title: Donny van de Beek

text: Van de Beek began his career as a boy with the local Veensche Boys' academy where his father, André, once played. In August 2014, he joined the Ajax youth academy signing a three-year contract, and was assigned to the D-team. He progressed further through the academy and featured in the A1 team Supercup victory against the Feyenoord A1 team. On 27 January 2015, he signed a contract extension, to keep him at the club until mid-2018.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: Van de Beek made his debut for Jong Ajax (the Ajax reserve team) in the Eerste Divisie against Sparta Rotterdam in January 2015. Two months later, manager Frank de Boer called him to the senior team for a league match against ADO Den Haag as an injury replacement. However, he was an unused substitute in that match. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he won the AFC Ajax Talent of the Future award.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: In November 2015, Van de Beek was called to the senior team for a UEFA Europa League match against Scottish club Celtic. He made his European debut in the match, which Ajax won 2–1. He termed his debut as "beautiful" and added: "I have taken my duels well. It was of course difficult because the game went back and forth continuously. But I think I did fine." Three days later, Van de Beek made his first team debut in a 2–0 league victory against PEC Zwolle. In the following month, he scored his first goal for Ajax in a 1–1 draw against Norwegian club Molde FK. As he scored the goal, his head collided with opposition player Joona Toivio's causing his left eyebrow to bleed. Commenting on the goal, he said that he would not soon forget it. The goal also won him the club's Goal of the Month award.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: "Voetbal International" reported in January 2016 that manager De Boer was impressed by Van de Beek and said he would continue to play with the first team "until further notice". After the departures of John Heitinga and Yaya Sanogo, he was officially promoted to the first team on 16 February. Media reports in March suggested that German club Bayern Munich was interested in signing him. By the end of the 2015–16 season, he cemented his position with the first team, and was also playing regularly for the Ajax under-19 team in the UEFA Youth League. Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" reported that Barcelona was considering options to secure his services.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: At the beginning of the 2016–17 season, new manager Peter Bosz included Van de Beek in the Ajax squad for the UEFA Champions League qualification match against Greek club PAOK for a couple of reasons: Bosz was impressed by Van de Beek's performance during pre-season friendlies in Austria, Riechedly Bazoer was injured and Nemanja Gudelj was suspended. On 26 July, he made his Champions League debut against PAOK, starting in the 1–1 draw. While playing for the reserves during the season he and Abdelhak Nouri were the only players who were given more than a 7.0 rating on average by "Voetbal International". In November, he was included in the Europa League Team of the Week for his performance against Panathinaikos. He was a part of a midfield trio with Nouri and Lasse Schöne. Van de Beek replaced Schöne in the 70th minute of the Europa League final against Manchester United, with Ajax losing the match 2–0.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: Commenting on Van de Beek's 2017–18 pre-season matches, the Dutch newspaper "Algemeen Dagblad" wrote that he had successfully filled the void created by the departure of Davy Klaassen who had recently moved to English club Everton. In October, English club Tottenham Hotspur scouted him in the Netherlands. He scored a goal in both legs of the Champions League qualifier against French club Nice. In the first leg, he scored an equaliser in the 36th minute of the 1–1 draw; taking an advantage of an error made by opposition goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale. In the second leg, he found the net in the first half of the 2–2 draw. On 18 November, Van de Beek scored a hat-trick in an 8–0 league victory against NAC Breda. Ajax captain Joël Veltman hailed the feat as "extra nice". He featured 34 times in the league and scored 11 times, besides adding six assists. In July 2018, he rejected an offer made by Italian club Roma citing that "Ajax is the right place for his development".


title: Donny van de Beek

text: Van de Beek played a pivotal role as the attacking midfielder for Ajax in the 2018–19 season, starting almost every match in all competitions, as the team won their first league title in five years and surprisingly qualified for the semi-final of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. Van de Beek scored against Juventus on 16 April in the second leg of the quarter-final to help his team knock out the Italian champion with a 3–2 on aggregate. On 7 May, he scored against Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the semi−final which resulted in a 1–0 away victory for Ajax. Nonetheless, Ajax did not manage to advance to the final, losing the tie on away goals after a 2–3 defeat at home. In the 2019–20 Champions League season, Van de Beek scored against Valencia in a 3–0 away win, and Chelsea in a 4–4 draw; however, Ajax lost 1–0 at home to Valencia to be eliminated from the group stage.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: On 30 August 2020, Ajax reached an agreement with English Premier League club Manchester United for the transfer of Van de Beek. The transfer was completed three days later with Van de Beek signing a five-year contract for a reported £35 million plus £5 million in add-ons. Van de Beek chose to wear the number 34 jersey as a tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a friendly in 2017 and went into an induced coma. Van de Beek had little involvement during his first season at Manchester United, starting only four Premier League matches. He made his debut in a friendly against Aston Villa on 12 September, before making his competitive debut as a substitute in the club's opening Premier League fixture at home to Crystal Palace on 19 September; he scored United's only goal in a 3–1 defeat.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: In his second year, he was not started in the Premier League at all, although he did get a few starts in the Champions League and the EFL Cup. In what turned out to be manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's final match, a 4–1 loss at Watford on 20 November 2021, Van de Beek was subbed in for only the third time in twelve Premier League matches, scoring his second and last Premier League goal for the club. Matters did not improve: in the ten Premier League matches under replacement managers Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick, he totalled only 9 minutes of playing time.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: On 31 January 2022, Van de Beek was loaned out to Premier League club Everton until the end of the 2021–22 season. He started five of the first six matches, but after that his stint at the club was marred by persistent thigh injuries and he only again played in the last Premier League match of the season, a 5–1 defeat against Arsenal; Van de Beek scored the Everton goal.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: Van de Beek played youth international football for the Netherlands at under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. On 11 September 2013, Van de Beek made his debut for the under-17 team against Germany. He was part of the squad that managed to reach the final of the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship after defeating Scotland in the semi-final. However, they finished runners-up to England.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: On 14 November 2017, Van de Beek made his senior international debut against Romania in a friendly match. He appeared in both games in the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals as a substitute, as the Netherlands defeated England 3–1 but lost to Portugal in the final 1–0. He scored his first international goal on 14 October 2020 in a 1–1 away draw against Italy in the UEFA Nations League.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: On 8 June 2021, Van De Beek was forced to withdraw from the Netherlands’ squad for the Euro 2020 campaign just days before the tournament got under way. It was disclosed by the Dutch FA that Van de Beek had been battling through injury and as a result, he had trained away from the main squad. It was confirmed that he could not recover in time and would withdraw from the Netherlands' squad entirely.


title: Donny van de Beek

text: A tactically versatile and hard-working player, Van de Beek is capable of playing anywhere in midfield. At Ajax, Van de Beek played mainly as a central or an attacking midfielder but can also play as a defensive midfielder. The Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" writes that he plays a more offensive role compared to his counterparts on other teams. "Goal.com" described Van de Beek as a player who has "excellent control and a great eye for a pass as he links up with the attack and is dangerous as he makes runs into the box". While playing for the Ajax academy, he was compared with Davy Klaassen. However, Van de Beek rejected the comparison and said that he was a player who wanted to keep the ball at his feet. Former Ajax captain Joël Veltman described Van de Beek as a player who "works very hard and can play between the lines".


title: Donny van de Beek

text: In 2019, Van de Beek began dating Estelle Bergkamp, daughter of former Netherlands striker Dennis Bergkamp. The couple's daughter, Lomee, was born on 9 April 2022.


title: Belle Époque

text: The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Third French Republic, it was a period characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, colonial expansion, and technological, scientific, and cultural innovations. In this era of France's cultural and artistic climate (particularly within Paris), the arts markedly flourished, with numerous masterpieces of literature, music, theatre, and visual art gaining extensive recognition.


title: Belle Époque

text: The Belle Époque was so named in retrospect, when it began to be considered a continental European "Golden Age" in contrast to the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars and World War I. The Belle Époque was a period in which, according to historian R. R. Palmer: "European civilisation achieved its greatest power in global politics, and also exerted its maximum influence upon peoples outside Europe."


title: Belle Époque

text: Two devastating world wars and their aftermath made the Belle Époque appear to be a time of "joie de vivre" (joy of living) in contrast to 20th century hardships. It was also a period of stability that France enjoyed after the tumult of the early years of the Third Republic, featuring defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the uprising of the Paris Commune, and the fall of General Georges Ernest Boulanger. The defeat of Boulanger, and the celebrations tied to the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, launched an era of optimism and affluence. French imperialism was in its prime. It was a cultural center of global influence, its educational, scientific and medical institutions were at the leading edge of Europe.


title: Belle Époque

text: It was not entirely the reality of life in Paris or in France, however. France had a large economic underclass who never experienced much of the Belle Époque's wonders and entertainments. Poverty remained endemic in Paris's urban slums and rural peasantry for decades after the Belle Époque ended. Conflicts between the government and the Roman Catholic Church were regular during the period. Some of the artistic elite saw the Fin de siècle in a pessimistic light.


