AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Critics and television viewers liked the series. In 1997, a movie based on "Leave It to Beaver" opened in theaters. In 2007, TV Land observed the show's 50th anniversary with a marathon (running many episodes in a row). In October 1957 the first toilet was seen on American television in "Captain Jack", the second episode of the series. The boys buy a baby alligator and keep it in the toilet tank of their bathroom.
Production Company: DHX Media Studio B Productions (in cartoon) Wildbrain (in The New Leave it to Beaver) Perez-Minton Productions, Inc. MGA Entertainment DLHG Productions Moonscoop CJ Entertainment Magnet Productions Dolman Entertainment
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) is a science fiction movie. It was written and directed by Ed Wood It stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Lyle Talbot, Tor Johnson, Maila Nurmi (Vampira), and Criswell. Some footage of Bela Lugosi as the "Old Man" was edited into the movie after Lugosi's death.
The movie is about aliens who want to stop humans from creating a weapon that will destroy the universe. To do this, the aliens put their "Plan 9" in operation. This is a scheme to bring Earth's dead back to life. This plan will get Earth's attention and chaos will follow.
For years, the movie was aired on television without much notice. In 1980 authors Michael Medved and Harry Medved called "Plan 9 from Outer Space" the "worst movie ever made". They posthumously awarded their Golden Turkey Award to Wood as the worst director ever.
Alannah Myles (b. December 25, 1958, Toronto) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and producer. She began her career as an actress. Myles began singing professionally around 1979 but was rejected by all record labels in Canada. After recording 3 masters and a video of "Just One Kiss" with Christopher Ward and David Tyson for her first album, she was immediately signed to an 8 album international contract by the head of A&R, Tunc Erim. Her first album was released on April 6, 1989. The first two singles released at the same time in Canada. They were "Love Is" and "Black Velvet". "Love is was released in the mainly English speaking west. It went to #1. "Black Velvet" was released in Quebec and went to #1 on French Canadian radio. "Black Velvet" was released internationally in 1990. It reached number one in many places. It stayed at #1 for two weeks in the United Kingdom. "Black Velvet" was a hit song released in the United States on Jan 9, 1990 as a single. This made Myles eligible for a Grammy Award. She won the award in 1991 for "Best Rock Vocal Performance-Female".
Henry IV, Pt. 1
Portland Winterhawks
Bal du moulin de la Galette
Bal du moulin de la Galette () (1876) is a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre. In the late 19th century, working class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into the evening. "Bal du moulin de la Galette" is a typical Impressionist snapshot of real life. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering light. The French painter Gustave Caillebotte owned the painting for about 20 years. When he died it became the property of the French Republic. From 1896 to 1929 the painting hung in the Musée du Luxembourg. From 1929 it hung in the Musée du Louvre. It was sent to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986. Renoir painted a smaller version of the picture with the same title. This painting is in a private collection. For many years it was owned by John Hay Whitney. On May 17, 1990, his widow sold it for US$78 million at Sotheby's in New York City. It was one of the most expensive artworks ever sold.
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (, UFRJ) is the largest federal universities of Brazil. It has a central campus in the city of Rio de Janeiro and two smaller ones. It was established in 1792 as a military college, and became a university in 1920. It is one the country's most prestigious universities.
The Federal University owns several hospitals and and several museums including the National Museum of Brazil.
Bride of Frankenstein (sometimes The Bride of Frankenstein) is a 1935 Universal Pictures science fiction horror movie. It is a sequel to Universal's "Frankenstein" (1931). "Bride" was directed by James Whale. It stars Boris Karloff, Elsa Lanchester, Colin Clive, and Ernest Thesiger.
The movie is based on a subplot in the book "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. It picks up where the movie "Frankenstein" leaves off. In "Bride", Henry Frankenstein drops his work in the laboratory. The Monster wants a mate. He forces Henry to create one.
Preparations for making "Bride" began shortly after "Frankenstein" opened in theaters. Photography started in January 1935. Many of the actors and crew from "Frankenstein" returned for "Bride". Critics and audiences loved the movie, but the censors found fault.
Today, the movie is considered Whale's masterpiece. The director and others involved in the production were homosexuals. Some viewers detect a gay sensibility in the movie. Some of Whale's associates have dismissed the idea.
The Wild One (1953) is an outlaw biker movie. The movie was based on a short story that told of the damage done to a small California town in 1947 by thousands of rowdy outlaw bikers. The movie was directed by László Benedek. It stars Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin (in his movie debut) as rival biker gang leaders. It is the first outlaw biker movie. Critics and teenagers liked the movie. It inspired fads such as sideburns.
The movie was based on the short story "The Cyclists' Raid" by Frank Rooney. Rooney wrote the story after seeing photos in a "Life" magazine showing the damage done by 4,000 bikers to a small town in California after a weekend spree of violence in 1947.
The story was published in "Harper's Magazine" in 1951. Kramer bought the sceen rights. Brando was leery about taking on the role of a lowlife bully after playing Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire". He accepted though because he liked the director and the movie's social commentary.
Johnny leads his biker gang into a small town. The club members are rowdy. They hang out at the cafe drinking beer. Kathie works in the cafe. Johnny takes a liking to her. He asks her out. She declines. Johnny learns that she is a policeman's daughter. He changes his mind about dating her.
