the fashion department moved from its Garment District location, the David M Schwartz Fashion Education Center, to the main campus in Greenwich Village
5.
Henri Bendel
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Its flagship New York store is located at 712 Fifth Avenue. Henri Bendel was the first retailer to have its own fragrance, to offer in-store makeovers, the retailer is credited with developing the shop-within-a-shop merchandising concept that’s in use in some department stores today. Henri Willis Bendel was born in Louisiana in 1868 and moved to New York to work as a milliner and he opened his first shop, in Greenwich Village, in 1895. In 1907, he began branding the brown-and-white striped boxes that are identified with the company. In 1913, Henri Bendel was the first retailer to sell Coco Chanel designs in the U. S, after Bendel’s death in 1936, his nephew became the store’s president and served until his retirement in 1954. Bendels nephew, who later founded Belgian Shoes, died in 1997, Geraldine Stutz was president of Henri Bendel from 1957 to 1986. Stutz had “a legendary eye for discovering the newest designers and using them first, ” including Perry Ellis, Jean Muir, Sonia Rykiel, Carlos Falchi, Mary McFadden, and Ralph Lauren. In 1958, Stutz turned the main sales floor into a “U-shaped ‘Street of Shops. During the 1960s, Andy Warhol was an in-house illustrator, beginning in 1994, Izak Zenou’s illustrations have appeared on Henri Bendel ads and promotional materials. In recent years, the retailer has aimed to grow from an “iconic New York brand” into “a nationally recognized accessories company. ”Beginning in 2008, in 2009, Henri Bendel stopped selling apparel. In 2014, the New York flagship store and website began selling only Henri Bendel-branded handbags, jewelry, fashion accessories and home fragrances, paul Blum was named Chief Executive Officer of Henri Bendel in 2016. Paul joined Henri Bendel from Fred Segal, where, as the executive officer his charge was to revitalize and expand the brand, reinventing the store environment. Creative Director Pina Ferlisi joined the company in July 2012, Ferlisi had launched the Marc by Marc Jacobs line, became the head of design at Gap, served as the creative director for McQ in London and was executive vice president of design for Coach. Henri Bendel was named Retailer of the Year in 2010 by The Accessories Council, the current Fifth Avenue flagship is located in two landmark buildings, the Rizzoli building and Coty building, as well as a new five-story building. During renovation of the Coty building,276 “masterwork” panes of glass commissioned from Rene Lalique in 1912 were restored, the glass fills three large windows that comprise the front of the second, third and fourth floors of the Henri Bendel flagship. Upon the store’s opening in 1991, it received landmark status from the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission, after Bendel’s nephew, also named Henri Bendel, retired from the company in 1954, the Bendel family sold the store to a group of investors. In 1980, Henri Bendel president Geraldine Stutz purchased the store with a group of investors from Genesco Inc. a retailing/apparel company that had owned Bonwit Teller and other stores, in 1985, L Brands acquired the Henri Bendel brand. Formerly Limited Brands, the Columbus, Ohio-based company is also the parent of Victorias Secret, PINK, Bath & Body Works, and La Senza and operates 2,917 company-owned specialty stores in the U. S
6.
Diana, Princess of Wales
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Diana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Diana was born into a family of British nobility with royal ancestry and was the child and third daughter of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp. She grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, in 1975, after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer, she became known as Lady Diana Spencer. She came to prominence in February 1981 when her engagement to Prince Charles was announced and her wedding to the Prince of Wales on 29 July 1981, held at St Pauls Cathedral, reached a global television audience of over 750 million people. While married, Diana bore the titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, the marriage produced two sons, the princes William and Harry, who were then respectively second and third in the line of succession to the British throne. As Princess of Wales, Diana undertook royal duties on behalf of the Queen and she was celebrated for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She was involved with dozens of charities including Londons Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, Diana remained the object of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996. Media attention and public mourning were extensive after her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, Diana was born on 1 July 1961, in Park House, Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, the Spencer family has been closely allied with the British Royal Family for several generations. Both of Dianas grandmothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on 30 August 1961, Diana was baptised at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, with wealthy commoners as godparents. Diana had three siblings, Sarah, Jane, and Charles and her infant brother, John, died shortly after his birth one year before Diana was born. The desire for an added strain to the Spencers marriage. Diana grew up in Park House, situated on the Sandringham estate, the Spencers leased the house from its owner, Queen Elizabeth II. The Royal Family frequently holidayed at the neighbouring Sandringham House, and Diana played with Princes Andrew, Diana was seven years old when her parents divorced. Her mother later had an affair with Peter Shand Kydd and married him in 1969, Diana lived with her mother in London during her parents separation in 1967, but during that years Christmas holidays, Lord Althorp refused to let Diana return to London with Lady Althorp. Shortly afterwards he won custody of Diana with support from his former mother-in-law, Ruth Roche, in 1972, Lord Althorp began a relationship with Raine, Countess of Dartmouth, the only daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and Dame Barbara Cartland. They married at Caxton Hall, London in 1976, as an upper-class child at the time, Diana was first educated under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen. She began her education at Silfield Private School in Gayton, Norfolk, and moved to Riddlesworth Hall School, an all-girls boarding school near Diss
7.