title: Belle Époque

text: Those who were able to benefit from the prosperity of the era were drawn towards new forms of light entertainment during the Belle Époque, and the Parisian bourgeoisie, or the successful industrialists called the "nouveaux riches", became increasingly influenced by the habits and fads of the city's elite social class, known popularly as "Tout-Paris" ("all of Paris", or "everyone in Paris"). The Casino de Paris opened in 1890. For Paris's less affluent public, entertainment was provided by cabarets, bistros and music halls.


title: Belle Époque

text: The Moulin Rouge cabaret is a Paris landmark still open for business today. The Folies Bergère was another landmark venue. Burlesque performance styles were more mainstream in Belle Époque Paris than in more staid cities of Europe and America. Liane de Pougy, dancer, socialite and courtesan, was well known in Paris as a headline performer at top cabarets. Belle Époque dancers and singers such as Polaire, Mistinguett, Paulus, Eugénie Fougère, La Goulue and Jane Avril were Paris celebrities, some of whom modelled for Toulouse-Lautrec's iconic poster art. The Can-can dance was a popular 19th-century cabaret style that appears in Toulouse-Lautrec's posters from the era.


title: Belle Époque

text: The Eiffel Tower, built to serve as the grand entrance to the 1889 World's Fair held in Paris, became the accustomed symbol of the city, to its inhabitants and to visitors from around the world. Paris hosted another successful World's Fair in 1900, the Exposition Universelle. Paris had been profoundly changed by the Second Empire reforms to the city's architecture and public amenities. Haussmann's renovation of Paris changed its housing, street layouts, and green spaces. The walkable neighbourhoods were well-established by the Belle Époque.


title: Belle Époque

text: Cheap coal and cheap labour contributed to the cult of the orchid and made possible the perfection of fruits grown under glass, as the apparatus of state dinners extended to the upper classes. Exotic feathers and furs were more prominently featured in fashion than ever before, as "haute couture" was invented in Paris, the center of the Belle Époque, where fashion began to move in a yearly cycle. In Paris, restaurants such as Maxim's Paris achieved a new splendor and cachet as places for the rich to parade. Maxim's Paris was arguably the city's most exclusive restaurant. Bohemian lifestyles gained a different glamour, pursued in the cabarets of Montmartre.


title: Belle Époque

text: Large public buildings such as the Opéra Garnier devoted enormous spaces to interior designs as Art Nouveau show places. After the mid-19th century, railways linked all the major cities of Europe to spa towns like Biarritz, Deauville, Vichy, Arcachon and the French Riviera. Their carriages were rigorously divided into first-class and second-class, but the super-rich now began to commission private railway coaches, as exclusivity as well as display was a hallmark of opulent luxury.


title: Belle Époque

text: The years between the Franco-Prussian War and World War I were characterised by unusual political stability in Western and Central Europe. Although tensions between France and Germany persisted as a result of the French loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in 1871, a series of diplomatic conferences managed to mediate disputes that threatened the general peace: the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Berlin Congo Conference in 1884, and the Algeciras Conference in 1906. Indeed, for many Europeans during the Belle Époque, transnational, class-based affiliations were as important as national identities, particularly among aristocrats. An upper-class gentleman could travel through much of Western Europe without a passport and even reside abroad with minimal bureaucratic regulation. World War I, mass transportation, the spread of literacy, and various citizenship concerns changed this.


title: Belle Époque

text: The Belle Époque featured a class structure that ensured cheap labour. The Paris Métro underground railway system joined the omnibus and streetcar in transporting the working population, including those servants who did not live in the wealthy centers of cities. One result of this commuting was suburbanisation allowing working-class and upper-class neighbourhoods to be separated by large distances.


title: Belle Époque

text: Meanwhile, the international workers' movement also reorganised itself and reinforced pan-European, class-based identities among the classes whose labour supported the Belle Époque. The most notable transnational socialist organisation was the Second International. Anarchists of different affiliations were active during the period leading up to World War I. Political assassinations and assassination attempts were still rare in France (unlike in Russia) but there were some notable exceptions, including the killing of President Marie François Sadi Carnot in 1894. A bomb was detonated in the Chamber of Deputies of France in 1893, causing injuries but no deaths. Terrorism against civilians also occurred in 1894, perpetrated by Émile Henry, who killed a cafe patron and wounded several others.


title: Belle Époque

text: France enjoyed relative political stability at home during the Belle Époque. The sudden death of President Félix Faure while in office took the country by surprise, but had no destabilising effect on the government. The most serious political issue to face the country during this period was the Dreyfus affair. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason, with fabricated evidence from French government officials. Antisemitism directed at Dreyfus, and tolerated by the general French public in everyday society, was a central issue in the controversy and the court trials that followed. Public debate surrounding the Dreyfus Affair grew to an uproar after the publication of "J'Accuse…!", an open letter sent to newspapers by prominent novelist Émile Zola, condemning government corruption and French antisemitism. The Dreyfus affair consumed the interest of the French for several years and it received heavy newspaper coverage.


title: Belle Époque

text: European politics saw very few regime changes, the major exception being Portugal, which experienced a republican revolution in 1910. However, tensions between working-class socialist parties, bourgeois liberal parties, and landed or aristocratic conservative parties did increase in many countries, and it has been claimed that profound political instability belied the calm surface of European politics in the era. In fact, militarism and international tensions grew considerably between 1897 and 1914, and the immediate prewar years were marked by a general armaments competition in Europe. Additionally, this era was one of massive overseas colonialism, known as the New Imperialism. The most famous portion of this imperial expansion was the Scramble for Africa.


title: Belle Époque

text: Most of the great powers (and some minor ones such as Belgium, the Netherlands, or Denmark) became involved in imperialism, building their own overseas empires especially in Africa and Asia. Although there were numerous revolutions, civil wars and colonial insurrections, the most notable are: the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), two Boer Wars (1880–1881 and 1899–1902), the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), the First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895–1896), the Greco-Turkish War (1897), the Spanish-American War (1898), the Philippine-American War (1899–1902), the Russo-Japanese War (1905), and the Italo-Turkish War (1911–1912).


title: Belle Époque

text: The First Balkan War (1912–1913) and the Second Balkan War (1913) are considered prologues to the First World War (1914–1918), whose level of material and human destruction at the industrial level marks the end of the "Belle Époque".


title: Belle Époque

text: There were also notable diplomatic conflicts that could provoke world wars such as the 1890 British Ultimatum, the Fashoda Incident (1898), the First Moroccan Crisis (1905-1906), and the Second Moroccan Crisis (1911).


title: Belle Époque

text: The Belle Époque was an era of great scientific and technological advancement in Europe and the world in general. Inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution that became generally common in this era include the perfection of lightly sprung, noiseless carriages in a multitude of new fashionable forms, which were superseded towards the end of the era by the automobile, which was for its first decade a luxurious experiment for the well-heeled. French automobile manufacturers such as Peugeot were already pioneers in carriage manufacturing. Edouard Michelin invented removable pneumatic tires for bicycles and automobiles in the 1890s. The scooter and moped are also Belle Époque inventions.


title: Belle Époque

text: A number of French inventors patented products with a lasting impact on modern society. After the telephone joined the telegraph as a vehicle for rapid communication, French inventor Édouard Belin developed the Belinograph, or Wirephoto, to transmit photos by telephone. The electric light began to supersede gas lighting, and neon lights were invented in France.


title: Belle Époque

text: France was a leader of early cinema technology. The cinématographe was invented in France by Léon Bouly and put to use by Auguste and Louis Lumière, brothers who held the first film screenings in the world. The Lumière brothers made many other innovations in cinematography. It was during this era that the motion pictures were developed, though these did not become common until after World War I.


title: Belle Époque

text: Although the aeroplane remained a fascinating experiment, France was a leader in aviation. France established the world's first national air force in 1910. Two French inventors, Louis Breguet and Paul Cornu, made independent experiments with the first flying helicopters in 1907.


title: Belle Époque

text: Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity in 1896 while working with phosphorescent materials. His work confirmed and explained earlier observations regarding uranium salts by Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor in 1857.


title: Belle Époque

text: It was during this era that biologists and physicians finally came to understand the germ theory of disease, and the field of bacteriology was established. Louis Pasteur was perhaps the most famous scientist in France during this time. Pasteur developed pasteurisation and a rabies vaccine. Mathematician and physicist Henri Poincaré made important contributions to pure and applied mathematics, and also published books for the general public on mathematical and scientific subjects. Marie Skłodowska-Curie worked in France, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. Physicist Gabriel Lippmann invented integral imaging, still in use today.


title: Belle Époque

text: In 1890, Vincent van Gogh died. It was during the 1890s that his paintings achieved the admiration denied them during Van Gogh's life; first among other artists, then gradually among the public. Reactions against the ideals of the Impressionists characterised visual arts in Paris during the Belle Époque. Among the post-Impressionist movements in Paris were the Nabis, the Salon de la Rose + Croix, the Symbolist movement (also in poetry, music, and visual art), Fauvism, and early Modernism. Between 1900 and 1914, Expressionism took hold of many artists in Paris and Vienna. Early works of Cubism and Abstraction were exhibited. Foreign influences were being strongly felt in Paris as well. The official art school in Paris, the École des Beaux-Arts, held an exhibition of Japanese printmaking that changed approaches to graphic design, particular posters and book illustration (Aubrey Beardsley was influenced by a similar exhibit when he visited Paris during the 1890s). Exhibits of African tribal art also captured the imagination of Parisian artists at the turn of the 20th century.


