1.
Eastern Slavic naming customs
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They are also featured in the non-Slavic Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan as a result of the expansion of Russia and the result of Russification. As with most cultures, a person has a name chosen by the parents. First names in East Slavic languages mostly originate from two sources, Orthodox church tradition and native pre-Christian Slavic lexicons, all first names are single, non-doubled. Doubled first names are a very rare foreign-influenced instance, most doubled first names are spelled with the dash. Being highly synthetic, Eastern Slavic languages treat personal names as grammatical nouns and this auxiliary stem may be identical to the word stem of the full name while most names have it derived unproductively. Most commonly, Russian philologists distinguish the forms of given names, The short name, historically also half-name, is the most simple. Some names, such as Zhanna, Mark, etc. do not possess short forms, in the latter case, one form is usually more informal than the other. Diminutive forms are produced from the name by means of various suffixes. Unlike the full name, a diminutive name carries a particular emotional attitude, depending on the nature of this attitude, nameforms can be subdivided in three broad groups, affectionate, familiar and slang. Typically formed by suffixes -еньк-, -оньк-, -ечк-, -ушк and it is often used to address children or intimate friends. Within a more official context, this form may be combined with honorific plural to address a female colleague. Colloquial diminutives are derived from short names by means of -к- suffix, expressing a highly familiar attitude, it may be considered rude or even pejorative outside of friendly context. Slang forms mostly exist for male names, being produced though suffixes -ян, -он and these suffixes give off the sense of male brotherhood once expressed by patronymic-only form of address in Soviet Union. Originating in criminal communities, these came into wide usage in Russia in the 1990s. During the days of revolutionary enthusiasm, as part of the campaign to rid Russia of bourgeois culture, there was a drive to invent new, as a result, a large number of Soviet children were given unusual or atypical names. The patronymic name is based on the first name of the father and is written in all legal, if used with the first name, the patronymic always follows it. The patronymic is formed by a combination of the fathers name, the suffix -ович is used for son, suffix -овна - for daughter. For example, if the name was Иван, then the patronymic will be Иванович for a son
2.
Riga
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Riga is the capital and the largest city of Latvia. With 696,593 inhabitants, Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states, the city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Rigas territory covers 307.17 square kilometres and lies one and ten metres above sea level, on a flat and sandy plain. Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member, Rigas historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture. Riga was the European Capital of Culture during 2014, along with Umeå in Sweden, Riga hosted the 2006 NATO Summit, the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, and the 2006 IIHF Mens World Ice Hockey Championships. It is home to the European Unions office of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, Riga is served by Riga International Airport, the largest airport in the Baltic states. Riga is a member of Eurocities, the Union of the Baltic Cities, another theory could be that Riga was named after Riege, the German name for the River Rīdzene, a tributary of the Daugava. The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbour 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava — the site of todays Riga — has been recorded, as Duna Urbs and it was settled by the Livs, an ancient Finnic tribe. Riga began to develop as a centre of Viking trade during the early Middle Ages, Rigas inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry, and trading, later developing crafts. German traders began visiting Riga, establishing a nearby outpost in 1158, along with German traders also arrived the monk Meinhard of Segeberg to convert the Livonian pagans to Christianity. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity had already arrived in Latvia more than a century earlier, Meinhard settled among the Livs, building a castle and church at Ikšķile, upstream from Riga, and established his bishopric there. The Livs, however, continued to practice paganism and Meinhard died in Ikšķile in 1196, in 1198, the Bishop Berthold arrived with a contingent of crusaders and commenced a campaign of forced Christianization. Berthold was killed soon afterwards and his forces defeated, pope Innocent III issued a bull declaring a crusade against the Livonians. Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig of Uthlede, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Albert landed in Riga in 1200 with 23 ships and 500 Westphalian crusaders. In 1201, he transferred the seat of the Livonian bishopric from Ikšķile to Riga, the year 1201 also marked the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, via the Dvina. To defend territory and trade, Albert established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1202, open to nobles, in 1207, Albert started on fortification of the town. Emperor Philip invested Albert with Livonia as a fief and principality of the Holy Roman Empire, until then, it had been customary for crusaders to serve for a year and then return home
3.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
4.
Jessica Lange
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Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress who has received worldwide acclaim for her work in film, theater, and television. In 2016, Lange became the twenty-second thespian in history to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, Lange was discovered by producer Dino De Laurentiis while modeling part-time for the Wilhelmina modelling agency. She made her film debut in his 1976 remake of the 1933 action-adventure classic King Kong, for which she won her first Golden Globe Award. In 2010, she won her first Primetime Emmy Award for her portrayal of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis famed aunt, Big Edie, in addition to acting, Lange is a photographer with three published works. She has also been a parent and currently holds a Goodwill Ambassador position for UNICEF, specializing in HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lange was born in Cloquet, Minnesota, on April 20,1949 and her father, Albert John Lange, was a teacher and traveling salesman, and her mother, Dorothy Florence, was a housewife. She has two sisters, Ann and Jane, and a younger brother, George. Her paternal ancestry originates in Germany and the Netherlands, while her maternal ancestry originates in Finland, due to the nature of her fathers professions, her early home life was chaotic. Her family moved over a dozen times to various towns and cities in Minnesota before settling back down in her hometown, in 1967, she received an art scholarship to study art and photography at the University of Minnesota, where she met and began dating Spanish photographer Paco Grande. After the two married in 1971, Lange left college to pursue a bohemian lifestyle, opting to travel throughout the United States. The couple then moved to Paris, where they drifted apart, while in Paris, Lange studied mime theatre under the supervision of Étienne Decroux, and joined the Opéra-Comique as a dancer. While sharing an apartment with Jerry Hall and Grace Jones, she was discovered by fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez, in 1973, she returned to the States and began work in New York City as a waitress at the Lions Head Tavern in Greenwich Village. While modelling, Lange was discovered by Hollywood producer Dino De Laurentiis, who was looking to cast his next leading lady, Lange made her professional film debut in 1976s King Kong, beating out actresses Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn for the role of damsel in distress. However, renowned film critic Pauline Kael praised her, noting, Lange went on to win the 1976 Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. She would remain a favorite of Kaels, who would comment, She has a facial structure that the camera yearns for. A year later, she was contacted by director Bob Rafelson regarding a project on which he was working with Jack Nicholson, after his meeting with Lange, he wrote her name down on a piece of paper, placed it in an envelope, and sealed it. After several meetings and auditions with other actresses, the choice was between Lange and Meryl Streep. In the end, Rafelson offered Lange the lead role opposite Nicholson in his remake of the film noir
5.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
6.