Waterford Crystal
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Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of crystal. It is named after the city of Waterford, Ireland, Waterford Crystal is owned by WWRD Group Holdings Ltd. a luxury goods group which also owns and operates the Wedgwood and Royal Doulton brands. WWRD was acquired 2 July 2015 by the Fiskars Corporation, in January 2009 its Waterford base was closed down due to the bankruptcy of the Wedgwood Group. After several difficulties and takeovers, it re-emerged later that year, in June 2010, Waterford Crystal relocated almost back to its original roots, on The Mall in Waterford City. This new location is now home to a facility that melts over 750 tons of crystal a year. This new facility offers visitors the opportunity to take guided tours of the factory and also offers a retail store, the origins of the crystal production in Waterford dates back to 1783 when George and William Penrose started their business. It produced extremely fine flint glass that became world-renowned, however, their company closed in 1851. In 1947, Czech immigrant Charles Bacik, grandfather of Irish senator Ivana Bacik, skilled crystal workers were not available in Ireland so continental Europeans were used. Aided by fellow countryman and designer Miroslav Havel, the company started operations in a depressed Ireland, in 1970 John Aynsley and Sons was taken over by Waterford and renamed Aynsley China Ltd. Jasper Conran began designing his signature range of crystal for Waterford in 1999, the endeavour has evolved into four unique lines for Waterford and a complementary tableware collection in fine bone china for Wedgwood in 2001. The Chinese fashion designer John Rocha started designing a range of cut crystal stemware, the move resulted in nearly 500 Dungarvan workers losing their jobs. The last chairman was Tony OReilly, and the CEO John Foley, the leading shareholders of the holding company were former billionaire OReilly and his family, joined in the last decade by OReillys brother-in-law, Greek shipping heir Peter Goulandris. Waterford Wedgwood was forced into receivership in early 2009, on 5 January 2009, news of the receivership of Waterford Wedgwood Ltd. was announced in Ireland and the UK. On 30 January 2009 it was announced that the Waterford Crystal plant in Kilbarry was to shut down immediately, the Kilbarry operation featured a tourist centre offering guided tours of the factory, a gift shop, café, and gallery. Many of the employees performed an unofficial sit-in The sit-in made the BBC News, on 4 February 2009, there were protests across the city at how the workers were being treated. On 27 February 2009, the receiver, David Carson of Deloitte, confirmed US equity firm KPS Capital were to purchase certain overseas assets, the sit in ended in March,2009 after workers agreed to split a payment of €10m. The fight by the workers to keep the open is chronicled in a PBS online documentary. Under the receivership managed by Deloitte, ownership of most of Waterford Wedgwood plcs assets was transferred to KPS Capital Partners in March 2009, Waterford Crystal, along with Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, and other brands, were transferred to the new company WWRD Holdings Ltd
8.
Wedgwood
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Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, commonly known as Wedgwood, is a fine china, porcelain, and luxury accessories company founded on 1 May 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood. In 1987, Wedgwood merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, on 2 July 2015, Fiskars Corporation acquired WWRD. His marriage to Sarah Wedgwood, a distant cousin with a sizable dowry, in 1765, Wedgwood created a new form of earthenware, which impressed the then British Queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who gave official permission to call it Queens Ware. This new form sold extremely well across Europe, in 1766, Wedgwood bought Etruria, a large Staffordshire estate, as both a home and factory site. Wedgwood developed a number of industrial innovations for his company, notably a way of measuring kiln temperatures accurately. Wedgwoods best known product is created to look like ancient cameo glass. It was inspired by the Portland Vase, a Roman vessel which is now a museum piece, the first jasperware color was Portland Blue, an innovation that required experiments with more than 3,000 samples. In recognition of the importance of his beads, Josiah Wedgwood was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1783. The Wedgwood Prestige collection sold replicas of the designs as well as modern neo-classical style jasperware. Many motifs were taken from ancient mythologies, Roman, Greek, meanwhile, archaeological fever caught the imagination of many artists. Nothing could have been more suitable to satisfy this huge business demand than to produce replicas of ancient artefacts, many representations of royalty, nobles and statesmen in silhouette were created, as well as political symbols. These were often set in jewellery, as well as in architectural features like fireplace mantels, mouldings, Wedgwood has honoured American individuals and corporations as well, both historically and recently. In 1774 he employed the then 19-year-old John Flaxman as an artist, the Dancing Hours may be his most well known design. Other artists known to have worked for Wedgwood include among others Lady Elizabeth Templetown, George Stubbs, Emma Crewe, Wedgwood had increasing success with hard paste porcelain which attempted to imitate the whiteness of tea-ware imported from China, an extremely popular product amongst high society. High transport costs and the journey from the Far East meant that the supply of chinaware could not keep up with increasingly high demand. Towards the end of the 18th century other Staffordshire manufacturers introduced bone china as an alternative to translucent, in 1812 Wedgwood produced their own bone china which, though not a commercial success at first eventually became an important part of an extremely profitable business. Josiah Wedgwood was also a patriarch of the Darwin–Wedgwood family, Josiah Wedgwood II, second son of Josiah I, succeeded his father as proprietor in 1795 and introduced the production by the Wedgwood company of bone china. In 1815, during Josiah IIs time as proprietor, the great English Romantic poet William Blake spent time engraving for Wedgwoods china catalogues, Josiah Wedgwood III, son of Josiah II, was a partner in the firm from 1825 until he retired in 1842
9.
Debenhams
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Debenhams plc is a British multinational retailer operating under a department store format in the United Kingdom and Ireland with franchise stores in other countries. The company was founded in the century as a single store in London and has now grown to 178 locations across the UK, Ireland. It sells a range of clothing, household items and furniture and has known since 1993 for its Designers at Debenhams brand range. Headquartered in Regents Place in the London Borough of Camden, Debenhams is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE250 Index, the company owns the Danish department store chain, Magasin du Nord, and has a subsidiary in Ireland. The business was formed in 1778 by William Clark, who began trading at 44 Wigmore Street in London as a drapers store, in 1813, William Debenham became a partner and the corporate name changed to Clark & Debenham. The shop was later renamed Cavendish House and carried drapery, silks, haberdashery, millinery, hosiery, lace, as the trade grew, the partners determined to expand the business by opening provincial branches in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, and Harrogate, Yorkshire, England. By 1823, Clark & Debenham had opened a drapery business at 3 Promenade Rooms, Cheltenham, selling a selection of silks, muslins, shawls, gloves, lace. By 1840, the management of the Cheltenham branch appears to have given to Clement Freebody. Around 1843, another branch shop was launched in Harrogate, extended and refurbished premises opened in Cheltenham in October 1844. Pooley and Smith retired from the business in 1851 when Debenham took his son, William, in 1876 when Freebody retired, a new partnership, Debenham & Hewitt, was formed. George Hewitt appears to have worked at the Cheltenham store as an assistant during the early 1860s. By 1883, George Hewitt was the owner of the Cheltenham business, Frank. The business was incorporated as Debenhams Limited in 1905, the modern Debenhams group grew from the acquisition of department stores in towns and cities throughout the UK, under the leadership of its chairman, Ernest Debenham. The first of these purchases, Marshall & Snelgrove at Oxford Street in London, was acquired through an on sided merger in 1919, later purchases included Harvey Nichols in Londons Knightsbridge in 1920. Most of the acquired stores retained their identities until a unified corporate image was rolled out. The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1928, in 1976 the company acquired Browns of Chester. It remains the only UK store to have retained an individual identity, the business diversified during the 1970s buying South East based supermarket group Cater Brothers in 1972, after the death of its chairman Leslie Cater. Using the new purchasing power Debenhams modernised its 40 food halls within its stores, branding them Caters Food Halls, however the business declined in the intense marketplace and in 1979 the chain was sold to Allied Suppliers who converted the Cater stores into their Presto format
10.