title: Belle Époque

text: Art Nouveau is the most popularly recognised art movement to emerge from the period. This largely decorative style (Jugendstil in central Europe), characterised by its curvilinear forms, and nature-inspired motifs became prominent from the mid-1890s and dominated progressive design throughout much of Europe. Its use in public art in Paris, such as Hector Guimard's Paris Métro stations, has made it synonymous with the city.


title: Belle Époque

text: Prominent artists in Paris during the Belle Époque included post-Impressionists such as Odilon Redon, Gustave Moreau, Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Émile Bernard, Henri Rousseau, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (whose reputation improved substantially after his death), Giuseppe Amisani, and a young Pablo Picasso. More modern forms in sculpture also began to dominate as in the works of Paris-native Auguste Rodin.


title: Belle Époque

text: Although Impressionism in painting began well before the Belle Époque, it had initially been met with scepticism if not outright scorn by a public accustomed to the realist and representational art approved by the Academy. In 1890, Monet started his series "Haystacks". Impressionism, which had been considered the artistic avant-garde in the 1860s, did not gain widespread acceptance until after World War I. The academic painting style, associated with the Academy of Art in Paris, remained the most respected style among the public in Paris. Artists who appealed to the Belle Époque public include William-Adolphe Bouguereau, the English Pre-Raphaelite's John William Waterhouse, and Lord Leighton and his depictions of idyllic Roman scenes. More progressive tastes patronised the Barbizon school "plein-air" painters. These painters were associates of the Pre-Raphaelites, who inspired a generation of aesthetic-minded "Souls".


title: Belle Époque

text: Many successful examples of Art Nouveau, with notable regional variations, were built in France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Austria (the Vienna Secession), Hungary, Bohemia, Serbia, and Latvia. It soon spread around the world, including Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States.


title: Belle Époque

text: European literature underwent a major transformation during the Belle Époque. Literary realism and naturalism achieved new heights. Among the most famous French realist or naturalist authors are Guy de Maupassant and Émile Zola. Realism gradually developed into modernism, which emerged in the 1890s and came to dominate European literature during the Belle Époque's final years and throughout the interwar years. The Modernist classic "In Search of Lost Time" was begun by Marcel Proust in 1909, to be published after World War I. The works of German Thomas Mann had a huge impact in France as well, such as "Death in Venice", published in 1912. Colette shocked France with the publication of the sexually frank "Claudine" novel series, and other works. Joris-Karl Huysmans, who came to prominence in the mid-1880s, continued experimenting with themes and styles that would be associated with Symbolism and the Decadent movement, mostly in his book "à rebours". André Gide, Anatole France, Alain-Fournier, and Paul Bourget are among France's most popular fiction writers of the era.


title: Belle Époque

text: Among poets, the Symbolists such as Charles Baudelaire remained at the forefront. Although Baudelaire's poetry collection "Les Fleurs du mal" had been published in the 1850s, it exerted a strong influence on the next generation of poets and artists. The Decadent movement fascinated Parisians, intrigued by Paul Verlaine and above all Arthur Rimbaud, who became the archetypal "enfant terrible" of France. Rimbaud's "Illuminations" was published in 1886, and subsequently his other works were also published, influencing Surrealists and Modernists during the Belle Époque and after. Rimbaud's poems were the first works of free verse seen by the French public. Free verse and typographic experimentation also emerged in "Un coup de dés jamais n'abolira le hasard" by Stéphane Mallarmé, anticipating Dada and concrete poetry. Guillaume Apollinaire's poetry introduced themes and imagery from modern life to readers. "Cosmopolis: An International Monthly Review" had a far-reaching impact on European writers, and ran editions in London, Paris, Saint Petersburg, and Berlin.


title: Belle Époque

text: Paris's popular bourgeois theatre was dominated by the light farces of Georges Feydeau and cabaret performances. Theatre adopted new modern methods, including Expressionism, and many playwrights wrote plays that shocked contemporary audiences either with their frank depictions of everyday life and sexuality or with unusual artistic elements. Cabaret theatre also became popular.


title: Belle Époque

text: Musically, the Belle Époque was characterised by salon music. This was not considered serious music but, rather, short pieces considered accessible to a general audience. In addition to works for piano solo or violin and piano, the Belle Époque was famous for its large repertory of songs (mélodies, romanze, etc.). The Italians were the greatest proponents of this type of song, its greatest champion being Francesco Paolo Tosti. Though Tosti's songs never completely left the repertoire, salon music generally fell into a period of obscurity. Even as encores, singers were afraid to sing them at serious recitals. In that period, waltzes also flourished. Operettas were also at the peak of their popularity, with composers such as Johann Strauss III, Emmerich Kálmán, and Franz Lehár. Many Belle Époque composers working in Paris are still popular today: Igor Stravinsky, Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, Lili Boulanger, Jules Massenet, César Franck, Camille Saint-Saëns, Gabriel Fauré and his pupil, Maurice Ravel. According to Fauré and Ravel, the favoured composer of the Belle Époch was Edvard Grieg, who enjoyed the height of his popularity in both Parisian concert and salon life (despite his stance on the accused in the Dreyfus affair). Ravel and Delius agreed that French music of this time was simply "Edvard Grieg plus the third act of "Tristan"".


title: Belle Époque

text: Modern dance began to emerge as a powerful artistic development in theatre. Dancer Loie Fuller appeared at popular venues such as the Folies Bergère, and took her eclectic performance style abroad as well. Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes brought fame to Vaslav Nijinsky and established modern ballet technique. The Ballets Russes launched several ballet masterpieces, including "The Firebird" and "The Rite of Spring" (sometimes causing audience riots at the same time).


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Dangerous Liaisons is a 1988 American period romantic drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his 1985 play "Les liaisons dangereuses", itself adapted from the 1782 French novel of the same name by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: It stars Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman, Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick, Peter Capaldi and Keanu Reeves.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: "Dangerous Liaisons" was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 16, 1988. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances by Close and Pfeiffer and the screenplay, production values and costumes. Grossing $34.7 million against its $14 million budget, it was a modest box-office success.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: It received seven nominations at the 61st Academy Awards, including for the Best Picture, and won three: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: In pre-Revolution Paris, the Marquise de Merteuil plots revenge against her ex-lover, the Comte de Bastide, who recently ended their relationship. To soothe her wounded pride and embarrass Bastide, she seeks to arrange the seduction and disgrace of his young virgin fiancée, Cécile de Volanges, who has only recently been presented to society after spending her formative years in the shelter of a convent.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Merteuil calls on the similarly unprincipled Vicomte de Valmont, another ex-lover of hers, to do the deed. Valmont declines, as he is plotting to seduce Madame de Tourvel, the wife of a member of Parliament away in Burgundy and a current houseguest of Valmont's aunt, Madame de Rosemonde. Amused and incredulous at Valmont's hubris in pursuing the chaste, devoutly religious Tourvel, Merteuil ups the ante: if Valmont somehow succeeds in seducing Tourvel and can furnish written proof, Merteuil will sleep with him as well. Never one to refuse a challenge, Valmont accepts.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Tourvel rebuffs all of Valmont's advances. Searching for leverage, he instructs his page Azolan to seduce Tourvel's maid Julie and gain access to Tourvel's private correspondence. One of the letters intercepted is from Cécile's mother and Merteuil's cousin, Madame de Volanges, warning Tourvel that Valmont is nefarious and untrustworthy. Valmont resolves to seduce Cécile as revenge for her mother's accurate denunciation of him.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: At the opera, Cécile meets the charming and handsome Chevalier Raphael Danceny, who becomes her music teacher. They fall in love with coaxing from Merteuil, who knows that Danceny, a poor commoner, can never qualify as a bona fide suitor.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Valmont gains access to Cécile's bedchamber on a pretext, and sexually assaults her. As she pleads with him to leave, he blackmails her into giving up physical resistance, and the scene ends. On the pretext of illness, Cécile remains locked in her chambers, refusing all visitors. A concerned Madame de Volanges asks Merteuil to speak to Cécile; Cécile confides in Merteuil, naively assuming that she has Cécile's best interests at heart. Merteuil advises Cécile to welcome Valmont's advances; she says young women should take advantage of all the lovers they can acquire in a society so repressive and contemptuous of women. The result is a "student-teacher" relationship; by day, Cécile is courted by Danceny, and each night she receives a sexual "lesson" from Valmont. Merteuil begins an affair with Danceny.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: After a night in Valmont's bed, Cécile miscarries his child. Meanwhile, Valmont has won Tourvel's heart, but at a cost: the lifelong bachelor playboy falls in love. In a fit of jealousy, Merteuil mocks Valmont and threatens to destroy his reputation as a carefree gigolo. She also refuses to honor her end of their agreement since Valmont has no written proof that the relationship has been consummated. Valmont abruptly dismisses Tourvel with a terse excuse: "It's beyond my control."