Latvian language
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Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It was previously known in English as Lettish which remains the standard today in various forms in most other Germanic languages, there are about 1.3 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and 100,000 abroad. Altogether,2 million, or 80% of the population of Latvia, of those,1.16 million or 56% use it as their primary language at home. The use of the Latvian language in areas of social life in Latvia is increasing. Latvian is a Baltic language and is most closely related to Lithuanian, in addition there is some disagreement whether Latgalian and New Curonian, which are mutually intelligible with Latvian, should be considered varieties or separate languages. Latvian first appeared in Western print in the century with the reproduction of the Lords Prayer in Latvian in Sebastian Münsters Cosmographia Universalis. Latvian belongs to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family and it is one of two living Baltic languages with an official status. The Baltic languages are of particular interest to linguists because they retain many archaic features believed to have present in the early stages of the Proto-Indo-European language. There is some evidence to suggest the existence of a Balto-Slavic language group after the break-up of Proto-Indo-European, there exist a number of Baltic words that are similar to Sanskrit or Latin and which lack counterparts in Slavic languages. Latvian, Lithuanian, Armenian, Albanian, Slavic and Indo-Iranian languages are grouped as satem languages, while the possession of many archaic features is undeniable, the exact manner by which the Baltic languages have developed from the Proto-Indo-European language is not clear. According to some speculations, the Eastern Baltic languages split from Western Baltic between 400 and 600. The differentiation between Lithuanian and Latvian started after 800, with a period of being one language. At a minimum, transitional dialects existed until the 14th century or 15th century and this process of consolidation started in the 13th century after the Livonian Crusade and forced christianization. These tribes came under Livonian rule thus forming a political, economic. The oldest known examples of written Latvian are from a 1530 translation of a made by Nikolaus Ramm. Until the 19th century, the Latvian language was influenced by the German language. In the middle of the 19th century the First Latvian National Awakening was started, led by “Young Latvians” who popularized the use of Latvian language, participants to this movement laid the foundations for standard Latvian and also popularized the Latvianization of loan words. However, in the 1880s, when Czar Alexander III came into power, during this period, some Latvian scholars even suggested adopting Cyrillic for use in Latvian
7.
Dancer
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Dance is a performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture, Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin. Other forms of movement are sometimes said to have a dance-like quality, including martial arts, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming. Theatrical dance, also called performance or concert dance, is intended primarily as a spectacle and it often tells a story, perhaps using mime, costume and scenery, or else it may simply interpret the musical accompaniment, which is often specially composed. Examples are western ballet and modern dance, Classical Indian dance and Chinese and Japanese song, most classical forms are centred upon dance alone, but performance dance may also appear in opera and other forms of musical theatre. Such dance seldom has any narrative, a group dance and a corps de ballet, a social partner dance and a pas de deux, differ profoundly. Even a solo dance may be solely for the satisfaction of the dancer. On the other hand, some cultures lay down strict rules as to the dances in which, for example. Archeological evidence for early dance includes 9, 000-year-old paintings in India at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka and it has been proposed that before the invention of written languages, dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from generation to generation. The use of dance in trance states and healing rituals is thought to have been another early factor in the social development of dance. References to dance can be found in very early recorded history, Greek dance is referred to by Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, the Bible and Talmud refer to many events related to dance, and contain over 30 different dance terms. In Chinese pottery as early as the Neolithic period, groups of people are depicted dancing in a line holding hands, Dance is further described in the Lüshi Chunqiu. Primitive dance in ancient China was associated with sorcery and shamanic rituals, during the first millennium BCE in India, many texts were composed which attempted to codify aspects of daily life. Bharata Munis Natyashastra is one of the earlier texts and it mainly deals with drama, in which dance plays an important part in Indian culture. It categorizes dance into four types - secular, ritual, abstract, the text elaborates various hand-gestures and classifies movements of the various limbs, steps and so on. A strong continuous tradition of dance has since continued in India, through to modern times, where it continues to play a role in culture, ritual, and, notably, the Bollywood entertainment industry. Many other contemporary dance forms can likewise be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, Dance is generally, though not exclusively, performed with the accompaniment of music and may or may not be performed in time to such music. Some dance may provide its own audible accompaniment in place of music, many early forms of music and dance were created for each other and are frequently performed together
8.
Actor
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Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements may apply for aid, which could vary from medical assistance, paying rent, or finding employment. Heros benefits are not meant to be a permanent crutch for needy creators, any granted aid is kept confidential. The Hero Initiative has two boards of directors, the Executive Board and the Fund Disbursement Board, former board members include founders Pat McCallum, editor-in-chief of Wizard Magazine, and Mike Richardson, publisher and founder of Dark Horse Comics. They are George Pérez, Roy Thomas, Charlie Novinskie, Dennis ONeil, John Romita Sr. the charity is currently supported by Dark Horse Comics, Dynamic Forces, Image Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Top Cow Productions, and Wizard Entertainment. The Hero Initiative utilizes many methods of fundraising, foremost is their annual art auction, auctioning donated original comics art-work at fan conventions. Year-long, they sell donated art and special edition comics at conventions, artists, writers, and publishers are invited to donate work, and fans are invited to donate money directly to the fund. ACTOR also sells a green Excelsior, wrist-band similar in design to the Livestrong wristband. The Hero Initiative was formerly known as A Commitment to Our Roots, or ACTOR, while the original name of the organization reflected the charitys goal, the acronym that resulted, ACTOR, more often confused people unfamiliar with the organization. 2006, George Pérez, John Romita, Sr.2007, Joe Kubert 2008, Nick Cardy 2009, Neal Adams 2010, Walt Simonson 2011, Stan Lee 2012, John Romita, Jr. The award recognizes one person in each year who demonstrates particular generosity and integrity in support of the overall comic book community. It debuted at the 2010 Harvey Awards ceremony held at the Baltimore Comic-Con
9.
Vaslav Nijinsky
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Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. He was celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations and he could dance en pointe, a rare skill among male dancers at the time and was admired for his seemingly gravity-defying leaps. Nijinsky was introduced to dance by his parents, who were senior dancers with the travelling Setov opera company and his older brother Stanislav Fomitch and younger sister Bronislava Nijinska also became dancers. At age nine Nijinsky was accepted at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, in 1907 he graduated and became a member of the Imperial Ballet, starting at the rank of coryphée instead of in the corps de ballet, already taking starring roles. His sister Bronia also became a dancer and choreographer, working closely with him for much of his career, in 1909 he joined the Ballets Russes, a new ballet company started by Sergei Diaghilev. The impresario took the Russian Ballets to Paris, where high-quality productions such as those of the Imperial Ballet were not known, Nijinsky became the companys star male dancer, causing an enormous stir amongst audiences whenever he performed. In ordinary life he appeared unremarkable and was withdrawn in conversation, in 1912 Nijinsky began choreographing original ballets, including Laprès-midi dun faune to music by Claude Debussy, Jeux, and Till Eulenspiegel. At the premiere of Le Sacre du Printemps in Paris, with music by Igor Stravinsky, faune caused controversy because of its sexually suggestive final scene. Nijinsky originally conceived Jeux as an interaction among three males, although Diaghilev insisted it be danced by one male and two females. In 1913 Nijinsky married Hungarian Romola de Pulszky while on tour with the company in South America and she had stalked the company and Nijinsky since 1912. The marriage caused a break with Diaghilev, who soon dismissed Nijinsky from the company, the couple had two daughters together, Kyra and Tamara Nijinska. With no alternative available, Nijinsky tried to form his own company. He was interned in Budapest, Hungary during World War I and he was finally permitted to leave after intervention by Diaghilev and international leaders, he was allowed to go to New York for an American tour. Calls for his release had been made by Alfonso XIII of Spain, Nijinsky became increasingly mentally unstable with the stresses of having to manage tours himself and deprived of opportunities to dance, which had always been his total obsession. After a tour of South America in 1917, and due to travel difficulties imposed by the war and his mental condition deteriorated, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1919 and committed to an asylum for the first time. For the next 30 years, he was in and out of institutions, Vaslav Nijinsky was born in 1889 or 1890 in Kiev, Russian Empire, as Wacław Niżyński, to ethnic Polish parents, touring dancers Tomasz Niżyński and Eleonora Bereda. He identified himself as Polish although he grew up in the interior of Russia with his parents, Eleanora, along with her two brothers and two sisters, was orphaned while still a child. She started to earn a living as an extra in Warsaws Grand Theatre Ballet, in 1868 her talent was spotted and she moved to Kiev as a solo dancer
10.
