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flamenco

(Encyclopedia)flamenco, Spanish music and dance typical of the Romani (Gypsy), or gitano. Flamenco dancing is characterized by colorful costumes, intense and erotic movements, stamping of the feet (zapateado), and ...

Powell, Dawn

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Dawn, 1896–1965, American novelist, b. Mt. Gilead, Ohio. She came to New York City in 1918 and settled several years later in Greenwich Village, where she spent most of the rest of her life ...

Petit, Roland

(Encyclopedia)Petit, Roland rōläNˈ pətēˈ [key], 1924–2011, French dancer and choreographer, b. Villemomble. Petit joined the Paris Opéra company at 15 and in 1948 founded Les Ballets de Paris de Roland Pe...

Carter, Angela

(Encyclopedia)Carter, Angela, 1940–92, English writer. She was a newspaper reporter before studying at the Univ. of Bristol (B.A., 1965), where she explored medieval literature, Freud, surrealism, and feminism, a...

Swift, Taylor Alison

(Encyclopedia) Swift, Taylor Alison, 1989- , American singer-songwriter, b. West Reading, Pa. A precocious songwriter, Swift moved to Nashville at age 15 hoping ...

Blakelock, Ralph Albert

(Encyclopedia)Blakelock, Ralph Albert, 1847–1919, American landscape painter, b. New York City. The son of a doctor, he was educated for a medical career but abandoned it for painting, in which he was largely sel...

Tate Gallery

(Encyclopedia)Tate Gallery, London, originally the National Gallery of British Art. The original building (in Millbank on the former site of Millbank Prison), with a collection of 65 modern British paintings, was g...

shipwreck

(Encyclopedia)shipwreck, complete or partial destruction of a vessel as a result of collision, fire, grounding, storm, explosion, or other mishap. In the ancient world sea travel was hazardous, but in modern times ...

Caere

(Encyclopedia)Caere sēˈrē [key], ancient city of Etruria, c.30 mi (50 km) N of Rome, Italy, at the site of the modern Cerveteri. Although a few miles from the sea, it had ports at Alsium (near modern Palo) and P...

Makeba, Miriam

(Encyclopedia)Makeba, Miriam məkāˈbə [key], 1932–2008, South African singer. She became the first black South African to achieve international fame and she played a fundamental role in introducing African mus...