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Overwhelmed with grief and shame, Tourvel retreats to a monastery where her health deteriorates rapidly. Valmont warns Danceny of Merteuil's ulterior motives in seducing him; she retaliates by informing Danceny that Valmont has been sleeping with Cécile. Danceny challenges Valmont to a duel, ending with Valmont voluntarily running into Danceny's sword. With his dying breath, Valmont asks Danceny to communicate to Tourvel—by now near death—his true feelings for her. He also gives Danceny his collection of intimate letters from Merteuil, and Danceny publishes them, while Cécile informs her mother of her intention to return permanently to the convent. All of Paris learns the full range of Merteuil's schemes and depredations. Booed and humiliated at the opera by her former friends and sycophants, Merteuil flees in disgrace.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: "Dangerous Liaisons" was the first English-language film adaptation of Laclos's novel. The screenplay was based on Christopher Hampton's Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated theatrical adaptation for the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Howard Davies and featuring Lindsay Duncan, Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: The film was shot entirely on location in the Île-de-France region of northern France, and featured historical buildings such as the Château de Vincennes in Val-de-Marne, the Château de Champs-sur-Marne, the Château de Guermantes in Seine-et-Marne, the Château du Saussay in Essonne, and the Théâtre Montansier in Versailles.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: "Liaisons" was the final film appearance of Academy Award and Tony Award-nominated actress Mildred Natwick. Drew Barrymore auditioned for the role of Cécile, and Sarah Jessica Parker turned it down before it was offered to Thurman. Annette Bening went through several auditions for the role of the courtesan Émilie, but in the end the role went to Laura Benson. Bening would go on to play the role of the Marquise de Merteuil in Miloš Forman's adaptation of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", "Valmont", a year later.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: During production Malkovich had an affair with Pfeiffer. His six-year marriage to actress Glenne Headly ended shortly thereafter.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Uma Thurman revealed she was really nervous about stripping for this film but agreed because she felt it was the right thing to do at the time. But she also said she was horrified by the "voyeuristic" way the scene appeared in the final cut of the movie.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: The score of "Dangerous Liaisons" was written by the British film music composer George Fenton. The soundtrack also includes works by a number of baroque and classical composers, reflecting the story's 18th-Century-French setting; pieces by Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Christoph Willibald Gluck feature prominently, although no French composers are included.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: "Dangerous Liaisons" holds a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews. On Metacritic it has a score of 74 based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Pauline Kael in "The New Yorker" described it as "heaven – alive in a way that movies rarely are." Hal Hinson in "The Washington Post" wrote that the film's "wit and immediacy is extraordinarily rare in a period film. Instead of making the action seem far off, the filmmakers put the audience in the room with their characters." Roger Ebert called it "an absorbing and seductive movie, but not compelling." "Variety" considered it an "incisive study of sex as an arena for manipulative power games." Vincent Canby in "The New York Times" hailed it as a "kind of lethal drawing-room comedy."


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: The "Time Out" reviewer wrote of Christopher Hampton's screenplay that "one of the film's enormous strengths is scriptwriter Christopher Hampton's decision to go back to the novel, and save only the best from his play". James Acheson and Stuart Craig were also praised for their work, with Sheila Benson of the "Los Angeles Times" stating that "the film's details of costuming (by "The Last Emperor"'s James Acheson) and production design (by Stuart Craig of "Gandhi" and "The Mission") are ravishing". All three would go on to win Academy Awards for their work on this film.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Glenn Close received considerable praise for her performance; she was lauded by "The New York Times" for her "richness and comic delicacy," while Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote that, once she "finally lets loose and gives way to complete animal despair, Close is horrifying." Roger Ebert thought the two lead roles were "played to perfection by Close and Malkovich... their arch dialogues together turn into exhausting conversational games, tennis matches of the soul."


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Michelle Pfeiffer was widely acclaimed for her portrayal, despite playing, in the opinion of "The Washington Post", "the least obvious and the most difficult" role. "Nothing is harder to play than virtue, and Pfeiffer is smart enough not to try. Instead, she embodies it." The "New York Times" called her performance a "happy surprise." Roger Ebert, considering the trajectory of her career, wrote that "in a year that has seen her in varied assignments such as "Married to the Mob" and "Tequila Sunrise", the movie is more evidence of her versatility. She is good when she is innocent and superb when she is guilty." Pfeiffer would later win a British Academy Film Award for her performance.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: The casting of John Malkovich proved to be a controversial decision that divided critics. "The New York Times", while admitting there was the "shock of seeing him in powdered wigs", concluded that he was "unexpectedly fine. The intelligence and strength of the actor shape the audience's response to him". "The Washington Post" was similarly impressed with Malkovich's performance: "There's a sublime perversity in Frears' casting, especially that of Malkovich... [he] brings a fascinating dimension to his character that would be missing with a more conventionally handsome leading man." "Variety" was less impressed, stating that while the "sly actor conveys the character's snaky, premeditated Don Juanism... he lacks the devilish charm and seductiveness one senses Valmont would need to carry off all his conquests".


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Uma Thurman gained recognition from critics and audiences; film critic Roger Ebert found her to be "well cast" in her "tricky" key role. At the time, insecure about her appearance, she spent roughly a year in London, during which she often wore loose, baggy clothing. Malkovich said of her, "There is nothing twitchy teenager-ish about her, I haven't met anyone like her at that age. Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there's something else. She's more than a little haunted."


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Almost 25 years after he played Valmont, John Malkovich directed a French-language version of Hampton's play in Paris, which ran at the Théâtre de l'Atelier. In December 2012, the production was brought to Lansburgh Theatre by the Shakespeare Theatre Company for a limited run in Washington, D.C.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: In 1999, the film "Cruel Intentions" set the same story in present-day America, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: In 2012, a Chinese version was released, starring Jang Dong-gun, Zhang Ziyi and Cecilia Cheung. It is loosely based on the novel itself and is set in 1930s Shanghai.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: In 2018, the TV series The Great Seducer was released as a modern-day adaptation set in Korea starring Joy (singer), Moon Ga-young, Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996) and Woo Do-hwan.


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders parodied "Dangerous Liaisons" on their sketch show French & Saunders, which then inspired their 1999 comedy series "Let Them Eat Cake".


title: Dangerous Liaisons

text: In 2022, the TV series Dangerous Liaisons premiered on premium television provider Starz. According to writer Harriet Warner, the series is loosely inspired by the novel and explores the marquise's life before the events of the play.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Secret Superstar is a 2017 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Advait Chandan, and produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao under the studio Aamir Khan Productions. The film stars Zaira Wasim, Khan, Meher Vij and Raj Arjun. The film tells the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl who aspires to be a singer, uploading videos on YouTube while disguising her identity with a niqab, and her relationships with her mother, father and mentor. The film deals with social issues including feminism, gender equality and domestic violence.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The film received overall positive reviews from critics. Wasim won the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement. "Secret Superstar" received ten nominations at the 63rd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Director for Chandan, Best Actress for Wasim, and Best Supporting Actor for Khan. It won three Filmfare Awards, including Best Actress (Critics) for Wasim, Best Supporting Actress for Vij, and Best Playback Singer (Female) for Meghna Mishra.


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar" became one of the most profitable films of all time, grossing () worldwide on a limited budget of , with over % return on investment (ROI). The film is also the highest-grossing Indian film featuring a female protagonist, the highest-grossing 2017 Hindi film, the sixth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide, and the second highest-grossing Indian film overseas. In China, it is the fifth highest-grossing foreign film of 2018, and the second highest-grossing non-English foreign film ever (after "Dangal").


title: Secret Superstar

text: Insia Malik, a 15-year-old girl, lives with her Muslim family in Baroda: her mother Najma, her brother Guddu, her paternal grandmother, and her abusive father Farookh, who often beats his wife. Insia is very passionate about singing but her father is against her dream of being a singer.


title: Secret Superstar

text: She records a song wearing a niqab, so Farookh can't find out her identity, and uploads the video on YouTube under the name of 'Secret Superstar' using the laptop gifted by Najma. She becomes an overnight sensation and grabs the attention of Shakti Kumar, a talented but pretentious music director based in Mumbai. He requests Insia to record a song, but she refuses as she hears a lot of negative reviews of him. Due to her poor academic grades, Farookh rips out all the strings from her guitar.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The next night, after discovering that Najma sold a valuable necklace to buy Insia's laptop, Farookh thrashes her and tells Insia to throw out the laptop. Insia gets so angry that she snatches the laptop and drops it from the balcony where it falls and shatters on the street. Insia persuades Kumar to arrange a meeting with his ex-wife's lawyer. The lawyer prepares papers for Najma to sign, and gives them to Insia. After fleeing from school to record a song for Kumar, she is unable to sing a certain party song. Insia tells this to Kumar who reveals that it is a remix. He tells her about the original version which was launched ten years ago. After singing the original song, her fame grows and she is nominated for the Best Female Singer.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Insia gives her mother divorce papers to sign, but her mother angrily rejects Insia's demand that her parents divorce. Insia becomes frustrated with her mother, but later forgives her, after her grandmother reveals how Najma struggled to keep Insia alive. Farookh is offered a job in Riyadh and he makes it known to Insia that he plans to marry her off to his friend's son. Devastated, Insia gives up her dream of singing and deletes her YouTube channel. Farookh confirms their departure on the last day of Insia's exams.