University of the Arts London
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University of the Arts London is Europes largest university based in London, England. It specialises in art, design, fashion and the performing arts, the university has its origins in seven previously independent art, design, fashion and media colleges, which were brought together for administrative purposes to form the London Institute in 1986. The colleges were established from the mid 19th century to the early 20th century. Under the Education Reform Act 1988, the London Institute became a legal entity. The first appointed Rector was John McKenzie, the London Institute was incorporated as a higher education body in 1991 and was later granted academic degree awarding powers in 1993 by the Privy Council. Will Wyatt was appointed Chairman of Governors during the same year, Sir William Stubbs was appointed the second Rector after the retirement of McKenzie in 1996. A coat of arms was granted to the London Institute in 1998, lord Stevenson was appointed the first chancellor in 2000. On the retirement of Sir William Stubbs, Sir Michael Bichard was appointed as Rector in 2001, the London Institute originally chose not to apply because its individual colleges were internationally recognised in their own right. In 2003, the London Institute received Privy Council approval for university status and was renamed University of the Arts London in 2004, Wimbledon School of Art joined the university as a sixth college in 2006, and was renamed Wimbledon College of Art. Sir John Tusa was appointed as the new Chairman, replacing Will Wyatt, nigel Carrington was appointed rector in 2008, replacing Sir Michael Bichard. From 2008 to 2010, staff were made redundant and courses closed, Central Saint Martins moved to a purpose-built complex in Kings Cross in June 2011. In 2015 Grayson Perry was appointed to succeed Kwame Kwei-Armah as chancellor of the university, the University of the Arts London has six constituent colleges. F. The subjects taught were mainly technical until a Fine Arts department was established between the Wars, the school became part of the London Institute in January 1986, and was renamed Camberwell College of Arts in 1989. Drama Centre London, founded in 1963, became part of Central Saint Martins in 1999, the school was renamed Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design in 2011. The Chelsea School of Art originated as part of the South-Western Polytechnic, in 1975 Chelsea merged with Hammersmith College of Art and Building, founded in 1891 by Francis Hawke and taken over by the London County Council in 1904. The Chelsea School of Art became part of the London Institute in 1986 and was renamed Chelsea College of Art and Design in 1989. The London College of Printing descends from the St Brides Foundation Institute Printing School, in 1960 this was renamed the London College of Printing. The printing department of the North Western Polytechnic was merged into it in 1969, the London College of Printing became part of the London Institute in 1986
11.
David Bintley
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David Julian Bintley, CBE, is a former English ballet dancer, the current artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company. Bintley was born in Honley near Huddersfield, England, Bintley trained professionally in classical ballet at the Royal Ballet School in London. While training at the school, some of his choreography was seen by Sir Frederick Ashton, founder choreographer, in 1976, Bintley was offered a contract to dance with the Sadlers Wells Theatre Ballet, which is known today as the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He received his first commission as a choreographer in 1978, creating the ballet The Outsider for that company, later in 1985, he was appointed resident choreographer of The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. He has subsequently created numerous works for the Royal Ballet, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, in 1995, he succeeded Sir Peter Wright as artistic director of Birmingham Royal Ballet. On 16 June 2001, as part of that years Queens Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Dance
12.
The Royal Ballet
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The Royal Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, UK. The company employs approximately 100 dancers and has built facilities within the Royal Opera House. The official associate school of the company is the Royal Ballet School, and it also has a company, the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet is the late Dame Margot Fonteyn, in 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, a dance school for girls. Her intention was to form a repertory company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadlers Wells theatres and in 1925 she engaged de Valois to stage performances at both venues. Sadlers Wells reopened in 1931 and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre and these would become the predecessors of todays Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School. Prior to her return to Britain, Ninette de Valois had been a member of the Ballets Russes, one of the most renowned, the company disbanded in 1929 following the death of its founder Serge Diaghilev. The Founder Musical Director was the conductor and composer Constant Lambert who had considerable artistic as well as influence over the early years of the company. After losing the link with the Old Vic theatre, in 1939 the company was renamed Sadlers Wells Ballet, the company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being The Sleeping Beauty. Following the relocation of the company, the moved to its own premises in 1947. A sister company was established to continue performances at Sadlers Wells, called the Sadlers Wells Theatre Ballet, in 1955, the sister company temporarily lost its link with Sadlers Wells and returned to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company. In 1956, a Royal Charter was granted for companies and the school, they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet. The Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadlers Wells Theatre in 1970, in 1987, however, the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Birmingham Royal Ballet retains close relationships with both the Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School, although it now has its own ballet school. In 1964 the Royal Ballet established Ballet for All under the direction of Peter Brinson, between 1964 and 1979 Ballet for All toured throughout the country, presenting around 150 performances per annum and reaching around 70,000 people each year. In 1976 the Royal Opera House established its schools matinee programme, to stage these ballets with her newly formed company, de Valois employed Nicholas Sergeyev, a former régisseur of the Imperial. He staged productions of Petipas The Sleeping Beauty, Petipa and Ivanovs Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, Petipa and Cecchettis production of Coppélia, and Petipas Giselle
13.
Birmingham Royal Ballet
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Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet. The new company remained at Sadlers Wells for many years, becoming known as the Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet and it also toured the UK and abroad, before relocating to Birmingham in 1990, as the resident ballet company of the Birmingham Hippodrome. In 1997, the Birmingham Royal Ballet became independent of the Royal Ballet in London, in 2002, the need for Birmingham Royal Ballet to have its own school led to a new association with Elmhurst School for Dance, which is now its official ballet school. In 1926, the Irish-born dancer Ninette de Valois founded the Academy of Choreographic Art and her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadlers Wells theatres and in 1925 she engaged de Valois to stage performances at both venues. Sadlers Wells reopened in 1931 and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre and these would become the predecessors of todays Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School. In 1939, the company lost its link with the Old Vic theatre and, in 1940 and these events forced the company to begin touring the country, becoming known as the Sadlers Wells Ballet. The company relocated to the house the same year in 1946. This sister company would become the predecessor of todays Birmingham Royal Ballet, in 1955, Sadlers Wells Theatre Ballet temporarily lost its link with Sadlers Wells theatre and relocated to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company. In 1956, a Royal Charter was granted for companies and the school and they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet. The Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadlers Wells theatre in 1970, the first indication that the company would leave London came in 1987, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome theatre. Consequently, the relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being given its current name Birmingham Royal Ballet. Sir Peter Wright remained as the companys Artistic Director and held the post until his retirement in 1995, in 1997, Birmingham Royal Ballet was made independent of the Royal Ballet and ceased to be managed by the Royal Opera House. As an independent ballet company, Birmingham Royal Ballet no longer has official links with the Royal Ballet or Royal Ballet School. To further establish its reputation as an entity, in 2002, it began a new relationship with the Elmhurst School for Dance. Elmhurst is the oldest established dance school in the United Kingdom. It relocated to premises in Edgbaston, Birmingham in 2004, becoming known as Elmhurst School for Dance, in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet
14.