Another biker gang rides into town. Their leader is Chino. He does not like Johnny. The two fight. Johnny wins. Chino's bikers vandalize the town and harass the townspeople. They tease Kathie. Johnny rescues her. The two ride into a park. Kathie is attracted to Johnny. He mauls her. She cries and runs off. Johnny rides after her.
The townspeople have had enough of the bikers. Some think Johnny assaulted Kathie. Johnny is caught by angry townsmen. They beat him, but he gets away on his motorcycle. The townspeople chase him. A tire iron is thrown. It hits Johnny and he falls from his bike. His motorcycle takes off without its rider. It hits and kills an old man.
The sheriff arrives with his deputies. Order is restored. Johnny is arrested for killing the old man. Two witnesses say that Johnny was not responsible for the old man's death. The bikers are ordered to leave town. Johnny goes back to the cafe to say goodbye to Kathie. He then leaves.
Dave Kehr of "The Chicago Reader" has written: "Legions of Brando impersonators have turned his performance in this seminal 1954 motorcycle movie into self-parody, but it's still a sleazy good time." "Variety" noted that the film "is long on suspense, brutality and sadism ... All performances are highly competent."
The Catholic Legion of Decency objected to the "excessive brutality, lack of moral compensation and suggestiveness" in "The Wild One". One French journalist described the movie as "the most unpleasant American movie ever seen." The magazine "Positif" described the movie as a masterpiece and "the [movie] of the year".
Brando has written: "The public's reaction to "The Wild One" was, I believe, a product of its time and circumstances. It was only seventy-nine minutes long, short by modern standards, and it looks dated and corny now; I don't think it has aged well."
Brando's sideburns inspired a fad. James Dean and Elvis Presley wore them. Brando's character was parodied by Harvey Lembeck in the "beach party" movies of the early 1960s.
Presley used Johnny's image as a model for his role in "Jailhouse Rock". James Dean bought a Triumph TR5 Trophy motorcycle like Brando's Triumph Thunderbird 6T motorcycle. For 2010, Triumph motorcycles introduced a range of clothing and promotional items inspired by Brando's image from "The Wild One".
Matilda (1996 movie)
Matilda is a fantasy movie. Danny DeVito directed the movie. The story is based on the novel called Matilda by Roald Dahl. TriStar Pictures released the movie on July 28, 1996. Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris are the stars of the movie. 6 1/2 (6 in a half)-7 year old kindergardener named Matilda (who lives with her abusive father who abuses her) got played by Mara Wilson.
Switching Channels
Switching Channels is a 1988 comedy starring Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve. This movie got mixed reviews and was a commercial failure when it came out. This movie was like "The Front Page", which was remade as "His Girl Friday". This was released in March of 1988.
The movie got mixed reviews from the critics.
The movie was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards: Burt Reynolds for Worst Actor and Christopher Reeve for Worst Supporting Actor.
W.G. Grace
W.G. Grace , (William Gilbert Grace, 18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English physician and cricketer.
Grace, always known as 'W.G.', was one of the greatest players, and was important in the development of the sport. He played first-class cricket for a record-equalling 44 seasons, from 1865 to 1908, during which he captained England, Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, the Gentlemen, MCC, the United South of England Eleven and several other teams. He came from a cricketing family. In 1880 W.G. with E.M. Grace, one of his elder brothers, and Fred Grace, his younger brother, was the first time three brothers played together in Test cricket. His father and a cousin were also good players.
Right-handed as both batsman and bowler, Grace dominated the sport during his career. His technical innovations and enormous influence had a lasting effect. An outstanding all-rounder, he excelled at batting, bowling and fielding. It is for his batting that he is most renowned. Usually opening the innings, he was admired for his mastery of all strokes: his level of expertise was said by contemporary reviewers to be unique. He generally captained the teams he played for at all levels because of his skill and tactical know-how, and his dominant personality.
Grace qualified as a medical practitioner in 1879. Because of his medical profession, he was nominally an amateur cricketer but he is said to have made more money from cricket than any professional. He was a very competitive player. Although he was one of the most famous men in England, he was also one of the most controversial on account of his gamesmanship and his financial skill.
He took part in other sports: as a young man he was a champion 440 yard hurdler, and also played football for the Wanderers. In later life, he developed enthusiasm for golf, lawn bowls and curling.
Test cricket began in 1877, when Grace was already 28. He made his debut in 1880, scoring England's first-ever Test century against Australia. He played for England in 22 Tests through the 1880s and 1890s, all of them against Australia. He was an automatic selection for England at home, but his only Test-playing tour of Australia was that of 1891–92.
Grace's most significant Test was England v Australia in 1882 at The Oval. Thanks to Spofforth, the 'demon bowler', who took 14 wickets in the match, Australia won by 7 runs and the legend of The Ashes was born. Grace scored only 4 and 32, and he was held responsible for "firing up" Spofforth. This came about through a piece of gamesmanship by Grace when he made an unsporting, but legal, run out of one of the Australian batsmen. Grace died of a heart attack.