Rudolf Nureyev
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Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Soviet ballet dancer and choreographer. He was director of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1983 to 1989, named Lord of the Dance, Rudolf Nureyev is regarded as one of ballets most gifted male dancers. In addition to his prowess, Rudolf Nureyev was an accomplished choreographer. He produced his own interpretations of classical works, including Swan Lake, Giselle. Rudolf Nureyev had his career with the Mariinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg. He defected from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961 and this was the first defection of a Soviet artist during the Cold War and it created an international sensation. He went on to dance with The Royal Ballet in London and he was raised as the only son with three older sisters in a Tatar family in a village near Ufa in Bashkir ASSR, Soviet Union. When his mother took Rudolf Nureyev and his sisters into a performance of the ballet Song of the Cranes, as a child he was encouraged to dance in Bashkir folk performances and his precocity was soon noticed by teachers who encouraged him to train in Saint Petersburg. On a tour stop in Moscow with a ballet company. However, he felt that the Mariinsky Ballet school was the best, so he left the touring company. The ballet master Alexander Ivanovich Pushkin took an interest in him professionally and allowed Nureyev to live with him, upon his graduation in 1958, Nureyev joined the Kirov Ballet. He moved immediately beyond the level, and was given solo roles as a principal dancer from the outset. Rudolf Nureyev regularly partnered Natalya Dudinskaya, the companys senior ballerina, Natalia Dudinskaya,26 years his senior, chose him as her partner in the ballet Laurencia. Before long Rudolf Nureyev became one of the Soviet Unions best-known dancers, not long after, he was told by the Ministry of Culture that he would not be allowed to go abroad again. In one memorable incident, Nureyev interrupted a performance of Don Quixote for 40 minutes, insisting on dancing in tights and he relented in the end, but his preferred dress code was adopted in later performances. By the late 1950s, Rudolf Nureyev had become a sensation in the Soviet Union, furthermore, tensions between Rudolf Nureyev and the Mariinskys artistic director Konstantin Sergeyev, husband and former dance partner of Natalia Dudinskaya, were growing. After a representative of the French tour organizers saw Nureyev dance in Leningrad in 1960, the French organizers urged Soviet authorities to let him dance in Paris, in Paris, his performances electrified audiences and critics. Oliver Merlin in Le Monde wrote, I will never forget his arrival running across the back of the stage, and his catlike way of holding himself opposite the ramp
11.
Vladimir Vasiliev (dancer)
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Vladimir Viktorovich Vasiliev, born 18 April 1940 in Moscow, Soviet Union, was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet and its director from 1995 to 2000. Vladimir Vasiliev named God of the dance is regarded as a dancer on the same level as Rudolf Nureyev. He was best known for his role of Spartacus and his powerful leaps, Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova were the golden couple of Russian ballet. Vladimir Vasiliev was born in Moscow in 1940, the son of a truck driver, in 1947 with seven years, he joined the amateur ballet group of the Kirov pioneer group where he stayed two years. His first teacher was Elena Romanovna Rosse, Vladimir Vasiliev entered the Moscow Ballet School commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in 1947 and graduated in 1958 joining the Bolshoi Ballet. His teachers at the Moscow Ballet School included Aleksey Yermolayev, Vladimir Vasiliev became a principal dancer in 1959 in his second year with the Bolshoi Ballet. Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova both principal dancers were the couple of the Bolchoi Ballet. Dancing as a pair for the first time in 1949 as classmates at the Moscow Ballet School, new York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff described the excitement of one of Vasiliev’s U. S. This gave their performances an almost sacred aura, to which audiences gratefully responded, Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova gleaned wide exposure for their appearances in Franco Zeffirellis filmed version of Giuseppe Verdis opera La traviata of 1983. Both performed in Spanish costume, Vasiliev as a matador, in the divertissements composed for the equivalent of Act II, the couple was filmed in 1988 by French director Dominique Delouche in a film portrait “Katia et Volodia. He added that all his life his wife had been his inspiration for two qualities, her beauty and her capacity for hard work, the marriage lasted for 50 years until Ekaterina Maximova died in 2009. Numerous roles were created for Vladimir Vasiliev, and he performed throughout the world, usually partnering his wife, besides Maximova, Vasiliev’s famous partners included, Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Alicia Alonso, Carla Fracci, Rita Poelvoorde and Ambra Vallo. Having a body revealing great physical strength, Vladimir Vasiliev had not got ideal physical forms for a dancer from nature. He made enormous contributions to the development of classical male dance, embodying the strong new Bolshoi male. “Afterwards, we do them with what we find inside ourselves. ”Yet Vladimir Vasiliev is not as known in the west as such dancers as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, because he remained in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless he is regarded as a dancer on the same level as Nureyev. Russia’s influential ballet critic and choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov called Vladimir Vasiliev God of the dance and A miracle in art, perfection
12.
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
13.
Mariinsky Ballet
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The Mariinsky Ballet is the resident classical ballet company of the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, internationally, the Mariinsky Ballet continues to be known by its former Soviet name the Kirov Ballet. The Mariinsky Ballet is the parent company of the Vaganova Ballet Academy, the Mariinsky Ballet was founded in the 1740s, following the formation of the first Russian dance school in 1738. The Imperial Theatre School as it was known, was established on 4 May 1738. It would become the predecessor of todays Vaganova Ballet Academy, the schools founder director was the French ballet master and teacher Jean-Baptiste Landé and the purpose of creating the school was to train young dancers to form the first Russian ballet company. The first group of students included twelve boys and twelve girls, following the Russian Revolution, the Soviet government decided that the ballet school and company were unwanted symbols of the tsarist regime and went on to close them both. Following the assassination of the Bolshevik revolutionary Sergey Kirov in 1934, the then Soviet Ballet was renamed the Kirov Ballet, a name which is still sometimes incorrectly used. Despite later name changes and pressures of the Russian revolution, the present day Mariinsky Ballet is still linked to the school, the Mariinsky Ballet is today recognised as one of the worlds greatest ballet companies, employing over 200 dancers, including a reserve troupe and character artists. The Director of the Mariinsky Ballet is Yuri Fateyev, gergiev also serves as Director of the opera company. The two companies operate as separate units, the basis of the Mariinsky Ballet consists of the following artists, For a number of years, Marius Petipa was the ballet master of the Imperial Russian Ballet. NY Times article by Lawrence van Gelder, March 25,2008 Kennedy Center, Information about Mariinsky Ballet accessed 4 October 2008
14.