title: Secret Superstar

text: At the airport, Farookh spots Insia's guitar case. Unwilling to pay the extra fee for the case, he demands that Insia throw the guitar in the nearest trash can. After initially holding back her emotions, Najma finally stands up for herself and boldly protests. Najma then unpacks the divorce papers, signs them, and thrusts them into Farookh's hands. Najma says her goodbyes to Farookhs' mother (Insia and Guddu's grandmother) and storms out of the airport with her kids in tow leaving Farookh yelling and pounding his fists behind airport security doors. Najma borrows a stranger's cell phone and asks Insia to contact Kumar. All three ultimately end up at the awards ceremony where Insia has been nominated for Best Female Singer. Unfortunately, Insia does not win the award. But the winner, Monali Thakur, graciously offers Insia her award believing she rightfully deserved it. Kumar stands up and calls attention to Insia's presence in the audience. Once onstage, Insia dedicates her award to her mother and proclaims her the true 'Secret Superstar' since Najma supported and fought for Insia even before her birth.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The screen fades to a message dedicating the movie "To Mothers And Motherhood." Later, Shakti releases a cheesy party song on YouTube dedicated to Insia.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Chandan conceived of the film during the first season of Aamir Khan's television talk show "Satyamev Jayate". While doing the research on the episode about domestic violence, Advait Chandan came across Shanno, a single mother and a victim of domestic abuse. After her husband died, Shanno decided to join a driving school and become a driver so as to run her house, a decision that had the full support of her daughter who was willing to work as a maid so that her mother could go and learn driving. Shanno was successful in becoming a driver and through that she managed to support her house. This story redefined the word hero for Advait Chandan who says, "That is when I realised that my idea of a hero was really narrow. Shanno’s daughter is the real hero here. The definition of a hero for me and what I was writing about, it totally changed at that moment."


title: Secret Superstar

text: During the third season of "Satyamev Jayate", the first episode narrated the success story of ten year old Shubham Jaglan, son of a milkman and the youngest golf champion of India. Shubham revealed that he learned 60 per cent of Golf through YouTube videos. The story of Shubham further helped Advait Chandan in the development of his film "Secret Superstar". Advait says that, "I feel like the middle class is really getting affected by the internet. I never went to film school, but I can sit here and watch a lesson on Stanley Kubrick’s camera movements, for example. The internet is empowering the middle class in a way that really needed to be captured on film. That was the umbrella idea—a mother and daughter in middle-class, small-town India getting empowered by this amazing tool that is giving platform to talent."


title: Secret Superstar

text: In July 2015 it was reported that Aamir Khan shall be collaborating with his manager Advait Chandan and music composer A. R. Rahman for a film that was initially titled "Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna Hai". In late April 2016, the title of the film was said to be "Secret Superstar". A.R. Rahman later opted out of the film, citing schedule conflicts. He was replaced by Amit Trivedi.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Aamir Khan had cast Zaira Wasim, when she was aged 14, in "Dangal" (2016). Shortly afterwards, Advait told Khan that he was looking for a girl of a similar age for the lead role of his film "Secret Superstar", and Khan suggested Wasim. After Advait tested her, he was impressed and cast her in the lead role.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The principal photography of the film commenced on 1 September 2016. The film is shot in Vadodara and Mumbai.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The film was produced with a limited budget. Most sources state the production budget is . Rob Cain gives the film's total production and marketing budget as . Box Office India gives its budget as , but it is not known if this includes marketing costs.


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar" was originally set to release on 4 August 2017, but it was later postponed to 19 October 2017. The film released in 1,100 theatres with 1,800 screens in India, and opened on 2,840 screens worldwide. The film made its Indian television debut on Zee Cinema, airing on 2425 February 2018 in India.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The film released in Taiwan on 24 November 2017, on 73 screens, more than "Dangal". It was also announced that "Secret Superstar" would release in Russia, on 50 screens. The film was released in Russia on 8 February 2018. The same month, it was announced that there are plans to release the film in Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. The film had a theatrical release in the Philippines on 31 March 2018. In Japan, the film released on 9 August 2019.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Aamir Khan announced in late October 2017 that he would be planning to release "Secret Superstar" in China over the next one or two months. The film released in China on 19 January 2018. It is the first Indian film to have a revenue-sharing deal, which is usually reserved for big Hollywood films. Khan's share of Chinese box office revenue will be 25%, compared to his 12.5% share for "Dangal". "Secret Superstar" was released on 11,000 screens in China.


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar"s China premiere was in Beijing on 16 January 2018, and was attended by director Advait Chandan, actress Zaira Wasim, and singer Meghna Mishra. Khan could not attend, but planned to visit China shortly after the film's release. The premiere was also attended by Chinese filmmakers such as Peter Chan, Tsai Yueh Hsun, Daming Chen, and Zhang Jiajia, and Chinese actors such as the Luu Brothers. The film's reception at the premiere was positive, which includes Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan calling it his second-favourite Indian film after "3 Idiots" (2009), and writer-director Zhang Jiajia being impressed with the film's theme of empowering women to pursue their dreams. Upon release, the film was promoted with a manhua comic featuring Aamir Khan with the same title as the film.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Khan began his tour of China on 22 January 2018, and was greeted by film star Deng Chao upon arrival. He visited Shanghai, where he was welcomed by large crowds of fans. He then visited Beijing, where he attended the "Red Carpet for Aamir Khan and His Friends" event with Chandan and Wasim, then the Chinese-Indian Film Forum, and the film's press conference. The Chinese-Indian Film Forum, held by CCTV, was attended by a number of Chinese directors, stars, and film critics, including Chinese filmmaker Yu Baimei and Hong Kong filmmaker Stanley Tong, as well as former Olympic champion Liu Guoliang with whom Khan played a competitive ping pong (table tennis) match. Khan was also greeted by actor-singer Huang Bo, as well as other film stars including Liu Yifei and Jackie Chan in video messages.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The film released in Hong Kong on 12 April 2018. On 15 April 2018, Aamir Khan arrived in Hong Kong for promotions. Khan and Zaira Wasim attended a promotional event with Hong Kong film star Andy Lau, who Khan has often been compared to by Chinese media. Khan and Wasim also attended the 37th Hong Kong Film Awards, where Khan presented the Best Actor award to actor Louis Koo. On 16 April 2018, Khan attended an event at the University of Hong Kong along with Cantopop singer Kay Tse, who later also attended the film's premiere.


title: Secret Superstar

text: The music of the film was composed by Amit Trivedi while the lyrics of the film were written by Kausar Munir. The album has eight tracks, with five of them being sung by Meghna Mishra. Mika Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan and Kushal Chokshi sang one song each. The music video of the song "Main Kaun Hoon" was released on 23 August 2017. The full soundtrack album was released on 21 September 2017.


title: Secret Superstar

text: Initially, Aamir Khan approached A. R. Rahman to compose music for the film. Prasoon Joshi was signed as the lyricist, thus reuniting the trio after "Rang De Basanti" and "Ghajini". But once the production was delayed, Rahman and Prasoon Joshi opted out of the project citing scheduling conflicts.


title: Secret Superstar

text: For the film's China release, a Mandarin Chinese version of the song "Main Kaun Hoon" was sung by actor-singer Huang Bo. He was previously Aamir Khan's voice actor for the Mandarin dub of "3 Idiots".


title: Secret Superstar

text: For the film's Hong Kong release, a Cantonese version of "Nachdi Phira" has been sung by Cantopop star Kay Tse. The Cantonese version of the song is entitled "Ko Sing Yue Cho" and was released digitally on 11 April 2018.


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar" became one of the most profitable films of all time, grossing () worldwide on a limited budget of , with over % return on investment (ROI). The film is also the highest-grossing Indian film featuring a female protagonist, the highest-grossing 2017 Hindi film, the fourth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide, and the second highest-grossing Indian film overseas. In China, it is the fifth highest-grossing foreign film of 2018, and the second highest-grossing non-English foreign film ever (after "Dangal").


title: Secret Superstar

text: The film's worldwide gross was by 31 October 2017, and then by 18 January 2018 prior to its China release. Compared to its limited budget, "Secret Superstar" became one of the most profitable films of all time. Following its China release on 19 January 2018, it grossed more than worldwide by 15 February 2018, on a budget of , over % return on investment (ROI), one of the highest of all time. In comparison, only two films have exceeded $6,000% ROI at the US box office, "Paranormal Activity" (2009) and "The Gallows" (2015).


title: Secret Superstar

text: It is the highest-grossing 2017 Hindi film, and the third-highest-grossing Hindi film of all time, behind only "Dangal" (2016) and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" (2015). It is also the fourth-highest-grossing Indian film of all time, behind only "Dangal", "" (2017) and "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" (2015), after surpassing Aamir Khan's own "PK" (2014). With "Secret Superstar", Aamir Khan has become the only Indian actor with four films in the 500-crore club, after "Dhoom 3" (2013), "PK", and "Dangal" (2016), as well as the only Indian actor with three grossers, after "PK" and "Dangal". "Secret Superstar" grossed worldwide by 27 February 2018.