Jōryaku
Eihō
Ōtoku
Kanji (era)
Terry Crews
Terrence Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist, and comedian. He is known for appearing in "Everybody Hates Chris", "The Expendables", "White Chicks", "The 6th Day", "Norbit", "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", and other movies and television series. He is a retired NFL player. Crews is from Flint, Michigan. Crews was the host of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" on September 2014 until May 2015 due to his busy schedule. He was replaced by Chris Harrison in September 2015.
A galette is a term used in French cuisine for various types of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes.
One notable type is the "galette des Rois" ('King cake') eaten on the day of Epiphany. In Quebec, the term "galette" is usually applied to pastries best described as large cookies.
Galette is also the name given in most French "crêperies" to savoury buckwheat flour pancakes. Those made from wheat flour, much smaller in size and mostly served with a sweet filling, are called crêpes.
Air Buddies
List of bridges in Canada
This list of bridges in Canada is organized by province and territory.
List of bridges in the United Kingdom
List of main bridges in the United Kingdom is a work in progress.
Kahō
New Girl is an American television sitcom set in Los Angeles. It began on September 20, 2011 and is shown on Fox. It stars Zooey Deschanel as Jess Day, a teacher who moves in with three young men she meets on the Internet after separating from her partner with whom she lived.
Oppuurs
Oppuurs is a small town in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is a part of the municipality of Sint-Amands. Oppuurs has 2028 inhabitants . Oppuurs has an area of .
The first time Oppuurs was mentioned was in 1414, then called "Oppuedersel". In the 15th century, it was owned by the family Van der Calsteren. Later, Joost Snoy became the owner. In 1664, it got the title of barony. At the 7th of mai 1818, Idisbalda-Ghislain Snoy was appointed to mayor by the king. Later, in 1777 the properties were bought by Philippe Ghislain Snoy, who became baron.
Oppuurs belonged to the parish of Puurs and was separated in 1803. It was an independent municipality until 1976. Then, it became, along with Lippelo, part of the municipality of Sint-Amands.
The title of "Baron Snoy et d'Oppuers" still exists today.
List of languages by writing system
This is a list of languages which uses writing system to sort.
Many languages of Russia and Central Asia before replacement with Latin and later Cyrillic
Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American comedian, model, movie and television actress and studio executive. She was the star of the sitcoms "I Love Lucy", "The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour", "The Lucy Show", "Here's Lucy" and "Life With Lucy". Ball was one of the most popular and powerful actors in the United States during her lifetime. She also had one of Hollywood's longest careers.
Ball began acting in the 1930s. She became both a radio actress and B-movie star in the 1940s. Her television career began in the 1950s. She was still making movies in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1962, Ball became the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu. This studio made many successful and popular television series.
Ball was born to Henry Durrell Ball (September 16, 1887 – February 19, 1915) and Desiree "DeDe" Evelyn Hunt (September 21, 1892 – July 20, 1977) in Jamestown, New York. Her family was Baptist. She was of French, Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry. She had a brother Fred Henry Ball (July 17, 1915 – February 5, 2007).
In 1929, Ball got work as a model. She later began her performing career on Broadway using the stage name Diane Belmont. She was in many small movie roles in the 1930s. She worked for RKO Radio Pictures at the time. Ball was named the "Queen of the Bs".
In 1951, Ball was important in the creation of the television series "I Love Lucy". The show ended in 1957 after 180 episodes. Then, some small changes were made to the series format. The time-length of the series was changed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The first program lasted 75 mins. Some new characters were added. The story was changed. After these changes, the program was renamed "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour". It was shown from 1957 until 1960.
Ball went on to star in two more successful television series. The first was "The Lucy Show". It was shown on CBS from 1962 to 1968 (156 episodes). The other was "Here's Lucy". It was shown from 1968 to 1974 (144 episodes). Her last television series was in 1986. It was called "Life with Lucy". This program did not do very well. Only 8 of the 13 episodes that were made were shown on television.
Ball met and married Cuban band leader Desi Arnaz in 1940. On July 17, 1951, she gave birth to their first child, Lucie Désirée Arnaz. A year and a half later, Ball gave birth to their second child, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV, known as Desi Arnaz, Jr. Ball and Arnaz divorced on 4 May 1960.
On April 18, 1989, Ball said she had chest pains at her home in Beverly Hills and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had dissecting aortic aneurysm and had an eight-hour aortic transplant. The surgery worked, and Ball was soon able to walk around her room with very little help. She got a lot of get-well wishes.
On the morning of April 26, Ball awoke with bad back pains then lost consciousness. After, she died at 5:47 a.m. PDT at the age of 77. Doctors thought that Ball had succumbed to a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm not that related to her ascending aortic aneurysm and surgery. Ball had been a smoker most of her life, making her risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm higher.
Ball was nominated for an Emmy Award thirteen times. She won four times. In 1977 Ball was one of the first people to be given the Women in Film Crystal Award. She was given the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1979, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986, and the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 1989.
The Blob is a 1958 American science fiction horror movie. It was directed by Irvin Yeaworth. It was produced by Jack H. Harris. Paramount Pictures released the movie. The movie is about a giant jellylike blob that terrorizes a small town. "The Blob" marked Steve McQueen's movie debut. The movie's theme song, "Beware of the Blob", was written by Burt Bacharach and Mack David. It was remade in 1988.