My Fair Lady
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My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, the original Broadway, London and film versions all starred Rex Harrison. The musicals 1956 Broadway production was a critical and popular success. It set a record for the longest run of any show on Broadway up to that time and it was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals. My Fair Lady has frequently called the perfect musical. Act I On a rainy night in Edwardian London, opera patrons are waiting under the arches of Covent Garden for cabs, Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, runs into a young man called Freddy. She admonishes him for spilling her bunches of violets in the mud and she then flies into an angry outburst when a man copying down her speech is pointed out to her. The man explains that he studies phonetics and can identify anyones origin by their accent and he laments Elizas dreadful speech, asking why so many English people dont speak properly and explaining his theory that this is what truly separates social classes, rather than looks or money. He declares that in six months he could turn Eliza into a lady by teaching her to speak properly, the older gentleman introduces himself as Colonel Pickering, a linguist who has studied Indian dialects. The phoneticist introduces himself as Henry Higgins, and, as both have always wanted to meet each other, Higgins invites Pickering to stay at his home in London. He distractedly throws his change into Elizas basket, and she and her friends wonder what it would be like to live a comfortable, Elizas father, Alfred P. Doolittle, and his drinking companions, Harry and Jamie, all dustmen, stop by the next morning. He is searching for money for a drink, and Eliza shares her profits with him, Pickering and Higgins are discussing vowels at Higginss home when Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper, informs Higgins that a young woman with a ghastly accent has come to see him. It is Eliza, who has come to take speech lessons so she can get a job as an assistant in a florists shop, Pickering wagers that Higgins cannot make good on his claim and volunteers to pay for Elizas lessons. An intensive makeover of Elizas speech, manners and dress begins in preparation for her appearance at the Embassy Ball, Higgins sees himself as a kindhearted, patient man who cannot get along with women. To others he appears self-absorbed and misogynistic, Alfred Doolittle is informed that his daughter has been taken in by Professor Higgins, and considers that he might be able to make a little money from the situation. Doolittle arrives at Higginss house the morning, claiming that Higgins is compromising Elizas virtue. Higgins is impressed by the natural gift for language and brazen lack of moral values. He and Doolittle agree that Eliza can continue to take lessons, Higgins flippantly recommends Doolittle to an American millionaire who has written to Higgins seeking a lecturer on moral values
15.
Simon Callow
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Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, musician, writer, and theatre director. Callow was born in Streatham, London, the son of Yvonne Mary, a secretary, and Neil Francis Callow and his father was of English and French descent and his mother was of Danish and German ancestry. He was brought up Roman Catholic and it was while watching actors rehearse that he realised he wanted to act. Callow made his debut in 1973, appearing in The Thrie Estates at the Assembly Rooms Theatre. In the early 1970s he joined the Gay Sweatshop theatre company, in 1977 he took various parts in the Joint Stock Theatre Companys production of Epsom Downs and in 1979 he starred in Snoo Wilsons The Soul of the White Ant at the Soho Poly. Callow appeared as Verlaine in Total Eclipse, Lord Foppington in The Relapse and the role in Faust at the Lyric Hammersmith. In 1985 he played Molina in The Kiss of the Spiderwoman at the Bush Theatre and he created the role of Mozart in the premiere of Peter Shaffers Amadeus at the National Theatre, also appearing in the 1983 BBC radio production with its original cast. He also appeared at the National Theatre as Orlando in As You Like It and he made his first film appearance, as Schikaneder, in Amadeus in 1984. His first television role was in Carry On Laughing episode Orgy and Bess, in 1975 and he starred in several series of the Channel 4 situation comedy Chance in a Million, as Tom Chance, an eccentric individual to whom coincidences happened regularly. Roles like this and his part in Four Weddings and a Funeral brought him an audience than his many critically acclaimed stage appearances. At the same time, Callow was successful both as a director and as a writer and his Being An Actor was a critique of director dominated theatre, in addition to containing autobiographical sections relating to his early career as an actor. At a time when subsidised theatre in the United Kingdom was under pressure from the Thatcher government. In 1992, he directed the play Shades by Sharman MacDonald, in 1995, he directed a stage version of the classic French film Les Enfants du Paradis for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production was not a success and he also directed Carmen Jones at the Old Vic, London in 1991, with Wilhelmenia Fernandez in the title role. One of Callows best-known books is Love Is Where It Falls, a poignant analysis of his relationship with Peggy Ramsay. He returned to Doctor Who for the 2011 season finale, again taking the role of Dickens, Callow appeared with Saeed Jaffrey in 1994 British television series Little Napoleons. In 1996 Callow directed Cantabile in three pieces composed by his friend Stephen Oliver. Ricercare No.4 was commissioned by Callow especially for Cantabile and he voice-acted the sly and traitorous Wolfgang in Shoebox Zoo
16.
Maria Stuarda
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Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Andrea Maffeis translation of Friedrich Schillers 1800 play Maria Stuart. The opera is one of a number of operas by Donizetti which deal with the Tudor period in English history, including Anna Bolena, Roberto Devereux and Il castello di Kenilworth. The lead female characters of the operas Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, the story is loosely based on the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Schiller had invented the confrontation of the two Queens, who in fact never met, in a variety of areas – drama, literature – England in the Tudor era exerted a fascination upon continental Europeans in an extraordinary way. In literature, it has noted that more than 20,000 books have appeared about Marys life. This is the portrait of Elizabeth found, not too unexpectedly, indeed, without him it is to be suspected that Sir Walter Scott would never have captured the imagination of so many poets, nor for so long. Schillers play had been translated into Italian by Andrea Maffei and it was this translation upon which Bardari relied, at the time of the events portrayed, Dudley was actually 55, Elizabeth was 53 and Mary was 44. However, the libretto does retain the fictional meeting between Mary and Elizabeth in a dramatic confrontation. While its musical elements are noted below, the confrontation, an incident occurred at a rehearsal of the opera which is recounted by Harold Rosenthal, Ronzi De Begnis was to sing Queen Elizabeth and Anna Del Serre the mezzo-soprano title-role. At one of the rehearsals an incident occurred, in the second act of the opera, Mary Stuart rounds on Queen Elizabeth with these words, Figlia impura di Bolena, / parli tu di disonore. / Meretrice indegna e oscena, / in te cada il mio rossore, / Profanato è il soglio inglese, / vil bastarda, dal tuo piè. Impure daughter of Boleyn, do you speak of dishonour, prostitute — unworthy and obscene, I blush for you. The throne of England is sullied by your feet, vile bastard, Del Serre returned in kind, but the soprano got the better of her rival, and Del Serre was carried fainting from the theatre. The rehearsal continued, she sang, the matter went no further. was too much for the Neapolitan sensibility and he named it Buondelmonte referring to a character who appears in Dantes Paradiso who apparently caused a war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. But prior to its first performance, the composer expressed his concerns in a letter to librettist Jacopo Ferretti, now there are 10 or more. You can imagine what the opera has become, the same scenery, appropriate or not, will be used. I havent been able to bring myself to ask whether it works or not, inevitably perhaps, when Buondelmonte was first given on 18 October 1834 in Naples, it was not successful, it received only six performances and it was never performed again. Donizetti tailored that role for her with improved recitatives, and extended scenes, in addition, he created a new overture
17.