Leningrad
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Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
15.
New York City Ballet
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New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Léon Barzin was the companys first music director, Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. In a 1946 letter, Kirstein stated, The only justification I have is to enable Balanchine to do exactly what he wants to do in the way he wants to do it. He served as the companys General Director from 1946 to 1989, developing and sustaining it by his organizational, the company was named New York City Ballet in 1948 when it became resident at City Center of Music and Drama. Its success was marked by its move to the New York State Theater, now David H. Koch Theater, the School of American Ballet, which Balanchine founded, is the training school of City Ballet. After the companys move to the State Theater, Balanchines creativity as a choreographer flourished and he created works that were the basis of the companys repertory until his death in 1983. His vision influenced dance both across the United States and in Europe and he worked closely with choreographer Jerome Robbins, who resumed his connection with the company in 1969 after having produced works for Broadway. City Ballet has performed The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream, City Ballet has trained and developed many great dancers since its formation. Also, many dancers with already developed reputations have joined City Ballet as principal dancers, the performance was repeated in 1968. In 1972 Balanchine offered a tribute to the composer, his great collaborator. Balanchine created Symphony in Three Movements, Duo Concertant, and Violin Concerto for the occasion and he and Robbins co-choreographed and performed in Pulcinella. Balanchine had produced an earlier Stravinsky festival in 1937 as balletmaster of the American Ballet while engaged by the Metropolitan Opera, the composer conducted the April 27th premiere of Card Party. In 1975 Balanchine paid his respects to the French composer Maurice Ravel with a two-week Hommage à Ravel, Balanchine, Robbins, Jacques dAmboise, and Taras made sixteen new ballets for the occasion. Repertory ballets were performed as well, high points included Balanchines Le Tombeau de Couperin and Robbins Mother Goose. In 1981 Balanchine planned a two-week NYCB festival honoring the Russian composer Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky, Balanchine, Joseph Duell, dAmboise, Peter Martins, Robbins, and Taras created twelve new dances. In addition to presenting these and repertory ballets, Balanchine re-choreographed his Mozartiana from 1933, Philip Johnson and John Burgees stage setting of translucent tubing was designed to be hung and lit in different architectural configurations throughout the entire festival. In 1982 Balanchine organized a celebration in honor of his long-time collaborator Igor Stravinsky. Balanchine made three new ballets, Tango, Élégie, and Persephone, and a new version of Variations, the choreographer died the following year
16.
George Balanchine
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Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its Artistic Director for more than 35 years. He was a known for his musicality, he expressed music with dance. Balanchine was invited to America in 1933 by an arts patron named Lincoln Kirstein. Along with Kirstein, Balanchine also co-founded the New York City Ballet, the rest of Balanchines Georgian side of the family comprised largely artists and soldiers. Little is known of Balanchines Russian, maternal side and his mother, Melitons second wife, Maria Nikolayevna Vasilyeva, was fond of ballet and viewed it as a form of social advancement from her lower reaches of the St. Petersburg society. She was eleven years younger than Meliton and rumored to have been his former housekeeper, as a child, Balanchine was not particularly interested in ballet, but his mother insisted that young Giorgi audition with his sister Tamara, who shared her mothers interest in the art. Georges brother Andria Balanchivadze instead followed his fathers love for music, tamaras career, on the other hand, was cut short by her death in unknown circumstances as she was trying to escape on a train from besieged Leningrad to Georgia. After graduating in 1921, Balanchine enrolled in the Petrograd Conservatory while working in the corps de ballet at the State Academic Theater for Opera and his studies at the conservatory included advanced piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition. Balanchine graduated from the conservatory during 1923, and danced as a member of the corps until 1924, while still in his teens, Balanchine choreographed his first work, a pas de deux named La Nuit. This was followed by duet, Enigma, with the dancers in bare feet rather than ballet shoes. During 1923, with dancers, Balanchine formed a small ensemble. At this time, the impresario Sergei Diaghilev invited Balanchine to join the Ballets Russes as a choreographer, Diaghilev soon promoted Balanchine to ballet master of the company and encouraged his choreography. Between 1924 and Diaghilevs death in 1929, Balanchine created nine ballets and he described it as the turning point in my life. Apollo is regarded as the original neoclassical ballet, apollo brought the male dancer to the forefront, giving him two solos within the ballet. Apollo is known for its minimalism, utilizing simple costumes and sets and this allowed the audience not to be distracted from the movement. Balanchine considered music to be the influence on choreography, as opposed to the narrative. Suffering a serious injury, Balanchine had to limit his dancing. After Diaghilevs death, the Ballets Russes went bankrupt, to earn money, Balanchine began to stage dances for Charles B
17.
American Ballet Theatre
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American Ballet Theatre is a classical ballet company based in New York City. It has an annual season at the Metropolitan Opera House in the spring and a shorter season at the David H. Koch Theater in the fall. ABT was founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant and is recognized as one of the leading classical ballet companies. ABT is also the parent company of the American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, in 1939, Pleasant and Chase developed big ideas to create a large scale company with an eclectic repertory. They and a group from Mordorkin Ballet formed Ballet Theatre. During this period, American Ballet Theatre shifted its focus to recruiting ballet stars, in 1977, the company began its spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, its new official venue, then in 1980 Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director for American Ballet Theatre. Baryshnikov staged, restaged, and refurbished numerous classical ballets and, according to the company, Baryshnikov was replaced by Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith in 1989, and the pair remained as Artistic Directors until in 1992 Kevin McKenzie was appointed. McKenzie satisfied the demands of the traditional ballet audience by prioritizing full-length narrative ballets as well as succeeding in keeping the company afloat during financially unstable times and they are, Apprentice, Corps de Ballet, Soloist and Principal. The American Ballet Theatres current Corps de Ballet includes, The American Ballet Theatres current apprentices includes
18.