Teenagers Steve and Jane are loitering in a Lover's Lane. They see an object in the night sky crash-land nearby. They investigate. It is The Blob, a jelly-like thing from Outer Space that consumes flesh. It kills an old man, a doctor, and a nurse. It doubles in size after each feeding. Steve and Jane report their findings to the police. They are dismissed as crazy teenagers. In the meantime, The Blob has consumed many others.
Steve and Jane are cornered by The Blob in the grocery store. They seek refuge in the walk-in refrigerator. The Blob tries to ooze in under the door. It retreats. Steve and Jane escape. They set off the town's fire and air-raid alarms. The Blob enters the movie theatre. The customers run away screaming. The Blob oozes out of the theater. Jane's little brother runs into a diner. Jane and Steve follow him. They become trapped in the diner along with the owner and a waitress.
The Blob – now a huge mass – engulfs the diner. It begins to ooze in through the windows. The occupants go to the cellar. The police try to kill The Blob by dropping a power line onto it. This attempt fails. It only serves to set the diner ablaze. Inside, the diner's owner uses a CO2 fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire. This causes The Blob to recoil. The Blob cannot stand cold. The town's teenagers gather all the fire extinguishers they can find. They use them to freeze The Blob. The United States Air Force sends in a jet to carry The Blob to the North Pole. It will remain frozen forever.
Akita, Akita
Akita has been one of the most important cities in the Tōhoku region since ancient times.
The Ashina clan held this part of northern Japan (Mutsu Province) in the 15-16th centuries.
The Satake clan built Akita Castle in 1604.
The modern city of Akita was established on April 1, 1889.
Akita is the largest city on the western coast of the Tōhoku region.
Japanese clock
The Japanese clock is a device made to tell the time according to Japanese tradition.
These clocks were introduced to Japan via Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century.
In 1612, the clockmaker of Philip II of Spain created a working timepiece which became a gift for Tokugawa Ieyasu.
One of the major features of the Japanese clock is that it has a mechanism for measuring unequal temporal hours. Usual clock tells hours at same intervals, but in the Japanese traditional timekeeping practice, a day had six daytime units from sunrise to sunset and six night units from sunset to sunrise. Then the Japanese clock was designed to adapt to this practice.
Eichō
Polonaises Op. 40 (Chopin)
The Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1 (nicknamed the "Military" Polonaise) is a piece of music for solo piano. It was composed by Frédéric Chopin. It was published in 1838, with the Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2. Anton Rubinstein wrote that the Polonaise in A major is the symbol of Polish glory, while the Polonaise in C minor is the symbol of Polish tragedy.
The polonaise is a Polish dance in 3/4 time. It has a distinctive rhythmic pattern which this polonaise follows unflinchingly. The A major Polonaise is written in an A-B-A form, with the B section being a "Trio". The polonaise opens with an A major chord. It continues in a vigorously masculine manner. The tempo indication is Allegro con brio (Fast, with bravura). The trio section begins in D major. The short passage following the first section of the trio is distinguished with trills for both hands on low C-sharps an octave apart. These trills suggest drum rolls.
Charles Rosen writes, "Polonaises had been written by many composers before, including Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven; Schubert, in fact, wrote lots of them. But nothing like the violence of Chopin’s military polonaises, ... The military polonaises were certainly understood as political statements of patriotism for his country, which was struggling to obtain its freedom ... these military polonaises have a decidedly popular character ..."
Kinderszenen
Kinderszenen (original spelling "Kinderscenen", (), Opus 15, is a set of 13 pieces for solo piano by Robert Schumann. It was published in 1838. Schumann was looking back on his childhood when composing these pieces. He had originally written 30 movements for Scenes from Childhood. He chose only 13 for the final set. The unused movements were published years later in "Bunte Blätter", Opus 99, and "Albumblätter" ().
Schumann originally titled the work "Leichte Stücke" (). The titles for the individual pieces were only added after the music was complete. Schumann described the titles as "nothing more than delicate hints for execution and interpretation". Timothy Taylor has discussed Schumann's choice of titles for this work in the context of the changing situation of music in 19th century culture and economics. In 1974, Eric Sams noted that there is no known complete manuscript of "Kinderszenen".
Giselle; or, The Wilis is a romantic ballet in two acts. Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier wrote the story of the ballet. They based it on a short prose passage in Heinrich Heine's "De l'Allemagne". They also used Victor Hugo's poem "Fantômes". Adolphe Adam wrote the music. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot designed the dances. Carlotta Grisi danced the role of Giselle in the first production. The scenery was created by Pierre Cisceri.
The story is set in Germany during the Renaissance. Giselle is a peasant girl. She falls in love with Albrecht. He is a nobleman pretending to be a peasant boy. Giselle is shocked to discover Albrecht is going to marry the princess Bathilde. Her heart breaks. She goes mad (insane, crazy) and dies. One night, she rises from her grave. She wants to protect Albrecht from the Wilis. The Wilis are the ghostly spirits of dead girls. They force men to dance to their deaths.