English National Opera
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English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martins Lane. It is one of the two opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. ENOs productions are sung in English, Baylis subsequently built up both the opera and the theatre companies, and later added a ballet company, these evolved into ENO, the Royal National Theatre and The Royal Ballet, respectively. Baylis acquired and rebuilt the Sadlers Wells theatre in north London, the opera company grew there into a permanent ensemble in the 1930s. During the Second World War, the theatre was closed and the company toured British towns, after the war, the company returned to its home, but it continued to expand and improve. By the 1960s, a theatre was needed. In 1968, the moved to the London Coliseum and adopted its present name in 1974. Among the conductors associated with the company have been Colin Davis, Reginald Goodall, Charles Mackerras, Mark Elder, the current music director of ENO is Martyn Brabbins. Noted directors who have staged productions at ENO have included David Pountney, Jonathan Miller, Nicholas Hytner, Phyllida Lloyd, ENOs current artistic director is Daniel Kramer. In addition to the operatic repertoire, the company has presented a wide range of works, from early operas by Monteverdi to new commissions, operetta. In 1889, Emma Cons, a Victorian philanthropist who ran the Old Vic theatre in a area of London. Although the theatre licensing laws of the day prevented full costumed performances, Cons presented condensed versions of well-known operas, among the performers were noted singers such as Charles Santley. These operatic evenings quickly became more popular than the dramas that Cons had been staging separately, in 1898, she recruited her niece Lilian Baylis to help run the theatre. At the same time she appointed Charles Corri as the Old Vics musical director, Baylis and Corri, despite many disagreements, shared a passionate belief in popularising opera, hitherto generally the preserve of the rich and fashionable. They worked on a budget, with an amateur chorus. By the early years of the 20th century, the Old Vic was able to present semi-staged versions of Wagner operas, Emma Cons died in 1912, leaving her estate, including the Old Vic, to Baylis, who dreamed of transforming the theatre into a peoples opera house. In the same year, Baylis obtained a licence to allow the Old Vic to stage performances of operas. In the 1914–1915 season, Baylis staged 16 operas and 16 plays, the opera, however, remained her first priority
18.
Galina Samsova
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Galina Samsova is a Russian ballet dancer and company director, now retired. Born Galina Martinovna Samtsova in Stalingrad in southwestern Russia, she began training at an early age. She studied at the Kiev Opera Ballet School with Natalia Verekundova and in 1956 graduated into the Kiev Opera Ballet, in 1960 she married the Canadian-Ukrainian dance teacher Alexander Ursuliak and moved with him to Canada. The following year,1961, she joined the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto, hired as a soloist, she was soon promoted to principal dancer and was cast in leading roles in Swan Lake and Giselle as well as in works by Balanchine, Tudor, and Cranko. Making her western European debut in the role, which she danced almost every day for a month and her lyrical interpretation of Cinderella also resulted in invitations to give guest performances in many companies, including the Marseille Opera Ballet and London Festival Ballet. Samsova joined London Festival Ballet as a guest artist in 1964 but soon became a permanent member of the company, serving as its principal ballerina for nearly a decade, the pair won the gold medal at Il Festival de la Opera, Madrid, for their performance of Giselle. In 1966 Samsova went to Johannesburg, South Africa, to dance as guest star in yet another production of Cinderella, staged by French choreographer Françoise Adret for PACT/TRUK Ballet. The role of Prince Charming in this production was taken by André Prokovsky, a Franco-Russian dancer whom Samsova had met in Marseille, not only her partner on stage, he would become her second husband, after her first marriage failed. During her later years with London Festival Ballet, Samsova formed a partnership with Prokovsky. Samsova and Prokovsky married in 1972 and left London Festival Ballet in 1973 to direct and this soon grew into the New London Ballet, a classical company of fourteen dancers that toured extensively in Britain and overseas with a repertory consisting mostly of newly created works. Besides dancing with that company, Samsova made guest appearances with companies in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Canada, the United States, South Africa, and England. In 1978 she danced as a guest with Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet before joining the company as a principal, during her ten years with this troupe she staged the grand pas from act 2 of Paquita and mounted, in collaboration with Peter Wright, a production of Swan Lake. After retiring from the stage, Samsova became the director of the Scottish Ballet in Glasgow in 1991, succeeding its founder, Peter Darrell. She resigned her post in 1997, since then, Samsova, divorced from Prokovsky in 1981, has made her home once again in London, where she has been a mentor to rising young dancers. She has also continued her career as a juror at international competitions in Paris, Moscow, Kiev, Shanghai. List of Russian ballet dancers Galina Samsovas Profile, Birmingham Royal Ballet Andre Prokovsky - Daily Telegraph obituary - Renée Renoufs interview in Jackson, Mississippi
19.