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar" grossed in its first week in India. The film grossed over after ten days at the domestic Indian box office. By 13 November 2017, the film grossed () in India, including a nett of . By the end of 2017, the film grossed in India.


title: Secret Superstar

text: As of 28 January 2018, its domestic gross is , including a nett , with footfalls of 5.1million audiences. It was declared a hit at the Indian box office, and is domestically one of 2017's five most commercially successful Bollywood films, along with "Tiger Zinda Hai", "Golmaal Again", "Raees", and "Badrinath Ki Dulhania".


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar" grossed US$2.8 million overseas in its first weekend, performing well in unconventional markets, entering the top four in Turkey and the top ten in the United Kingdom. The film's overseas gross in its opening weekend was US$2,116,565 in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Australia and Pakistan. The film grossed US$468,276 in Turkey, as of 19 November 2017, surpassing "Dangal"s performance in Turkey. In the United Kingdom, "Secret Superstar" grossed £500,000 (US$) by 30 October 2017, and grossed as of 26 November 2017. It has also grossed in the United States and Canada as of 10 December 2017, and in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf as of 5 November 2017. By 22 November 2017, the film had grossed US$6.48 million () overseas.


title: Secret Superstar

text: In Taiwan, where it released on 24 November 2017, the film grossed US$285,000 () in five days, which is 77% of the amount that "Dangal" grossed in its first five days there, as of 29 November 2017. The film entered at number three on the Taiwan box office charts. Seventeen days after release, "Secret Superstar" grossed in Taiwan, where it crossed US$815,000 () by 19 December 2017, increasing the film's overseas gross to . As of 28 January 2018, the film's Taiwan gross is NT$26.2million, equivalent to (US$900,000). Excluding China, the film has grossed in other overseas territories as of 28 January 2018.


title: Secret Superstar

text: During its opening weekend in China, the film's overseas gross reached by 21 January 2018. It established Aamir Khan as the only Indian actor with five films crossing overseas, after "3 Idiots" (2009), "Dhoom 3" (2013), "PK" (2014), and "Dangal" (2016). During its opening weekend in China, "Secret Superstar" emerged as the weekend's highest-grossing film in a single international market, and the second-highest-grossing film overall at the worldwide box office, behind only "" (in 93 markets), and above other Hollywood films such as "", "", and "". In its second weekend, "Secret Superstar" remained the second-highest-grossing film at the international box office, behind "Maze Runner" and ahead of "Jumanji". By 8 February 2018, "Secret Superstar" grossed overseas, establishing Aamir Khan as the only Indian actor with two overseas grossers. It is the highest-grossing 2017 Indian film overseas, surpassing "Tiger Zinda Hai" and "", and the second-highest-grossing Indian film ever overseas, surpassing "PK" and behind only "Dangal".


title: Secret Superstar

text: In China, the film earned () in ticket presales by 15 January 2018. Upon release on 19 January 2018, "Secret Superstar" topped the Chinese box office with a 25.3% market share, followed by Zhang Ziyi starrer "Forever Young" with a 16% share. By the end of its opening day, "Secret Suparstar" had grossed (), surpassing "Dangal"s opening to become the biggest debut for an Indian film. The film grossed on its second day, remaining at the top of the box office. Its initial two-day gross in China was () by 20 January 2018, surpassing the film's lifetime India gross, as well as surpassing "Dangal"s initial two-day China gross of .


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar"s opening weekend gross was (), after its show count rose from 56,000 screenings on Friday to 63,000 on Sunday. It topped the Chinese box office in its opening weekend, despite crowded competition, from Chinese films such as "Forever Young" and "A Better Tomorrow 2018" as well as Hollywood films such as "Ferdinand", "Wonder", "" and "". "Secret Superstar"s opening weekend gross in China more than doubled its lifetime gross in India. It set the record for the highest opening weekend gross for an Indian film in China, surpassing "Dangal", and is the second Indian film in less than a year to top the Chinese box office, after "Dangal". "Secret Superstar" also became the second-highest-grossing Indian film in China, surpassing "PK" and behind only "Dangal". "Secret Superstar"s weekend gross in China is also the highest single-territory weekend gross for a 2017 Hindi film, surpassing the opening-weekend India gross of "Tiger Zinda Hai" () and the Hindi version of "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" ().


title: Secret Superstar

text: In four days, the film grossed $33million () in China. On its fifth day, its daily show count increased to over 64,000 screenings, and it gained a 33.7% market share of the Chinese box office. In six days, the film grossed $43million, surpassing the lifetime China gross of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi". "Secret Superstar"s first-week gross in China was $47.1million (), a record for an Indian film and surpassing the first-week gross of "Avatar" (2009) in China. On its second Friday, new Hollywood release "" took the top spot, before "Secret Superstar" regained the top spot on Sunday, grossing $20million in its second weekend. It crossed the milestone within nine days, and beat "Maze Runner" to top the weekly box office with $41million, giving a cume of $70million grossed in ten days by 28 January 2018, compared to "Dangal" which grossed in two weeks. "Secret Superstar" grossed $77million in 13 days, surpassing the lifetime China gross of Dwayne Johnson starrer "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" to become China's highest-grossing foreign film in the first quarter of 2018. In two weeks, "Secret Superstar" grossed $80million.


title: Secret Superstar

text: It topped the box office again in its third weekend with $12 million, beating seven new releases, including Hugh Jackman starrer "The Greatest Showman", Chinese films "Till the End of The World" and "Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink", and Japanese film "Miracles of the Namiya General Store". "Secret Superstar" also topped the weekly chart again with $26 million, giving a cume of $96million grossed in 17 days by 4 February 2018. The film remained at the top of the box office in its fourth weekend with $8.7million, and it topped the weekly box office again with $19million. As of 18 February 2018, the film's China gross is $124.4million (), from an audience of 25million viewers. It was China's third-highest-grossing film in the first quarter of 2018, behind only two domestic productions, and one of the top 70 highest-grossing films ever in China. It also surpassed Japanese anime film "Your Name" to become the second-highest-grossing non-English foreign film ever in China, after "Dangal", and the third-highest-grossing non-English foreign film in any market, after "Dangal" in China and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000) in North America. "Secret Superstar" was also the highest-grossing foreign film in China during the first quarter of 2018, ahead of Hollywood films including "Black Panther", "", "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle", "Tomb Raider", "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi".


title: Secret Superstar

text: In Hong Kong, the film's preview gross by 5 April 2018 was HK$1,321,332, equivalent to . By 8 April 2018, the film's preview gross was HK$2,6666666261, equivalent to , debuting at number four at the weekly box office from previews. On its opening day, 12 April 2018, the film's gross was HK$2,742,482, equivalent to . On its second day, the film's gross was HK$3,247,799, equivalent to . On its third day, the film's gross was HK$4,163,243, equivalent to .


title: Secret Superstar

text: In four days, the film grossed HK$6,059,989, equivalent to . In ten days, the film grossed HK$8,953,60, equivalent to . In 12days, the film grossed HK$9.07million, equivalent to . By its third week, the film had grossed HK$11,470,497, equivalent to . By its fourth week, the film had grossed HK$12,016,153, equivalent to . In 26 days, as of 6 May 2018, the film grossed , equivalent to . As of 7 September 2018, the film grossed , equivalent to ().


title: Secret Superstar

text: Mike McCahill of "The Guardian" gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and praised the film by saying that "This is first-class entertainment, the best imaginable antidote to the toxicity presently leaking out of western movie circles." Meena Iyer of "The Times of India" gave the film a rating of 4 stars out of 5 and said that, "If your world revolves around your mother, you're going to root for this film."


title: Secret Superstar

text: Rajeev Masand gave the film a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 describing it as "an inspiring journey towards empowerment, a case for pursuing one's passion against all odds, a testament to the deep mother-daughter bond, and a convincing depiction of teenage years." He praised the performances of the actors with a special mention for the lead actress Zaira Wasim saying "Standing tall amidst a pitch-perfect ensemble, is Zaira Wasim as Insiya, who comes off as something of an old soul trapped in a teenager's body. Wise beyond her years, she is riveting on screen, in the manner in which she appears to sing using her entire being, or the little moments of crushing disappointment and excitement that are reflected on the canvas that is her expressive face."


title: Secret Superstar

text: Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV said "Secret Superstar" "is a bit like an over-enthusiastic child gifted a new bicycle. It never takes the foot off the pedal. The overlong film could have done with more restraint. It frequently seems to get carried away by the urge not to miss any trick in the book." However, he praised the performances of its actors, saying, "Zaira is an absolute treat—a bundle of miracles! As for the wonderful Meher Vij, one can only ask: where was she all these years? We hope to see more of her on the big screen." He concluded that ""Secret Superstar" is a winner notwithstanding the bumps along the way." Raja Sen of NDTV gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and said, "Aamir Khan has a blast in this sweet and simple film about a young girl who dares to dream."