The ballet was first performed in Paris on Monday 28 June 1841 at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique. It was a great success. It was staged almost at once by other ballet companies in Europe, Russia, and the United States. Grisi was declared another Taglioni. Taglioni was the age's greatest ballerina. Ballet historian Grace Robert writes ""Giselle" ... is the archetype of the ballets of the romantic age".
The ballet opens on an autumn morning in Germany. Giselle and Albrecht are in love. Hilarion is in love with Giselle, too. She does not love him though. He grows jealous. He promises to take revenge. Albrecht's gentle manners arouse Hilarion's suspicions. Albrecht is really a Duke. He is pretending to be a peasant. The peasant boys and girls start a waltz. Giselle asks Albrecht to dance with her. Giselle's mother says her daughter has a weak heart. She will die if she does not give up dancing. She is afraid that Giselle will become one of the Wilis. The Wilis are ghostly female spirits. They dance men to death.
A hunting horn is heard in the distance. Albrecht becomes nervous. He hurries away with the peasants. The Prince of Courland, his daughter Bathilde, and their courtiers enter. They are looking for a place to rest after the hunt. Giselle and her mother bring them food and drink. Bathilde takes an interest in Giselle. They each say that they are in love, and soon to be married. Albrecht returns with the peasants. Bathilde says he is her future husband. Giselle is shocked. She goes mad and dies in her mother's arms. Albrecht is chased away by the peasants.
It is midnight in a dark wood. A pool of water is in the distance. Gamekeepers enter. Hilarion warns them that the spot is haunted by the Wilis. The gamekeepers run away. The Queen of the Wilis rises from the weeds to call the Wilis together. Giselle is about to become one of them. She rises from her grave. She dances. Albrecht enters to pray at Giselle's grave. He sees Giselle. They dance. The Wilis trap Hilarion. They force him to dance. They throw him into the pool to his death. The Queen of the Wilis wants Albrecht to die too. Giselle does not want this. She wants to save his life. Day breaks. The Wilis disappear. Giselle returns to her grave. Bathilde and the courtiers enter. They are looking for Albrecht. He falls into their arms exhausted.
The French Revolution (17891799) created a French middle class. These people did not like tastes and values of the aristocracy. These tastes and values had influenced French art and literature since the reign of Louis XIV. The power of the aristocracy had ended with the Revolution. Thousands of aristocrats had died on the guillotine, or in massacres. Many died in prisons, or had fled France for safety in other lands.
After the Revolution, French ballet directors and designers turned their attention to stories based on the Greek and Roman mythologies. The aristocracy liked these stories. The directors and designers however turned instead to the stories the middle class liked. These stories were based on real life, real places, past times, everyday people, and the supernatural.
Two ballets with such stories caused great excitement in Paris in the 1830s. In November 1831, Meyerbeer's opera "Robert le diable" had its first performance. It included a short ballet called "The Ballet of the Nuns". In this little ballet, dead nuns rise from their graves. They dance in the moonlight. The public loved this ballet. In March 1832, the ballet "La Sylphide" was performed. This ballet is about a beautiful sylph (fairy). She loves James, a young Scotsman. Tragedy occurs. James accidentally kills the sylph.
This ballet brought Marie Taglioni before the French public. She was the first to dance "en pointe". She did this for artistic reasons rather than spectacle. She was also the first to wear the white, bell-shaped, calf-length ballet skirt. This skirt is now considered an essential feature of the romantic ballet. Poet and critic Théophile Gautier attended the first performance of "La Sylphide". His ideas for "Giselle" would show touches of "La Sylphide" ten years later. It would be set in a real place and in the past, for example, and would be about everyday people and supernatural women.
In an 1841 news article announcing the first performance of "Giselle", Théophile Gautier recorded his part in the creation of the ballet. He had read Heinrich Heine's description of the Wilis in "De l'Allemagne", and thought these evil spirits would make a "pretty ballet". He planned their story for Act 2, and settled upon a verse by Victor Hugo called "Fantômes" to provide the inspiration for Act 1. This verse is about a beautiful 15 year old Spanish girl who loves to dance. She becomes too warm at a ball, and dies of a chill in the cool morning.
Heine's prose passage in "De l'Allemagne" tells of supernatural young women called the Wilis. They have died before their wedding day and rise from their graves in the middle of the night to dance. Any young man who crosses their path is forced to dance to his death. In another book, the Wilis are said to be jilted young women who have died and become vampires. This is assumed to be the reason that they hate men.
Gautier thought Heine's Wilis and Hugo's fifteen year old Spanish girl would make a good ballet story. His first idea was to present an empty ballroom glittering with crystal and candlelight. The Wilis would cast a spell over the floor. Giselle and other dancers would enter and whirl through the room, unable to resist the spell to keep them dancing. Giselle would try to keep her lover from partnering other girls. The Queen of the Wilis would enter, lay her cold hand on Giselle's heart, and the girl would drop dead.
Gautier was not satisfied with this story. It was basically a succession of dances with one moment of drama at its end. He had no experience writing ballet stories so he called upon Vernoy de St. Georges, a man who had written many stories for the ballet. St. Georges liked Gautier's basic idea of the frail young girl and the Wilis. He wrote the story of Giselle as it is known today in three days, and sent it to Léon Pillet, the director of the Paris Opéra.