Modern dance
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Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance, primarily arising out of Germany and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Modern dance is considered to have emerged as a rejection of. Socioeconomic and cultural factors contributed to its development. In the late 19th century, dance artists such as Isadora Duncan, Maud Allan, moving into the 1960s, new ideas about dance began to emerge, as a response to earlier dance forms and to social changes. Eventually, postmodern dance artists would reject the formalism of modern dance, and include such as performance art, contact improvisation, release technique. American modern dance can be divided into three periods or eras, Modern dance has evolved with each subsequent generation of participating artists. Artistic content has morphed and shifted from one choreographer to another, artists such as Graham and Horton developed techniques in the Central Modern Period that are still taught worldwide, and numerous other types of modern dance exist today. In America, increasing industrialization, the rise of a class, and the decline of Victorian social strictures led to, among other changes. It was in this atmosphere that a new dance was emerging as much from a rejection of social structures as from a dissatisfaction with ballet, womens colleges began offering aesthetic dance courses by the end of the 1880s. Emil Rath, who wrote at length about this emerging artform at the stated, Music and rhythmic bodily movement are twin sisters of art. 1877, Isadora Duncan was a predecessor of modern dance with her stress on the center or torso, bare feet, loose hair, free-flowing costumes, and incorporation of humor into emotional expression. She was inspired by classical Greek arts, folk dances, social dances, nature, natural forces, and new American athleticism such as skipping, running, jumping, leaping and she thought that ballet was ugly and meaningless gymnastics. Although she returned to the United States at various points in her life and she returned to Europe and died in Nice in 1927. 1891, Loie Fuller began experimenting with the effect that gas lighting had on her silk costumes, Fuller developed a form of natural movement and improvisation techniques that were used in conjunction with her revolutionary lighting equipment and translucent silk costumes. She patented her apparatus and methods of lighting that included the use of coloured gels and burning chemicals for luminescence. 1905, Ruth St. Denis, influenced by the actress Sarah Bernhardt and Japanese dancer Sada Yacco, developed her translations of Indian culture and her performances quickly became popular and she toured extensively while researching Oriental culture and arts. Other pioneers included Kurt Jooss and Harald Kreutzberg, an accomplished choreographer, she was a founding artist of the first American Dance Festival in Bennington. Holm choreographed extensively in the fields of dance and musical theater
19.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Walter Brennan was the first winner of award for his role in Come. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 72 actors. Brennan has received the most awards in this category with three awards, Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, and Claude Rains were nominated on four occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Mahershala Ali is the most recent winner in category for his role as Juan in Moonlight. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com Complete Downloadable List of Academy Award Nominees
20.
Golden Globe
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Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual ceremony at which the awards are presented is a part of the film industrys awards season. The 74th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film, the 1st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish an honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as a figure within the entertainment industry. The official name of the award became the Cecil B. In 1963, the Miss Golden Globe concept was introduced, in its inaugural year, two Miss Golden Globes were named, one for film and one for television. The two Miss Golden Globes named that year were Eva Six and Donna Douglas, respectively, in 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned. It was unveiled at a conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show. The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, telecast to 167 countries worldwide, generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars, gervais returned to host the 68th and 69th Golden Globe Awards the next two years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the 70th, 71st and 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015, the Golden Globe Awards theme song, which debuted in 2012, was written by Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi. On January 7,2008, it was announced due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. In acting categories, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most competitive Golden Globe wins with eight, however, including honorary awards, such as the Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite Actor/Actress Award, or Cecil B. DeMille Award, Barbra Streisand leads with nine, additionally, Streisand won for composing the song Evergreen, producing the Best Picture, and directing Yentl in 1984. Jack Nicholson, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda and Shirley MacLaine have six awards each, behind them are Rosalind Russell and Jessica Lange with five wins. Meryl Streep also holds the record for most nominations with thirty, at the 46th Golden Globe Awards an anomaly occurred, a three way-tie for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
21.
The Turning Point (1977 film)
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The Turning Point is a 1977 American drama film centered on the world of ballet in New York City, written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Herbert Ross. The film stars Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft, along with Leslie Browne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, the film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The script is a version of the real-life Brown family. DeeDee left the company after becoming pregnant by Wayne, another dancer in the company. They marry and later move to Oklahoma City to run a dance studio, Emma stays with the company and eventually becomes a prima ballerina and well-known figure in the ballet community. While the company is on tour and performs a show in Oklahoma City, DeeDee and the go to see the show. The reunion stirs up old memories and things begin to ravel, at the party, DeeDees aspiring dancer/daughter, Emilia, who is also Emmas goddaughter, is invited to take class with the company the following day. After taking class with the company, Emilia is asked to join the company, DeeDee and Wayne decide that DeeDee should go to New York with Emilia, who is rather shy and doesnt make friends as easily as her younger sister. Meanwhile, their son, Ethan gets a scholarship to the summer program while Wayne. Once in New York, they rent several rooms in Carnegie Hall with Madame Dakharova, Emilia soon starts a relationship with a Russian playboy in the company, Yuri. DeeDee runs into the conductor of the company and has an affair with him. Meanwhile, Emma argues with Arnold, the choreographer, about giving her a role in his new ballet. Its also revealed Emma has been seeing a man, Carter. During rehearsal, Emilia has an argument with Arnold and storms out, going to a bar and she then shows up for the performance that night still intoxicated and Emma takes care of her, which angers DeeDee. Emilia suffers when she sees Yuri getting involved with another dancer, Emma and DeeDee eventually enter into major conflict. DeeDee resents that Emma dotes on Emilia, when she has criticized DeeDee for choosing family life over her career while Emma chose not to have children. DeeDee accuses Emma of being glad she got pregnant so Emma could play the lead in Anna Karenina, eventually, misunderstandings are settled, with Emma and DeeDee working things out after a physical altercation. Emilia is announced as the star of the season, and she and Yuri make up and agree to a professional partnership
22.
White Nights (1985 film)
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It was shot in Finland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and Austria. Taylor Hackford met his wife, Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren. Nikolai Kolya Rodchenko is a Soviet ballet dancer who had defected from the Soviet Union, the plane carrying him to a next performance in Tokyo has engine trouble and crashes in Siberia. He is hurt and is recognized by KGB officer Colonel Chaiko. Chaiko then contacts African-American tap dancer, Raymond Greenwood, who has defected to the Soviet Union, Chaiko wants Rodchenko to dance at the seasons opening night at the Kirov, and Greenwood to babysit Rodchenko. To convince Rodchenko, Chaiko uses Galina Ivanova, a ballerina who never left the Soviet Union and is an old flame of Rodchenko. After an initial period of racial and artistic friction, the two dancers become strong friends, while the escape plan is going on, Raymond chooses to stay behind to delay Chaiko, gaining time for Nikolai and Darya to get to the American Consulate at Leningrad. Even though Raymond is incarcerated when the plan is revealed, he is finally traded by the Soviets for a political prisoner from Latin America. The opening ballet sequence, Le Jeune Homme et La Mort, originally choreographed by Roland Petit in 1946 and performed anew by Baryshnikov, the gentleman paging the curtain for Baryshnikov is John Randall, the theatres technical director at the time. The following backstage scenes were filmed at the Albery Theatre in London, for the crash sequence at the start of the movie, a rebadged Aer Lingus Boeing 747 performed a touch-and-go landing at RAF Machrihanish. The plane crash sequence was filmed at Campbeltown Airport on the south-west coast of Scotland, mainly due to its remoteness and that the runway is around 1.7 miles long. Usually, at a time when movies would use models to crash-land an aircraft as expensive as a Boeing 747, the aircraft was built as ZS-CKC for South African Airways in July 1960 and retired with SAA in 1977. Its final registration was N90651, operated by PWA, Panama World Airways, due to the size differences, forced perspective was used to give the impression of a larger aircraft and short actors used in a brief sequence where a vehicle is almost hit. The film contains a performance by Maryam dAbo, later to star as a Bond girl in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. In 1985, many western Cold War movies supposedly set in Russia would use locations in the Finnish capital Helsinki with a style resembling Leningrad. These scenes were inserted into the movie, some being in-car scenes. A part of the movie was filmed at the Finnish island of Reposaari, asher Florence Faure as Ballerina White Nights received mixed reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the film was a success at the box office
23.