title: Secret Superstar

text: Rohit Vats of "Hindustan Times" gave the film a rating of 3 stars out of 5. He highlighted the positive aspects of the film saying that, ""Secret Superstar"s biggest asset is Aamir Khan. His comedy despite being slapstick in nature, is worth noticing. Zaira Wasim lives up to the expectations and the film has a message." and the negative aspect of the film as well saying that, ""Secret Superstar" has everything you ask for, but it isn't exceptional storytelling. If there is one thing that can be blamed for it, it’s the overt melodrama."


title: Secret Superstar

text: Shubhra Gupta of "The Indian Express" praised the acting performances and the first half of the movie saying that, "The biggest strength of "Secret Superstar" is the wonderful Wasim who was also in Dangal. Both Vij as the mother and Arjun as the father are terrific, especially the latter, who doesn't put a foot wrong." but she wasn't impressed with the second half of the film and said that, "The second half slides. The confidence that the narrative shows in the beginning begins to waver as it includes contrivances and predictable curves." She gave the film a rating of 2.5 stars out of 5.


title: Secret Superstar

text: In China, the film also received critical acclaim. Chinese newspaper "People's Daily", for example, praised the film for "touching the soul". In Hong Kong, Nicola Chan of "South China Morning Post" rated the film 4 out of 5 stars. She called it a "crowd-pleaser that explores the sacred mother-daughter bond" and praised the performances of Khan, Wasim and Vij. Richard James Havis of "South China Morning Post" also rated it 4 out of 5 stars. He called it "a tough story about domestic abuse and female empowerment" and noted "India’s energetic and freewheeling style of cinema can offer a new way of telling a story," such as the "idea of having Insia – who does not usually wear a burka – don the garment to disguise herself when she performs on YouTube is very clever, in the sense it’s a reasonable way for her to solve her problem of anonymity."


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar"s strong opening in China was helped by Aamir Khan's significant following in the country, along with strong word-of-mouth, influenced by high audience ratings of 9.6 out of 10 on Maoyan and 8.2 out of 10 on Douban. The film was also trending on Chinese social media platforms, including WeChat and Douban, and dominated discussions on Sina Weibo. Along with Khan, audiences also recognised Zaira Wasim from "Dangal". The film's strong opening weekend cemented Aamir Khan's status as a superstar in China, and as "a king of the Chinese box office". Aamir Khan's earnings for "Secret Superstar" from the China box office is estimated to be , higher than what any other Indian actor-producer has ever earned from a film. The film has increased Aamir Khan's China box office total to $346.5million ().


title: Secret Superstar

text: The film, along with previous Aamir Khan successes such as "Dangal", has driven up the buyout prices of Indian film imports for Chinese distributors. The success of "Dangal" and "Secret Superstar" contributed towards Salman Khan's "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" (2015) securing a wide release in China, along with Irrfan Khan's "Hindi Medium" (2017) getting a release in the country.


title: Secret Superstar

text: As with previous Aamir Khan films such as "3 Idiots" and "Dangal", "Secret Superstar"s social themes such as feminism and domestic violence are universal issues that resonated with Chinese audiences, many of whom could relate to the film's themes. According to Maoyan, the film's audiences were about 57% female and 43% male, and the majority were in the 20–34 age group. "Secret Superstar" has reportedly influenced an increase in Chinese women calling police for help with domestic violence.


title: Secret Superstar

text: "Secret Superstar" contributed towards the Chinese market's growth in early 2018, along with domestic productions. "Secret Superstar"s gross dwarfed every Hollywood film released in the first two months, including "", "", and "". "Secret Superstar" also contributed towards China setting the record for the highest-grossing month ever in any territory during February 2018, when "Secret Superstar" (rather than Hollywood) was the strongest foreign presence among several dominant domestic Chinese New Year productions.


title: Bonsai

text: Bonsai (, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of "penjing". Unlike "penjing", which utilizes traditional techniques to produce entirely natural scenery in small pots that mimic the grandiose shapes of real life scenery, the Japanese "bonsai" only attempts to produce small trees that mimic the shape of real life trees. Similar versions of the art exist in other cultures, including the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese . It was during the Tang dynasty, when "penjing" was at its height, that the art was first introduced in Japan.


title: Bonsai

text: The loanword "bonsai" (a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term "penzai") has become an umbrella term in English, attached to many forms of diminutive potted plants, and also on occasion to other living and non-living things. According to Stephen Orr in "The New York Times", "the term should be reserved for plants that are grown in shallow containers following the precise tenets of bonsai pruning and training, resulting in an artful miniature replica of a full-grown tree in nature." In the most restrictive sense, "bonsai" refers to miniaturized, container-grown trees adhering to Japanese tradition and principles.


title: Bonsai

text: Purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation for the viewer, and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity for the grower. By contrast with other plant cultivation practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food or for medicine. Instead, bonsai practice focuses on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more small trees growing in a container.


title: Bonsai

text: A bonsai is created beginning with a specimen of source material. This may be a cutting, seedling, or small tree of a species suitable for bonsai development. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species that produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning. Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai.


title: Bonsai

text: The source specimen is shaped to be relatively small and to meet the aesthetic standards of bonsai, which emphasizes not the entirety of grand sceneries but rather only the tree itself. When the candidate bonsai nears its planned final size, it is planted in a display pot, usually one designed for bonsai display in one of a few accepted shapes and proportions. From that point forward, its growth is restricted by the pot environment. Throughout the year, the bonsai is shaped to limit growth, redistribute foliar vigor to areas requiring further development, and meet the artist's detailed design.


title: Bonsai

text: The practice of bonsai is sometimes confused with dwarfing, but dwarfing generally refers to research, discovery, or creation of plants that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species. Plant dwarfing often uses selective breeding or genetic engineering to create dwarf cultivars. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses cultivation techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-size trees.


title: Bonsai

text: The Japanese art of bonsai originated from the Chinese practice of "penjing". From the 6th century onward, Imperial embassy personnel and Buddhist students from Japan visited and returned from mainland China. They brought back many Chinese ideas and goods, including container plantings. Over time, these container plantings began to appear in Japanese writings and representative art.


title: Bonsai

text: In the medieval period, recognizable bonsai were portrayed in handscroll paintings like the "Ippen shonin eden" (1299). The 1195 scroll "Saigyo Monogatari Emaki" is the earliest known to depict dwarfed potted trees in Japan. Wooden tray and dish-like pots with dwarf landscapes on modern-looking wooden shelves also appear in the 1309 "Kasuga-gongen-genki" scroll. Dwarf trees displayed on short poles are portrayed in the 1351 "Boki Ekotoba" scroll. Several other scrolls and paintings also include depictions of these kinds of trees.


title: Bonsai

text: A close relationship between Japan's Zen Buddhism and the potted trees began to shape bonsai reputation and aesthetics, which were introduced to Japan from China. In this period, Chinese Chan (pronounced "Zen" in Japanese) Buddhist monks taught at Japan's monasteries. One of the monks' activities was to introduce political leaders to various arts of miniature landscapes as admirable accomplishments for men of taste and learning. Potted landscape arrangements up to this period included miniature figurines after the Chinese fashion. Japanese artists eventually adopted a simpler style for bonsai, increasing focus on the tree by removing miniatures and other decorations, and using smaller, plainer pots.


title: Bonsai

text: Around the 14th century, the term for dwarf potted trees was . This indicated use of a fairly deep pot rather than the shallow pot denoted by the eventual term "bonsai". is also the title of a circa 1383 noh play by Zeami Motokiyo, based on a story about an impoverished samurai who burns his last three potted trees as firewood to warm a traveling monk. The monk is a disguised official who later rewards the samurai for his actions. In later centuries, woodblock prints by several artists depicted this popular drama. There was even a fabric design of the same name. Through these and other popular media, bonsai became known to a broad Japanese population.


title: Bonsai

text: Bonsai cultivation reached a high level of expertise in this period. Bonsai dating to the 17th century have survived to the present. One of the oldest-known living bonsai trees, considered one of the National Treasures of Japan, can be seen in the Tokyo Imperial Palace collection. A five-needle pine ("Pinus pentaphylla" var. "negishi") known as is documented as having been cared for by Tokugawa Iemitsu. The tree is thought to be at least 500 years old and was trained as a bonsai by 1610.


title: Bonsai

text: By the end of the 18th century, bonsai cultivation in Japan was becoming widespread and began to interest the general public. In the Tenmei era (1781–88), an exhibit of traditional dwarf potted pines began to be held every year in Kyoto. Connoisseurs from five provinces and neighboring areas would bring one or two plants each to the show in order to submit them to visitors for ranking.


title: Bonsai

text: In Japan after 1800, bonsai began to move from being the esoteric practice of a few specialists to becoming a widely popular art form and hobby. In Itami, Hyōgo, Japanese scholars of Chinese arts gathered in the early 19th century to discuss recent styles in the art of miniature trees. Many terms and concepts adopted by this group were derived from the ("Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden" in English; in Japanese). The Japanese version of potted trees, which had been previously called or other terms, were renamed "bonsai". This word connoted a shallow container, not a deeper bowl style. The term "bonsai", however, would not become broadly used in describing Japan's dwarf potted trees for nearly a century.