Pillet wanted to present a beautiful young Italian dancer named Carlotta Grisi to the public. He considered "La Sylphide", but Adèle Dumilâtre reminded him that the role had been promised to her. A ballet in preparation, "La Rosière de Gand", was suggested, but Grisi objected. The role was too long and the story was not suitable for dance. Pillet needed a good story, and he found it in "Giselle". Grisi liked the story as much as Pillet did, so "Giselle" was put into development at once.
Adolphe Adam was a popular writer of ballet and opera music in early 19th-century France. He wrote with great speed. He completed "Giselle" in about two months. The music was written in the smooth, song-like style of the day called "cantilena". This style is well known to music lovers from Bellini's opera "Norma" and Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor".
Adam used several "leitmotifs" in the ballet. A "leitmotif" is a short musical phrase that is associated with a certain character, event, or idea. Adam's leitmotifs are heard several times throughout the ballet. A leitmotif is associated with Giselle, and another with Albrecht. Hilarion's motif marks his every entrance. It suggests the Fate theme in Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony". Another leitmotif is associated with the "he loves me, he loves me not" flower test in Act 1. This leitmotif is heard again in the mad scene, and in Act 2 when Giselle offers flowers to Albrecht. The Wilis have their own motif. It is heard in the overture, in Act 1 when Berthe tells the story of the Wilis, and in the mad scene. It is heard again in Act 2 when the Wilis make their first entrance. The hunting horn motif marks sudden surprises. This motif is heard when Albrecht is exposed as a nobleman.
The music was completely original with Adam. A critic noted however that Adam had borrowed eight bars from a romance by a Miss Puget and three bars from the huntsman's chorus in Carl Maria von Weber's opera "Euryanthé". In addition, two pieces by Friedrich Burgmüller were put into the ballet. One was a waltz called "Souvenir de Ratisbonne". The other music was a group of dances performed by Giselle's friends. It is unknown who put these pieces into the ballet.
One dance historian writes:
Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot designed the dances for "Giselle". Perrot and Carlotta Grisi were lovers, and Perrot designed all of Grisi's dances and all of her pantomime. Everyone in the Paris dance world knew that Perrot had designed Grisi's dances, and Coralli said so, but Perrot was given no official credit in the printed materials such as posters and programs. This was most likely done to prevent Perrot from collecting royalties (money, profits) on the ballet. Perrot liked bold touches and planned several rapid aerial swoops on wires in Act 2 for Giselle. Grisi was afraid of these swoops. A stage hand was brought in to test the swoops. He crashed face-first into the scenery. The swoops were abandoned.
Cyril Beaumont writes that "Giselle" is made up of two elementsdance and mime. Act 1 features short mimed scenes, he points out, and episodes of dancing which are fused with mime. In Act 2, mime has become fused entirely with dance. He writes that the choreographic vocabulary is composed of a small number of simple steps:
Beaumont speculates that the simple steps were deliberately planned to allow the "utmost expressiveness."
Parts of "Giselle" have been cut or changed since the ballet's first night. Giselle's Act 1 pantomime scene in which she tells Albrecht of her strange dream is cut. The peasant "pas de deux" in Act 1 is cut back a bit. The Prince of Courland and his daughter Bathilde used to make their entrance on horseback, but today they walk on. In the original production, the Prince and Bathilde were present at Giselle's death, but now they leave the scene before she dies. The machines used to make Giselle fly and to make her disappear are no longer used. A trapdoor is sometimes employed to make Giselle rise from her grave and then to make her sink into it at the end of Act 2.
At the end of Act 2, Bathilde formerly entered with the courtiers to search for Albrecht. He took a few unsteady steps toward them and collapsed into their arms. This moment was an artistic parallel to the Act 1 finale when the peasants gathered about the dead Giselle. Now, Bathilde and the courtiers are cut, and Albrecht slowly leaves the stage alone.
Ethnic music, dance, and costume were a large part of romantic ballet. At the time "Giselle" was written, people thought of Germany when they heard a waltz because the waltz was of German origin. Giselle makes her first entrance to the music of a waltz, and the audience would have known at once that the ballet was set in Germany. Adam wrote three waltzes for "Giselle": two for Giselle and one for the Wilis. Adam wrote that the "Giselle Waltz" in Act 1 has "all the German color indicated by the locality." People agreed. One critic wrote: "A lovely waltz ... in the Germanic spirit of the subject".
At first, Gautier thought that some of the dancers in the Act 2 waltz for the Wilis should dress in ethnic costume and dance ethnic steps. Adam put bits of French, Spanish, German, and Indian -sounding music in the waltz for this purpose. Gautier's "ethnic" idea was dropped as the ballet developed however, and it has not been picked up by modern producers. Today, Act 2 is a "ballet blanc"a "white" ballet in which all the ballerinas and the "corps de ballet" are dressed in full, white, bell-shaped skirts and the dances have a geometric design.