Gregory Hines
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Gregory Oliver Hines was an American dancer, actor, singer, and choreographer. Hines was born in New York City on February 14,1946, the son of Alma Iola and Maurice Robert Hines, a dancer, musician, Hines began tapping when he was two years old and began dancing semi-professionally at the age of five. After that, he and his older brother Maurice performed together, Gregory and Maurice also learned from veteran tap dancers, such as Howard Sims and The Nicholas Brothers, whenever they performed in the same venues. The two brothers were known as The Hines Kids, making appearances, and later as The Hines Brothers. When their father joined the act as a drummer, the name changed again in 1963 to Hines, Hines, Hines performed as the lead singer and musician in a rock band called Severance in the year of 1975-1976 based in Venice, California. Severance was one of the bands at an original music club called Honky Hoagies Handy Hangout. Severance released their album on Largo Records in 1976. In 1986, he sang a duet with Luther Vandross, entitled Theres Nothing Better Than Love, Hines made his movie debut in Mel Brookss History of the World, Part I. Critics took note of Hiness comedic charm, and he appeared in such movies as The Cotton Club, White Nights, Running Scared alongside Billy Crystal, Tap. On television, he starred in his own series in 1997 called The Gregory Hines Show on CBS, in 1999, he would return to voice Big Bill, in Nick Jr. s television show Little Bill. In 2000, he starred in The Tic Code, Hines made his Broadway debut with his brother in The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954. He earned Tony Award nominations for Eubie, comin Uptown, and Sophisticated Ladies, and won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Jellys Last Jam and the Theatre World Award for Eubie. In 1989, Gregory Hines created Gregory Hines Tap Dance in America, the PBS special featured seasoned tap dancers such as Savion Glover and Bunny Briggs. He also co-hosted the Tony Awards ceremony in 1995 and 2002, in 1990, Hines visited his idol, Sammy Davis, Jr. as he was dying of throat cancer, unable to speak. After Davis died, an emotional Hines spoke at Daviss funeral of how Sammy had made a gesture to him, Hines spoke of the honor that Sammy thought that Hines could carry on from where he left off. He did a lot of improvisation of tap steps, tap sounds and his improvisation was like that of a drummer, doing a solo and coming up with all sorts of rhythms. He also improvised the phrasing of a number of tap steps that he would come up with, a laid back dancer, he usually wore nice pants and a loose-fitting shirt. Although he inherited the roots and tradition of the black rhythmic tap, he influenced the new black rhythmic tap
24.
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Latvia or Latvia, was a republic of the Soviet Union. Its territory was conquered by Nazi Germany in June–July 1941. Soviet rule came to the end during the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and restoring its former state symbols - flag and anthem. The full independence of the Republic of Latvia was restored on 21 August 1991, during the 1991 Soviet coup détat attempt, on September 24,1939, the USSR entered the airspace of Estonia, flying numerous intelligence gathering operations. On September 25, Moscow demanded that Estonia sign a Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty that would allow the USSR to establish military bases, Latvia was next in line, as the USSR demanded the signing of a similar treaty. The authoritarian government of Kārlis Ulmanis accepted the ultimatum, signing the Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty on October 5,1939. On June 16,1940, after the USSR had already invaded Lithuania, hundreds of thousands Soviet troops entered Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. These additional Soviet military forces far outnumbered the armies of each country, the Latvian army did not fire a shot and was quickly decimated by purges and included in the Red Army. Ulmanis government resigned and was replaced by a government created under instructions from the USSR embassy. Up until the elections of the Peoples Parliament on July 14–15,1940 there were no public statements about governmental plans to introduce a Soviet political order or to join the Soviet Union. Soon after the occupation, the Communist Party of Latvia was legalized as the legal party. It was the only permitted participant in the election, after an attempt by other politicians to include the Democratic Bloc on the ballot was prevented by the government and its office was closed, election leaflets confiscated and its leaders arrested. The election results themselves were fabricated, the Soviet press service released them so early that they appeared in a London newspaper a full 24 hours before the polls had closed, all Soviet army personnel present in the country were allowed to vote. The newly elected Peoples Parliament convened on 21 July to declare the creation of the Latvian SSR, on August 5, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union completed the process of annexation by accepting the Latvian petition, and formally incorporated Latvia into the Soviet Union. Some of the Latvian diplomats stayed in the West and the Latvian Diplomatic Service continued to advocate the cause of Latvias freedom for the next 50 years. Therefore, the history of Soviet Latvia can broadly be divided in the periods of rule by the First Secretaries, Jānis Kalnbērziņš, Arvīds Pelše, Augusts Voss, in the following months of 1940 the Soviet Constitution and criminal code were introduced. The sham elections of July 1940 were followed by elections to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union in January 1941, the remaining Baltic Germans and anyone who could claim to be one emigrated to the German Reich. On August 7,1940 all print media and printing houses were nationalized, most of the existing magazines and newspapers were discontinued or appeared under new, Soviet names
25.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
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Russians
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Russians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. The majority of Russians inhabit the state of Russia, while notable minorities exist in Ukraine, Kazakhstan. A large Russian diaspora exists all over the world, with numbers in the United States, Germany, Israel. Russians are the most numerous group in Europe. They are predominantly Orthodox Christians by religion, the Russian language is official in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and also spoken as a secondary language in many former Soviet states. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians. One is русские, which most often means ethnic Russians, another is россияне, which means citizens of Russia. The former word refers to ethnic Russians, regardless of what country they live in, under certain circumstances this term may or may not extend to denote members of other Russian-speaking ethnic groups from Russia, or from the former Soviet Union. The latter word refers to all people holding citizenship of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity, translations into other languages often do not distinguish these two groups. The name of the Russians derives from the Rus people, the name Rus would then have the same origin as the Finnish and Estonian names for Sweden, Ruotsi and Rootsi. According to other theories the name Rus is derived from Proto-Slavic *roud-s-ь, the modern Russians formed from two groups of East Slavic tribes, Northern and Southern. The tribes involved included the Krivichs, Ilmen Slavs, Radimichs, Vyatiches, genetic studies show that modern Russians do not differ significantly from Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some ethnographers, like Zelenin, affirm that Russians are more similar to Belarusians, such Uralic peoples included the Merya and the Muromians. Outside archaeological remains, little is known about the predecessors to Russians in general prior to 859 AD when the Primary Chronicle starts its records and it is thought that by 600 AD, the Slavs had split linguistically into southern, western, and eastern branches. Later, both Belarusians and South Russians formed on this ethnic linguistic ground, the same Slavic ethnic population also settled the present-day Tver Oblast and the region of Beloozero. With the Uralic substratum, they formed the tribes of the Krivichs, in 2010, the worlds Russian population was 129 million people of which 86% were in Russia,11. 5% in the CIS and Baltic countries, with a further 2. 5% living in other countries. Roughly 111 million ethnic Russians live in Russia, 80% of whom live in the European part of Russia, ethnic Russians historically migrated throughout the area of former Russian Empire and Soviet Union, sometimes encouraged to re-settle in borderlands by the Tsarist and later Soviet government. On some occasions ethnic Russian communities, such as Lipovans who settled in the Danube delta or Doukhobors in Canada, after the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War starting in 1917, many Russians were forced to leave their homeland fleeing the Bolshevik regime, and millions became refugees
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Vaganova School