Swan Lake
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Swan Lake, Op.20, is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular of all ballets, the scenario, initially in two acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerers curse. The choreographer of the production was Julius Reisinger. The ballet was premiered by the Bolshoi Ballet on 4 March 1877 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, for this revival, Tchaikovskys score was revised by the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres chief conductor and composer Riccardo Drigo. Many critics have disputed the original source of the Swan Lake story, the libretto is based on a story by the German author Johann Karl August Musäus, Der geraubte Schleier, though this story provides only the general outline of the plot of Swan Lake. The Russian folktale The White Duck also bears resemblance to the story of the ballet. According to Lopukhov, both the plot of Swan Lake, the image of the Swan and the idea of a faithful love are essentially Russian. However, Geltser was in all probability merely the first person to copy the scenario for publication and this ballet featured the famous Leitmotif known as the Swans Theme. The choreographer assigned to the production was the Czech Julius Reisinger and it is not known what sort of collaborative processes were involved between Tchaikovsky and Reisinger. It seems that Tchaikovsky worked with only the most basic outline from Reisinger of the requirements for each dance, Tchaikovsky likely had some form of instruction in composing Swan Lake, as he had to know what sort of dances would be required. But unlike the instructions that Tchaikovsky received for the scores of The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, when Reisinger began choreographing after the score was completed, he demanded some changes from Tchaikovsky. Whether by demanding the addition or removal of a dance, Reisinger made it clear that he was to be a large part in the creation of this piece. Although the two artists were required to collaborate, each seemed to prefer working as independently of the other as possible, Tchaikovsky studied the music of specialists such as the Italian Cesare Pugni and the Austrian Ludwig Minkus, before setting to work on Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky had a negative opinion of the specialist ballet music until he studied it in detail. Tchaikovsky most admired the music of such composers as Léo Delibes, Adolphe Adam. He would later write to his protégé, the composer Sergei Taneyev, I listened to the Delibes ballet Sylvia. what charm, what elegance, what wealth of melody, rhythm, and harmony. I was ashamed, for if I had known of this music then, Tchaikovsky drew on previous compositions for his Swan Lake score. He made use of material from The Voyevoda, an opera that he had abandoned in 1868, the Grand adage from the second scene of Swan Lake was fashioned from an aria from that opera, as was the Valse des fiancées from the third scene
20.
The Sleeping Beauty (ballet)
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The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet in a prologue and three acts, first performed in 1890. The music was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the score was completed in 1889, and is the second of his three ballets. The original scenario was conceived by Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and is based on Charles Perraults La Belle au bois dormant, the choreographer of the original production was Marius Petipa. The premiere performance took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on January 15,1890, the work has become one of the classical repertoires most famous ballets. Tchaikovsky was approached by the Director of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg and it was later decided that Charles Perraults La Belle au bois dormant would be the story for which Tchaikovsky would compose the music for the ballet. Tchaikovsky did not hesitate to accept the commission, although he was aware that his only previous ballet, Swan Lake, the ballet scenario that Tchaikovsky worked on was based on the Brothers Grimms version of Perraults work entitled Dornröschen. In that version, the Princesss parents survived the 100-year sleep to celebrate the Princesss wedding to the Prince, other French fairy tale characters to be featured are Beauty and the Beast, Pretty Goldilocks and The White Cat. Regardless, Tchaikovsky was happy to inform the Director of the Imperial Theatre that he had great pleasure studying the work and had come away with adequate inspiration to do it justice. The choreographer was Marius Petipa, ballet master of the Imperial Ballet, Tchaikovsky worked quickly on the new work at Frolovskoye, he began initial sketches in the winter of 1888 and began orchestration on the work on 30 May 1889. Act III of the work, however, takes a break from the two motifs and instead places focus on the individual characters of the various court dances. St. Petersburg premiere Date,15 January 1890 Place, Imperial Mariinsky Theatre and this version has been performed by a number of central European ballet companies over the past two decades. By 1903, The Sleeping Beauty was the second most popular ballet in the repertory of the Imperial Ballet, in 1999, the Mariinsky Ballet reconstructed the original 1899 production, including reproductions of the original sets and costumes. Although the 1951 Kirov production by Konstantin Sergeyev is available on DVD/Video, the Sleeping Beauty is Tchaikovskys longest ballet, lasting nearly four hours at full length - counting the intermissions. Without intermissions, it lasts three hours. At the premiere Tsar Alexander III summoned Tchaikovsky to the imperial box, the Tsar made the simple remark Very nice, which seemed to have irritated Tchaikovsky, who had likely expected a more favorable response. Six fairies are invited to the ceremony to bestow gifts on the child, each fairy represents a virtue or positive trait, such as beauty, courage, sweetness, musical talent, and mischief. The most powerful fairy, the Lilac Fairy, arrives with her entourage, but before she can bestow her gift, with a clap of thunder, the evil fairy Carabosse arrives with her minions. Carabosse furiously asks the King and Queen why she had not received an invitation to the christening, the blame falls to Catallabutte, the Master of Ceremonies who was in charge of the guest list
21.
Jean Anouilh
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Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. One of Frances most prolific writers after World War II, much of Anouilhs work deals with themes of maintaining integrity in a world of moral compromise, Anouilh was born in Cérisole, a small village on the outskirts of Bordeaux, and had Basque ancestry. His father, François Anouilh, was a tailor, and Anouilh maintained that he inherited from him a pride in conscientious craftmanship and he often attended rehearsals and solicited the resident authors to let him read scripts until bedtime. He first tried his hand at playwriting here, at the age of 12, in 1918 the family moved to Paris where the young Anouilh received his secondary education at the Lycée Chaptal. He liked the work, and spoke more than once with wry approval of the lessons in the virtues of brevity. Anouilhs financial troubles continued after he was called up to service in 1929. Supported by only his meager salary, Anouilh married the actress Monelle Valentin in 1931. Though she would go on to star in many of his plays, Anouilhs daughter Caroline, Anouilhs youngest daughter Colombe even claims that there was never an official marriage between Anouilh and Valentin. She allegedly had multiple affairs, which caused Anouilh much pain. The infidelity weighed heavily on the dramatist as a result of the uncertainty about his own parentage, according to Caroline, Anouilh had learned that his mother had had a lover at the theatre in Arcachon who was actually his biological father. In spite of this, Anouilh and Valentin had a daughter, Catherine, Anouilhs growing family placed further strain on his already limited finances. Determined to break into writing full-time, he began to write scenes for the cinema to supplement their income. At the age of 25, Anouilh found work as a secretary to the French actor and director Louis Jouvet at the Comédie des Champs-Elysées, Giraudoux was an inspiration to Anouilh and, with the encouragement of the acclaimed playwright, he began writing again in 1929. Before the end of the year he made his debut with Humulus le muet. Ruled by the philosophy, the word creates the decor, Lugné-Poe let Anouilhs lyrical prose shine in front of a backdrop of simple compositions of line and color created a unity of style. The plays were not great successes, closing after 37 and 13 performances respectively, in subsequent years, there was rarely a season in Paris that did not prominently feature a new Anouilh play and many of these were also being exported to England and America. Barsacq was a champion for Anouilh and their affiliation was a factor in the playwrights continued success after the war. In the 1940s, Anouilh turned from contemporary tales to more mythical, classic, pièces noires or Black plays were tragedies or realistic dramas and included Antigone, Jézabel, and La Sauvage
22.
