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Bournonville, Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Bournonville, Auguste ōgüstˈ bo͞ornôNvēlˈ [key], 1805–79, Danish dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Bournonville studied in Copenhagen with his father Antoine, the ballet master, and in Pari...

Basie, Count

(Encyclopedia)Basie, Count (William Basie) bāˈsē [key], 1904–84, American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer, b. Red Bank, N.J. After working in dance halls and vaudeville in New York City, Basie moved to ...

Taglioni, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Taglioni, Maria, 1804–84, Italian ballerina, b. Stockholm. Taglioni is considered the first and foremost ballerina of the romantic period. She made her debut in Vienna in 1822 in a ballet created fo...

Ellington, Duke

(Encyclopedia)Ellington, Duke (Edward Kennedy Ellington), 1899–1974, American jazz musician and composer, b. Washington, D.C. Ellington made his first professional appearance as a jazz pianist in 1916. By 1918 he...

Nijinsky, Vaslav

(Encyclopedia)Nijinsky, Vaslav vəsläfˈ nyĭzhēnˈskē [key], 1890–1950, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer; brother of Bronislava Nijinska. Nijinsky is widely considered the greatest dancer of the 20th c...

Wichita, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Wichita wĭchˈĭtô [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Caddoan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They formerly occupied central Kan...

May Day

(Encyclopedia)May Day, first day of May. Its celebration probably originated in the spring fertility festivals of India and Egypt. The festival of the Roman goddess of spring, Flora, was celebrated from Apr. 28 to ...

Petipa, Marius

(Encyclopedia)Petipa, Marius märyüsˈ pĕtēpäˈ [key], 1818–1910, French dancer and choreographer, b. Marseilles. Petipa rose to prominence at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg. He was the principal crea...

Laurence, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Laurence, Margaret (Jean Margaret Laurence), 1926–87, Canadian novelist, b. Manitoba. She lived in Somaliland, Ghana, and England and many of her early works had an African setting. Laurence was par...

nativism

(Encyclopedia)nativism, in anthropology, social movement that proclaims the return to power of the natives of a colonized area and the resurgence of native culture, along with the decline of the colonizers. The ter...