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The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet is a school of classical ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 1957, the school was renamed in honor of the renowned pedagogue Agrippina Vaganova, the Vaganova Academy is the associate school of the Mariinsky Ballet, one of the worlds leading ballet companies. Students of the school have found employment with ballet and contemporary companies worldwide, such as the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Mikhailovsky Ballet. The school was established as the Imperial Theatrical School by decree of the Empress Anna on 4 May 1738 with the French Ballet Master Jean-Baptiste Lande as its director. The first classes occupied empty rooms in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the purpose of the school was to form Russias first professional dance company, which led to the formation of the Imperial Russian Ballet, the school becoming known as the Imperial Ballet School. The Imperial Russian Ballet is the predecessor of todays Mariinsky Ballet. Nearly all the teachers at the school were from Western Europe, including Franz Hilferding. The first Russian teacher to join the school was Ivan Valberg, since 1836, the school has been situated at 2 Rossi Street in St. Petersburg, which was renamed Leningrad after Vladimir Lenins death in 1924. The Imperial Ballet School was dissolved by the new Soviet government, the Imperial Russian Ballet was also dissolved and re-established as the Soviet Ballet. The company was renamed the Kirov Ballet following the assassination of Sergey Kirov in 1938. Agrippina Vaganova brought perhaps the most important developments in modern Russian Ballet and she graduated from the Imperial Ballet School in 1897 and danced with the Imperial Ballet, retiring from the stage early to pursue her teaching career following the Revolution. Vaganovas students would become some of the most famous dancers of all time, and in recognition of her achievements. There are a number of variations in the name of the school, the Vaganova academy which some consider the source of modern ballet is now over 275 years old. The Academy has over 300 students, as in other similar institutions, competition for a place at the school is very fierce, with over 3,000 children auditioning each year,300 of these being from St. Petersburg. Approximately 60 students are selected annually, with some 25 eventually graduating from the school having completed the course of training. The school employs approximately 75 dance teachers,30 piano teachers,40 academic teachers and 40 accompanists, the Rector of the academy is Nikolay Tsiskaridze and the Artistic Director is Zhanna Ayupova. Auditions for the school begin in June, and children must be at least 10 years old to apply, the audition process is divided into three sections. Aptitude, to assess the candidates proportions, height of jump, degree of turnout, as they progress through the school, the programme becomes more intensive, with new subjects being added to the curriculum as the students become more advanced
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St. Petersburg
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Saint Petersburg is Russias second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject, situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 271703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, between 1713 and 1728 and 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the government bodies moved to Moscow. Saint Petersburg is one of the cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. A large number of consulates, international corporations, banks. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress, at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, in a then called Ingermanland. A small town called Nyen grew up around it, Peter the Great was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he intended to have Russia gain a seaport in order to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, which was on the White Sea to the north, on May 1703121703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great captured Nyenskans, and soon replaced the fortress. On May 271703, closer to the estuary 5 km inland from the gulf), on Zayachy Island, he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress, which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia, tens of thousands of serfs died building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate, Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712,9 years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war, he referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital as early as 1704. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the bank of the Neva, near the Peter. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan, by 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be located on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed, but is evident in the layout of the streets, in 1716, Peter the Great appointed French Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences, University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great, in 1725, Peter died at the age of fifty-two. His endeavours to modernize Russia had met opposition from the Russian nobility—resulting in several attempts on his life
29.
Pas de deux
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In ballet, a pas de deux is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake. It is most often performed by a male and a female though there are exceptions, such as in the film White Nights, in which a pas de deux is performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. A grand pas de deux is a pas de deux that typically has five parts, consisting of an entrée. It is often considered to be the pièce de résistance and bravura highlight of a ballet and is performed by a leading pair of principal dancers. A grand pas de deux usually begins with an entrée, which serves as a prelude to. During the entrée, the dancers first appear on the stage and, typically with great pageantry, acknowledge each other, depending on the choreography, the ballerina and danseur may enter the stage simultaneously or at different times. The adagio or adage part of a pas de deux features graceful. In the adagio, the ballerina performs elegant, often slow, the danseur, in turn, strives to maintain a display of poise and seemingly effortless strength while providing support for the ballerina. Because of this support the adagio is sometimes called supported adagio, examples Upon completion of the adagio, the dancers separate and each dancer, in turn, takes center stage and performs a variation. In general, the variations are intended to showcase spectacular, acrobatic leaps and turns, as well as the skills, the danseurs variation is usually performed first, followed by the ballerinas variation. Examples The coda is the segment of a grand pas de deux. Elements of the pas de deux first appeared in the early 18th century as opening acts of operas and ballets in which a couple would perform identical dance steps. At that time and throughout the Baroque period, ballet dancing was evolving to show more dramatic content. For example, in The Loves of Mars and Venus ballet of 1717, Mars strove to portray gallantry, respect, ardent love and adoration, while Venus showed bashfulness, reciprocal love, and wishful looks. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries a romantic pas de deux emerged that involved physical contact. As the 19th century progressed, the became a showcase for the skills of the increasingly sophisticated ballerina. The ballets of the late 19th Century—particularly of those of Marius Petipa—introduced the concept of the pas de deux
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Giselle
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Giselle is a romantic ballet in two acts. It was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de lAcadémie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France on Monday,28 June 1841, the ballet was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, the prolific opera and ballet composer Adolphe Adam composed the music. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot created the choreography, the role of Giselle was intended for Carlotta Grisi as her debut piece for the Paris public. She became the first to dance the role and was the ballerina to dance it at the Opéra for many years. The ballet is about a peasant girl named Giselle, who dies of a heart after discovering her lover is betrothed to another. The Wilis, a group of women who dance men to death. They target her lover for death, but Giselles great love frees him from their grasp, the Wilis are particularly haunting characters. They are the spirits of virgin girls that died before they married and these creatures were very popular in Romantic era ballets. Although still appearing ethereal, watching the Wilis sweep the stage creates a mood that builds as the ballet continues. They are ruthless and hateful of men because they have all died of a broken heart, Giselle finds forgiveness in her heart for Albrecht, but she knows the Wilis will not do the same. Their goal is clear and they are relentless on their quest, the Wilis are one of the most iconic characters in Giselle. They leave an imprint in the mind as they dominate the second act. The following plot summary is that of the first performances in Paris with Grisi in the title role, the plot changed slightly in details as the years passed. The ballet opens on a sunny morning in the Rhineland during the Middle Ages. The grape harvest is in progress, Duke Albrecht of Silesia, a young nobleman, has fallen in love with a shy and beautiful peasant girl, Giselle, despite being betrothed to Bathilde, the daughter of the Duke of Courtland. Albrecht disguises himself as a humble villager called Loys in order to woo the innocent Giselle, with the help of his squire, Albrecht hides his fine attire and sword before coaxing Giselle out of her house to romance her as the harvest festivities begin. Hilarion, a gamekeeper, is also in love with Giselle and is highly suspicious of the newcomer Loys who has won Giselles affections
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New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
32.