The Independent
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The Independent is a British online newspaper. The printed edition of the paper ceased in March 2016, nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet newspaper, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. Until September 2011, the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as free from party political bias and it tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. In June 2015, it had a daily circulation of just below 58,000,85 per cent down from its 1990 peak. On 12 February 2016, it was announced that The Independent, the last print edition of The Independent on Sunday was published on 20 March 2016, with the main paper ceasing print publication the following Saturday. Launched in 1986, the first issue of The Independent was published on 7 October in broadsheet format and it was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at The Daily Telegraph who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwells ownership, marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper. The paper was created at a time of a change in British newspaper publishing. Rupert Murdoch was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in the Wapping dispute, consequently, production costs could be reduced which, it was said at the time, created openings for more competition. As a result of controversy around Murdochs move to Wapping, the plant was effectively having to function under siege from sacked print workers picketing outside, the Independent attracted some of the staff from the two Murdoch broadsheets who had chosen not to move to his companys new headquarters. Launched with the advertising slogan It is, and challenging both The Guardian for centre-left readers and The Times as the newspaper of record, The Independent reached a circulation of over 400,000 by 1989. Competing in a market, The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as, within a few years. Some aspects of production merged with the paper, although the Sunday paper retained a largely distinct editorial staff. It featured spoofs of the other papers mastheads with the words The Rupert Murdoch or The Conrad Black, a number of other media companies were interested in the paper. Tony OReillys media group and Mirror Group Newspapers had bought a stake of about a third each by mid-1994, in March 1995, Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into OReillys Independent News & Media, MGN, and Prisa. In April 1996, there was another refinancing, and in March 1998, OReilly bought the other 54% of the company for £30 million, brendan Hopkins headed Independent News, Andrew Marr was appointed editor of The Independent, and Rosie Boycott became editor of The Independent on Sunday. Marr introduced a dramatic if short-lived redesign which won critical favour but was a commercial failure, Marr admitted his changes had been a mistake in his book, My Trade
23.
The Fashion Awards
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As a result, London Fashion Week ranks alongside New York, Milan and Paris as one of the Big Four’. The main awards include that of British Designer of the Year, the ceremony is organized by the British Fashion Council and runs as part of London Fashion Week each February. A leading British womenswear designer essential to the evolution of Ready-To-Wear British Fashion, a leading British menswear or bespoke tailoring designer essential to the evolution of Ready-To-Wear British Fashion. Non-British internationally acclaimed designer who has influenced the direction the world has taken. British based designer brand that has shown excellence in the spread, the leading British designer of shoes, jewelry, millinery or accessories. An influential designer who is emerging in the British accessory design, a model who has shown excellence in contributions to the fashion industry within the past year. Recognition to a British designer who is creating designs global for the media, for an individual who most embodies the spirit of British fashion. Brought to you by Vodafone Person who has big influence in the fashion industry. Tremendous contribution to the fashion industry, stylist, make-up artist, photographer, art director or producer who has been a major inspiration in the past year. BFC Official Website BFA Official Website
24.
British Fashion Council
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The British Fashion Council is a non-profit trade group for British fashion designers founded in 1983. Its main goal is to promote British fashion design in both the UK and internationally, organising the twice-yearly London Fashion Week is one of the primary activities. Based in London, it is chaired by Natalie Massenet. Previous chairs of the BFC have included Edward Rayne, Harold Tillman, a key activity of the BFC is to organise the twice yearly London Fashion Week, the main showcase for high fashion brands operating in the UK. The organisation also organises the annual British Fashion Awards, designed to celebrate leading designers and newcomers to the industry, another facet of the organisations activities is to support the next generation of designers by supervising fashion higher education and apprenticeships in the United Kingdom. The British Fashion Council was established in 1983 as a limited company
25.
Heriot-Watt University
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Heriot-Watt University is a public university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the worlds first mechanics institute and it has campuses in the Scottish Borders, Orkney, Dubai, and Putrajaya in Malaysia. The university is ranked among the Worlds Top 500 by both Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings, Heriot-Watt was established as the School of Arts of Edinburgh by Scottish businessman Leonard Horner on 16 October 1821. Having been inspired by Andersons College in Glasgow, Horner established the School to provide knowledge of science. The institution was initially of modest size, giving lectures two nights a week in rented rooms and boasting a small library of around 500 technical works. It was also oversubscribed, with admissions soon closing despite the cost of 15 shillings for an access to lectures. The School was managed by a board of eighteen directors and primarily funded by sponsors from the middle and upper classes including Robert Stevenson and it first became associated with the inventor and engineer James Watt in 1824, as a means of raising funds to secure permanent accommodation. In 1837, the School of Arts moved to leased accommodation on Adam Square, in honour of the purchase, the School changed its name to the Watt Institution and School of Arts in 1852. Heriot-Watts time as the Watt Institution marked a period for the organisation, as its curriculum broadened to include several subjects beyond mathematics. By 1885, the working class were no longer the majority in an institution that had been created explicitly for them. A shifting class make-up was not the demographic change to affect the student body. This move put the Watt Institution some way ahead of Scottish universities, the decision to admit women was made in large part owing to pressure from local campaigner Mary Burton, who later became the Institutions first female director in 1874. In 1870, the Watt Institution was forced to move following the demolition of Adam Square, after a brief period on Roxburgh Place, it relocated to the newly constructed Chambers Street near where its former site had stood. The move caused the Institution severe financial difficulties, which were compounded by a combination of declining funds from subscribers, in 1873, the Directors turned to George Heriots Trust for support, and agreed to a merger of the Trusts endowment with the Institutions own. Accepting these changes, the Watt Institution officially became Heriot-Watt College in 1885, the Watt Club was founded at the Watt Institution on 12 May 1854, and is today the oldest alumni organisation in the UK. Following the unveiling of a statue of James Watt outside the Institution, after the establishment of Heriot-Watt as a technical college, the new management committee set about extending the institutions buildings and strengthening its academic reputation. In its new form the College was one of only three non-university institutions in the UK with the power to appoint professors, and the first of these was appointed in 1887. In 1902 the College became an institution, while in 1904 it introduced awards for graduating students which were similar to university degrees
26.