The historical period for "Giselle" is not indicated in the story. Paul Lormier, the chief costume designer at the Paris Opéra, probably consulted Gautier on this matter. It is also possible that Pillet had the ballet's budget in mind and decided to use the many Renaissance-style costumes in the Opéra's wardrobe for "Giselle". These costumes were said to have been those from Rossini's "William Tell" (1829) and Berlioz's "Benvenuto Cellini" (1838). Lormier certainly designed the costumes for the principal characters. His costumes were in use at the Opéra until the ballet was dropped from the repertory in 1853.
"Giselle" was revived in 1863 with new costumes by Lormier's assistant, Alfred Albert. Albert's costumes are closer to those of modern productions than those of Lormier, and were in use at the opera until 1868. The ballet was revived again in 1924 with scenery and costumes by Alexandre Benois. He wanted to revive the costumes of the original production but dropped the idea, believing the critics would charge him with a lack of imaginative creativity.
Pierre Luc Charles Ciceri was the chief set designer at the Paris Opéra from 1815 to 1847. He designed the sets for the first production of "Giselle". Gautier was not specific about the ballet's locale, but placed it in "some mysterious corner of Germany ... on the other side of the Rhine". This would have been the eastern side.
"Giselle" was two months in rehearsal. This was a very long rehearsal time for the period. Even so, Ciceri did not have enough time to design sets for both acts and focused on the second act. The sets for the first act were actually those designed for the 1838 ballet, "La Fille du Danube" by Adam. An illustration from "Les Beautés de l'Opera" of 1845 shows Giselle's cottage with a roof of straw on the left, and Albrecht's cottage on the right. The two cottages are framed by the branches of two large trees on either sides of the stage. Between the two cottages, in the distance, appears a castle and slopes covered with vineyards. Although this scene was not designed for "Giselle", it has remained the model for most modern productions. Ciceri's set was in use until the ballet was dropped from the repertoire in 1853. At that time, Gautier noticed that the sets were falling apart: "Giselle's cottage has barely three or four straws on its roof."
The Act 2 illustration from "Les Beautés" shows a dark wood with a pool of water in the distance. The branches of aged trees create an arch overhead. Beneath these branches on the left is a marble cross with 'Giselle' written on it. From one of its arms hangs the crown of grape leaves Giselle wore as Queen of the Vintage. On the stage, thick weeds and wildflowers (200 bulrushes and 120 branches of flowers) were the undergrowth. The gas jets of the footlights and those overhead suspended in the flies were turned low to create a mood of mystery and terror.
A circular hole was cut into the backdrop and covered with a transparent material. A strong light behind this hole represented the moon. The light was occasionally manipulated to suggest the passage of clouds. Gautier and St. Georges wanted the pool to be made of large mirrors. Pillet rejected this idea because of its cost. In the 1868 revival however, the mirrors were acquired for this scene.
Adam thought Ciceri's backdrop for Act 1 was "not so good ... it is all weak and pale" but he liked the set for Act 2: "[Ciceri's] second act is a delight, a dark humid forest filled with bulrushes and wild flowers, and ending with a sunrise, seen at first through the trees at the end of the piece, and very magical in its effect." The sunrise also delighted the critics.
The balletomanes of Paris became very excited as the opening night of "Giselle" approached. News reports kept their interest alive. Some reports said that Grisi had had an accident. Some reports said that the conductor was ill with a tumour. Still others said that the stage hands feared for their safety.
Hopes that the ballet would be ready in May were dashed. Opening night was postponed several times. Grisi was absent for a few days and her return was delayed to protect her health. Lighting, trapdoors, and scene changes needed further rehearsals. Cuts were made in Grisi's role to spare the dancer's health. Instead of returning to her tomb at the end of the ballet, it was decided Giselle would be placed on a bed of flowers and sink slowly into the earth. This touch preserved the romantic mood of the Act 2 finale.
At last, on Monday 28 June 1841, the curtain rose on "Giselle" in the Salle Le Peletier. Grisi played Giselle with Lucien Petipa as her lover Albrecht, M. Simon as the gamekeeper Hilarion, and Adèle Dumilâtre as Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis. Typical of the theatrical practices of the time, "Giselle" was preceded by an excerpt from another productionin this case, the third act of Rossini's opera, "Moise".
In spite of the chief machinist shouting orders to his crew that could be heard by the audience, "Giselle" was a great success. Grisi was a sensation. Ballet-goers regarded her as another Taglioni, the greatest ballerina of the period.
"Giselle" was a great artistic and commercial success. "Le Constitutionnel" praised Act 2 for its "poetic effects". "Moniteur des théâtres" wrote that Grisi "runs [and] flies across the stage like a gazelle in love". One critic made a detailed analysis of the music in "La France Musicale". He thought the Act 1 waltz "ravishing", and noted that the scene of Berthe's narrative was filled with "quite new" harmonic modulations. He praised other moments in Act 1 (especially the mad scene), and was in raptures with the music of Act 2, singling out the entrance of the Wilis and the viola solo played through Giselle's last moments. He thought the flute and harp music accompanying Giselle as she disappeared into her grave at ballet's end "full of tragic beauty."
Coralli was praised for the Act 1 peasant "pas de deux" and for the "elegance" of Act 2. Coralli followed a suggestion made by Gautier and picked the most beautiful girls in the company to play the peasants and the Wilis. One observer thought the selection process cruel: the almost-beautiful girls were turned away without a second thought.