Defection
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In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to one is bound by some tie. This term is applied, often pejoratively, to anyone who switches loyalty to another religion, sports team, political party. In that sense, the defector is often considered a traitor by their original side, the physical act of defection is usually in a manner which violates the laws of the nation or political entity from which the person is seeking to depart. By contrast, mere changes in citizenship, or working with allied militia, the Berlin Wall and fortifications along the Inner German border were erected by the Communist East German Democratic Republic in 1961 to enforce the policy. When people tried to defect from the GDR they were to be shot on sight, several hundred people were killed along the border in their Republikflucht attempt. Official crossings did exist, but permissions to leave temporarily or permanently were seldom granted, on the other hand, the GDR citizenship of some inconvenient East Germans was revoked, and they had to leave their home on short notice against their will. Others, like singer Wolf Biermann, were prohibited from returning to the GDR, during the Cold War, the many people illegally emigrating from the Soviet Union or Eastern Bloc to the West were called defectors. Westerners defected to the Eastern Bloc as well, often to avoid prosecution as spies, when the individual leaves his country and provides information to a foreign intelligence service, they are a HUMINT source defector. In some cases, defectors remain in the country or with the entity they were against. Intelligence services are concerned when debriefing defectors with the possibility of a fake defection. Alexander Mogilny, Soviet Hockey Player, who defected to the United States in 1988 and he was the first Soviet player to defect to play in the NHL. Aroldis Chapman, Cuban baseball pitcher, who defected to Andorra in 2009 before signing a Major League Baseball contract in 2010, josé Fernández, Cuban baseball player, who defected to the United States in 2008. Orlando Hernandez, Cuban baseball pitcher, who defected to the United States in 1997, arturo Sandoval, Cuban trumpeter, pianist, and composer, who defected to the United States in 1990. Nadia Comăneci, Romanian Olympic Gymnast, who defected to the United States in 1989, béla Károlyi and his wife Márta Károlyi, Romanian gymnastics coaches, who defected to the United States in 1981. Paquito DRivera, Cuban saxophonist and clarinetist, who defected to the United States in 1980, mikhail Baryshnikov, Soviet dancer, who defected to Canada in 1974, while in Toronto, touring with the Kirov Ballet. He later moved to the United States, natalia Makarova, Soviet dancer, who defected while in London in 1970. Rudolf Nureyev, Soviet dancer, who defected while in Paris touring with the Kirov Ballet in 1961, george Balanchine, Russian choreographer, who defected to the Weimar Republic in 1924
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Political asylum
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This right was already recognized by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Hebrews, from whom it was adopted into Western tradition. René Descartes fled to the Netherlands, Voltaire to England, and Thomas Hobbes to France, the Egyptians, Greeks, and Hebrews recognized a religious right of asylum, protecting criminals from legal action to some extent. This principle was adopted by the established Christian church, and various rules were developed that detailed how to qualify for protection. The Council of Orleans decided in 511, in the presence of Clovis I and this protection was extended to murderers, thieves and adulterers alike. In England, King Æthelberht of Kent proclaimed the first Anglo-Saxon laws on sanctuary in about 600 CE, however Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae says that the legendary pre-Saxon king Dunvallo Molmutius enacted sanctuary laws among the Molmutine Laws as recorded by Gildas. The laws of king Ethelred used the term grith, some of these items survive at various churches. Elsewhere, sanctuary held in an area around the church or abbey, sometimes extending in radius to as much as a mile, stone sanctuary crosses marked the boundaries of the area, some crosses still exist as well. Thus it could become a race between the felon and the law officers to the nearest sanctuary boundary. Serving of justice upon the fleet of foot could prove a difficult proposition, Church sanctuaries were regulated by common law. An asylum seeker had to confess his sins, surrender his weapons and those who did return faced execution under the law and/or excommunication from the Church. If the suspect chose to confess their guilt and abjure, they did so in a public ceremony and they would surrender their possessions to the church, and any landed property to the crown. The coroner, an official, would then choose a port city from which the fugitive should leave England. The fugitive would set out barefooted and bareheaded, carrying a wooden cross-staff as a symbol of protection under the church, theoretically they would stay to the main highway, reach the port and take the first ship out of England. In practice, however, the fugitive could get a distance away, abandon the cross-staff and take off. Knowing the grim options, some fugitives rejected both choices and opted for an escape from the asylum before the forty days were up, others simply made no choice and did nothing. Since it was illegal for the friends to break into an asylum. Henry VIII changed the rules of asylum, reducing to a short list the types of crimes which were allowed to claim asylum, the medieval system of asylum was finally abolished entirely by James I in 1623. Upon realizing this situation they would rush to sanctuary at the nearest church until it was safe to come out, a prime example is Queen Elizabeth Woodville, consort of Edward IV of England
34.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, Toronto is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is well known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, the name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto, meaning place where trees stand in the water. This refers to the end of what is now Lake Simcoe. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
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Royal Winnipeg Ballet
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The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is one of the worlds premier dance companies. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it is Canadas oldest ballet company and it was founded in 1939 as the Winnipeg Ballet Club by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally. The name was changed to the Winnipeg Ballet in 1941 and the company began touring Canada in 1945, in 1948, with the initiative of the Winnipeg Ballet, the Canadian Ballet Festival was formed. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet was granted its royal title in 1953 and it completed its first American tour in 1954. In June that year the RWBs rented premises were devastated by fire, Conductor Eric Wild served as the companys music director from 1955 to 1962. The company solidified its reputation under the directorship of Saskatchewan-born Arnold Spohr from 1958 to 1988. Spohr was succeeded by RWB principal dancer Henny Jurriëns who was assistant to Dutch National Ballet director Rudi van Dantzig. Jurriëns, however, died in a car accident in April 1989, in 1990 John Meehan from American Ballet Theatre became artistic director but left in 1993 following the companys persistent financial difficulties. William Whitener, formerly the director of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, was chosen to succeed Meehan. Continuing financial problems and dancer unrest, Whitener was released in less than two years later, André Lewis was appointed in 1996 as artistic director. Lewis decades-long association with the RWB began in 1975 when he was accepted into the Professional Division at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, in 1979, he was joined the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company and performed as a dancer with the RWB until 1990. Lewis roles include, Gunther in Nutcracker, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Company Music Director and Conductor is Tad Biernacki and Senior Ballet Master is Johnny W. Chang. The dancer most associated with the RWB has been Evelyn Hart, born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1956, Hart made her professional debut with the RWB in 1976. Both medals were awarded for her performance of Belong pas de deux, Hart was awarded the Order of Canada in 1983. She left the RWB in 2005, Peregrine was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1986. In 1992, Gweneth Lloyd, co-founder of the company, became the first recipient of the Governor Generals Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. The company spends 20 or more weeks a year on the road, the company also mounts four productions a year in Winnipegs performing arts venue, the Centennial Concert Hall. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, Professional Division is an exclusive, the school includes approximately 72 young dancers, selected from around the world, and graduates have international careers in top companies in Canada and abroad
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United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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