University of East Anglia
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The University of East Anglia is an English public research university located in the city of Norwich. Established in 1963, the university comprises four faculties and 26 schools of study, situated to the south-west of the city of Norwich, the university campus is approximately 320 acres in size. In national league tables the university has most recently been ranked 15th in the UK by The Times and Sunday Times, the university also ranks among the top 3 for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, when considering mainstream English universities. It is the institution to rank in the top 5 since the survey began. The university also ranks in the world top 1% according to the Times Higher Education World Rankings, attempts had been made to establish a university in Norwich in 1919 and 1947, but due to a lack of government funding on both occasions the plans had to be postponed. The University of East Anglia was eventually given the light in April 1960. Initially, teaching took place in the temporary University Village, the vice-chancellor and administration were based in nearby Earlham Hall. The site chosen was on the edge of the city. The land, formerly part of the Earlham Hall estate was at that time occupied by a golf course. Lasdun unveiled a model and a plan at a press conference in April 1963, but it took another year to produce detailed plans. The first buildings did not open until late 1966, lasdun put all the teaching and research functions into the teaching wall, a single block 460 metres long following the contour of the site. Alongside this he built a walkway, giving access to the entrances of the wall. Attached to the other, southern, side of the walkway he added the groups of terraced residences that became known as Ziggurats and they would later become Grade II* listed status, reflecting the importance of the architecture and the history of the campus. In 1964 Arthur Millers The Crucible became the first drama production to be staged at UEA with John Rhys Davies, in the same decade, in 1965, Benjamin Britten was appointed music adviser for UEA. In 1967 he conducted the UEA Choir in a performance of his War Requiem, in 1968 there were two royal visits from Princess Margaret and the Queen who each came to tour the new university for the first time. In this decade Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson help establish the first creative writing course in the UK. The School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing would later go on to produce successful authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain, John Boyne, in the same decade UEA, TV, under the name of Nexus, was formed and created student-made television. It operated for two hours a day over lunchtime, Concrete, the student newspaper was first officially launched in 1973, replacing Mandate which launched in 1965
27.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
28.
The Guardian
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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, known from 1821 until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, the Scott Trust became a limited company in 2008, with a constitution to maintain the same protections for The Guardian. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than to the benefit of an owner or shareholders, the Guardian is edited by Katharine Viner, who succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. In 2016, The Guardians print edition had a daily circulation of roughly 162,000 copies in the country, behind The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper has an online UK edition as well as two international websites, Guardian Australia and Guardian US, the newspapers online edition was the fifth most widely read in the world in October 2014, with over 42.6 million readers. Its combined print and online editions reach nearly 9 million British readers, notable scoops include the 2011 News International phone hacking scandal, in particular the hacking of murdered English teenager Milly Dowlers phone. The investigation led to the closure of the UKs biggest selling Sunday newspaper, and one of the highest circulation newspapers in the world, in 2016, it led the investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing the then British Prime Minister David Camerons links to offshore bank accounts. The Guardian has been named Newspaper of the Year four times at the annual British Press Awards, the paper is still occasionally referred to by its nickname of The Grauniad, given originally for the purported frequency of its typographical errors. The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle and they launched their paper after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer, a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters. They do not toil, neither do they spin, but they better than those that do. When the government closed down the Manchester Observer, the champions had the upper hand. The influential journalist Jeremiah Garnett joined Taylor during the establishment of the paper, the prospectus announcing the new publication proclaimed that it would zealously enforce the principles of civil and religious Liberty. Warmly advocate the cause of Reform, endeavour to assist in the diffusion of just principles of Political Economy and. Support, without reference to the party from which they emanate, in 1825 the paper merged with the British Volunteer and was known as The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer until 1828. The working-class Manchester and Salford Advertiser called the Manchester Guardian the foul prostitute, the Manchester Guardian was generally hostile to labours claims. The Manchester Guardian dismissed strikes as the work of outside agitators –, if an accommodation can be effected, the occupation of the agents of the Union is gone. CP Scott made the newspaper nationally recognised and he was editor for 57 years from 1872, and became its owner when he bought the paper from the estate of Taylors son in 1907. Under Scott, the moderate editorial line became more radical, supporting William Gladstone when the Liberals split in 1886
29.
Julie Taymor
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Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. She has also received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award, and she also received the 2012 Director Award for Vision and Courage from the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College in New York City. She was the director of the Broadway musical Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark, Taymor was born in Newton, Massachusetts, the daughter of Jewish parents Elizabeth, a political science teacher, and Melvin Lester Taymor, a gynecologist. Taymors interest in theatre took root early in her life, at the age of seven, she was already drawing her sister into stagings of childrens stories for her parents. By age ten, she was entranced by the Boston Childrens Theatre, being the youngest member of theatre groups became common. By 11, she was taking trips to Boston by herself every weekend, at the age of 13, her parents sent her to both Sri Lanka and India with the Experiment in International Living. After graduating High School at 16, Taymor went to Paris to study with LÉcole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq and her studies there exposed her to mime, which helped develop her physical sensibilities. While in Paris, Taymor worked with masks for the first time and immersed herself in film, especially the work of Fellini, in 1970 Taymor was enrolled in Oberlin College in Ohio, but she sought experience with Joseph Chaikins Open Theatre and other companies and studied through correspondence. Hearing that director Herbert Blau was moving to Oberlin, she returned there and auditioned successfully, becoming, once again, in 1973, Taymor attended a summer program of the American Society for Eastern Arts in Seattle. The instructors were performers of Indonesian topeng masked dance-drama and wayang kulit shadow puppetry and this would prove to have a great effect on Taymor in later years. Taymor graduated from Oberlin College with a major in mythology and folklore, upon graduation, she was presented with a Watson Fellowship. The fellowship allowed her to travel to Japan and Indonesia from 1975 until 1979, in Indonesia, she developed a mask/dance company, Teatr Loh, consisting of Japanese, Balinese, Sundanese, French, German and American actors, musicians, dancers and puppeteers. The company toured throughout Indonesia with two productions, Way of Snow and Tirai, which were subsequently performed in the United States. She met her collaborator, Elliot Goldenthal, in 1980. After college, Taymor used a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study pre-Bunraku puppetry on Awaji Island, Japan, to more about experimental theatre, puppetry. In 1984, Taymor worked in collaboration with Theatre for a New Audience on a 60-minute version of A Midsummer Nights Dream presented at The Public Theater, two years later, she directed her first Shakespeare play, The Tempest, for Theatre for a New Audience. She went on to three other productions at that theatre, including The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus. She later adapted Tempest and Titus into major motion pictures, in 1991, Taymor won the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship for her work in theater
30.
Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