Grisi and Petipa were great successes as the tragic lovers. Gautier praised their performance in Act 2, writing that the two dancers made the act "a real poem, a choreographic elegy full of charm and tenderness ... More than one eye that thought it was seeing only [dance] was surprised to find its vision obscured by a tearsomething that does not often happen in a ballet ... Grisi danced with a perfection ... that places her in the ranks between Elssler and Taglioni ... Her miming surpassed every expectation ... She is nature and artlessness personified."
Adam thought Petipa "charming" as both dancer and actor, and that he had "rehabilitated" male dancing with his performance. Of Dumilâtre he wrote, "... in spite of her coldness, [Dumilâtre] deserved the success she achieved by the correctness and the 'mythological' quality of her poses: perhaps this word may seem a little pretentious, but I can think of no other to express such cold and noble dancing as would suit Minerva in a merry mood, and in this respect [Dumilâtre] seems to bear a strong resemblamce to that goddess."
"Giselle" made 6500 francs between June and September 1841. This was twice the amount for the same time period in 1839. Grisi's salary was increased to make her the top earner among the dancers at the Opéra. Souvenirs were sold. Pictures of Grisi as Giselle were printed, and sheet music arrangements were made for social dancing. The sculptor Emile Thomas made a statuette of Giselle in her Act 2 costume. A silk cloth was manufactured called "façonné Giselle", and Madame Lainné, a milliner, sold an artificial flower called 'Giselle'. The ballet was parodied at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in October 1841.
"Giselle" was performed in Paris from its debut in 1841 to 1849. It was then dropped from the repertory. Grisi always danced the title role. The ballet was revived in 1852 and 1853, but without Grisi. The work was dropped from the repertory after 1853. It was revived in 1863 for a Russian ballerina then dropped in 1868. It was revived almost 50 years later in 1924 for the debut of Olga Spessivtzeva. This production was revived in 1932 and 1938.
"Giselle" was produced by other ballet companies in Europe and America almost immediately after its first night. The British had their first taste of "Giselle"not with the ballet but with a drama based on the ballet called "Giselle, or The Phantom Night Dancers" by William Moncrieff. He had seen the ballet in Paris the same year. The play was performed on 23 August 1841 at the Theatre Royal, Sadler's Wells.
The actual ballet was first staged in London at Her Majesty's Theatre on 12 March 1842 with Grisi as Giselle and Perrot as Albrecht. The dances were credited to Perrot and one Deshayes. It was revived many times, once in 1884 with a Mlle. Sismondi in the role of Albrecht. This production was received with little enthusiasm. It was preceded by the operetta "Pocahontas".
The ballet was staged by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in 1911 at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden with Tamara Karsavina and Nijinsky as Giselle and Albrecht. Anna Pavlova danced Giselle with her own company in 1913. Alicia Markova danced the role with the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1934, and Margot Fonteyn took the role in 1937 when Markova left the company. The English loved "Giselle". In 1942, for example, three different companies were dancing the ballet in London.
"Giselle" was first performed in Russia at the Bolshoi Theatre, St. Petersburg, on 18 December 1842. Gedeonov, the Director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, sent his Ballet Master Titus to Paris to find a new ballet for ballerina Elena Andreyanova. Titus picked "Giselle". The Ballet Master then staged the work completely from memory in St. Petersburg. Perrot produced "Giselle" in St. Petersburg in 1851. He made many changes to the ballet in his years of service to the Imperial Ballet. In the 1880s, Ballet Master Marius Petipa made many changes to the Perrot production.
"Giselle" was first staged in Italy at Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 17 January 1843. The music however was not Adam's, but that of one N. Bajetti. The dances were not the original either, but those of one A. Cortesi. It is possible, but unknown if, the ballet was first staged in the provincial theatres.
In 1844, American ballerina Mary Ann Lee arrived in Paris to study with Coralli for a year. She returned to the United States in 1841 with the directions for "Giselle" and other ballets. Lee was the first to present "Giselle" in the United States. She did this on 1 January 1846 in Boston at the Howard Athenæum. George Washington Smith played Albrecht. Lee danced "Giselle" (again with Smith) on 13 April 1846 at the Park Theatre in New York City.
Nijinsky was going to dance Albrecht for the first time in St. Petersburg in January 1911. The Czar and his family would be present. Diaghilev wanted Nijinsky to wear the Renaissance-style costume he had worn in Paris the same month. It was easier to dance in than the thick pants of traditional Russian Albrechts, but his genitals (though covered) could be detected. He was ordered not to wear it. Nijinsky said that he only wanted to dance well. According to Stravinsky, Nijinsky wore not much more than the tightest tights and a padded athletic supporter (jockstrap). The next day, the angry director of the Imperial Theatres ordered Nijinsky to apologize. Complaints about the dancer were collected here and there. Nijinsky knew Diaghilev would give him work, so he resigned. On 24 January 1911 he was officially dismissed from the Imperial Theatres.
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IONIS School of Technology and Management (IONIS STM) is a French private graduate school in information technology, computer science, energy, biotechnology and management.
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