title: Bonsai

text: The popularity of bonsai began to grow outside the limited scope of scholars and the nobility. On October 13, 1868, the Meiji Emperor moved to his new capital in Tokyo. Bonsai were displayed both inside and outside Meiji Palace, and those placed in the grand setting of the Imperial Palace had to be "Giant Bonsai", large enough to fill the grand space. The Meiji Emperor encouraged interest in bonsai, which broadened its importance and appeal to his government's professional staff.


title: Bonsai

text: New books, magazines, and public exhibitions made bonsai more accessible to the Japanese populace. An Artistic Bonsai Concours was held in Tokyo in 1892, followed by publication of a three-volume commemorative picture book. This event demonstrated a new tendency to see bonsai as an independent art form. In 1903, the Tokyo association Jurakukai held showings of bonsai and ikebana at two Japanese-style restaurants. In 1906, "Bonsai Gaho" became the first monthly magazine on the subject. It was followed by "Toyo Engei" and "Hana" in 1907. The initial issue of "Bonsai" magazine was published in 1921, and this influential periodical ran for 518 consecutive issues.


title: Bonsai

text: Bonsai shaping aesthetics, techniques, and tools became increasingly sophisticated as bonsai popularity grew in Japan. In 1910, shaping with wire rather than the older string, rope, and burlap techniques, appeared in the Sanyu-en Bonsai-Dan (History of Bonsai in the Sanyu nursery). Zinc-galvanized steel wire was initially used. Expensive copper wire was used only for selected trees that had real potential. In the 1920s and 1930s, toolsmith Masakuni I (1880–1950) helped design and produce the first steel tools specifically made for the developing requirements of bonsai styling. These included the concave cutter, a branch cutter designed to leave a shallow indentation on the trunk when a branch was removed. Properly treated, this indentation would fill over with live tree tissue and bark over time, greatly reducing or eliminating the usual pruning scar.


title: Bonsai

text: Prior to World War II, international interest in bonsai was fueled by increased trade in trees and the appearance of books in popular foreign languages. By 1914, the first national annual bonsai show was held (an event repeated annually through 1933) in Tokyo's Hibiya Park. Another great annual public exhibition of trees began in 1927 at the Asahi Newspaper Hall in Tokyo. Beginning in 1934, the prestigious Kokufu-ten annual exhibitions were held in Tokyo's Ueno Park. The first major book on the subject in English was published in the Japanese capital: "Dwarf Trees (Bonsai)" by Shinobu Nozaki.


title: Bonsai

text: By 1940, about 300 bonsai dealers worked in Tokyo. Some 150 species of trees were being cultivated, and thousands of specimens were shipped annually to Europe and America. The first bonsai nurseries and clubs in the America were started by first and second-generation Japanese immigrants. Though this progress to international markets and enthusiasts was interrupted by the war, by the 1940s bonsai had become an art form of international interest and involvement.


title: Bonsai

text: Following World War II, several trends made the Japanese tradition of bonsai increasingly accessible to Western and world audiences. One key trend was the increase in the number, scope, and prominence of bonsai exhibitions. For example, the Kokufu-ten bonsai displays reappeared in 1947 after a four-year cancellation and became annual affairs. These displays continue to this day and are by invitation only for eight days in February. In October 1964, a great exhibition was held in Hibya Park by the private Kokufu Bonsai Association, reorganized into the Nippon Bonsai Association, to mark the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.


title: Bonsai

text: A large display of bonsai and suiseki was held as part of Expo '70, and formal discussion was made of an international association of enthusiasts. In 1975, the first gafu-ten (elegant-style exhibit) of "shohin" bonsai (13–25 cm or 5–10 in tall) was held. So was the first sakufu-ten (creative bonsai exhibit), the only event in which professional bonsai growers exhibit traditional trees under their own names rather than under the name of the owner.


title: Bonsai

text: The First World Bonsai Convention was held in Osaka during the World Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition in 1980. Nine years later, the first World Bonsai Convention was held in Omiya, and the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) was inaugurated. These conventions attracted several hundreds of participants from dozens of countries and have since been held every four years at different locations around the globe: 1993, Orlando, Florida; 1997, Seoul, Korea; 2001, Munich, Germany; 2005, Washington, D.C.; 2009, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Currently, Japan continues to host regular exhibitions with the world's largest numbers of bonsai specimens and the highest recognized specimen quality.


title: Bonsai

text: Another key trend was the increase in books on bonsai and related arts, being published for the first time in English and other languages for audiences outside of Japan. In 1952, Yuji Yoshimura, the son of a Japanese bonsai community leader, collaborated with German diplomat and author Alfred Koehn to give bonsai demonstrations. Koehn had been an enthusiast before the war, and his 1937 book "Japanese Tray Landscapes" had been published in English in Peking. Yoshimura's 1957 book "The Art of Bonsai", written in English with his student Giovanna M. Halford, went on to be called the "classic Japanese bonsai bible for westerners" with over thirty printings.


title: Bonsai

text: The related art of saikei was introduced to English-speaking audiences in 1963 in Kawamoto and Kurihara's book "Bonsai-Saikei". This book describes tray landscapes made with younger plant material than was traditionally used in bonsai, providing an alternative to the use of large, older plants, few of which had escaped war damage.


title: Bonsai

text: A third trend was the increasing availability of expert bonsai training, at first only in Japan and then more widely. In 1967, the first group of Westerners studied at an Ōmiya nursery. Returning to the U.S., they established the American Bonsai Society. Other groups and individuals from outside Asia then visited and studied at the various Japanese nurseries, occasionally even apprenticing under the masters. These visitors brought back to their local clubs the latest techniques and styles, which were then further disseminated. Japanese teachers also traveled widely, bringing hands-on bonsai expertise to all six continents.


title: Bonsai

text: The final trend supporting world involvement in bonsai is the widening availability of specialized bonsai plant stock, soil components, tools, pots, and other accessory items. Bonsai nurseries in Japan advertise and ship specimen bonsai worldwide. Most countries have local nurseries providing plant stock as well. Japanese bonsai soil components, such as Akadama clay, are available worldwide, and suppliers also provide similar local materials in many locations. Specialized bonsai tools are widely available from Japanese and Chinese sources. Potters around the globe provide material to hobbyists and specialists in many countries.


title: Bonsai

text: Bonsai has now reached a worldwide audience. There are over twelve hundred books on bonsai and the related arts in at least twenty-six languages available in over ninety countries and territories. A few dozen magazines in over thirteen languages are in print. Several score of club newsletters are available online, and there are at least that many discussion forums and blogs. There are at least a hundred thousand enthusiasts in some fifteen hundred clubs and associations worldwide, as well as over five million unassociated hobbyists. Plant material from every location is being trained into bonsai and displayed at local, regional, national, and international conventions and exhibitions for enthusiasts and the general public.


title: Bonsai

text: Bonsai cultivation and care requires techniques and tools that are specialized to support the growth and long-term maintenance of trees in small containers. Bonsai trees can live for hundreds of years if they are consistently well cared for.


title: Bonsai

text: All bonsai start with a specimen of source material, a plant that the grower wishes to train into bonsai form. Bonsai practice is an unusual form of plant cultivation in that growth from seeds is rarely used to obtain source material. To display the characteristic aged appearance of a bonsai within a reasonable time, the source plant is often mature or at least partially grown when the bonsai creator begins work. Sources of bonsai material include:


title: Bonsai

text: The practice of bonsai development incorporates a number of techniques either unique to bonsai or, if used in other forms of cultivation, applied in unusual ways that are particularly suitable to the bonsai domain. These techniques include:


title: Bonsai

text: Small trees grown in containers, like bonsai, require specialized care. Unlike houseplants and other subjects of container gardening, tree species in the wild, in general, grow roots up to several meters long and root structures encompassing several thousand liters of soil. In contrast, a typical bonsai container is under 25 centimeters in its largest dimension and 2 to 10 liters in volume. Branch and leaf (or needle) growth in trees is also of a larger scale in nature. Wild trees typically grow 5 meters or taller when mature, whereas the largest bonsai rarely exceed 1 meter and most specimens are significantly smaller. These size differences affect maturation, transpiration, nutrition, pest resistance, and many other aspects of tree biology. Maintaining the long-term health of a tree in a container requires some specialized care techniques:


title: Bonsai

text: Bonsai aesthetics are the aesthetic goals characterizing the Japanese tradition of growing an artistically shaped miniature tree in a container. Many Japanese cultural characteristics, in particular the influence of Zen Buddhism and the expression of Wabi-sabi, inform the bonsai tradition in Japan. Established art forms that share some aesthetic principles with bonsai include penjing and saikei. A number of other cultures around the globe have adopted the Japanese aesthetic approach to bonsai, and, while some variations have begun to appear, most hew closely to the rules and design philosophies of the Japanese tradition.


title: Bonsai

text: Over centuries of practice, the Japanese bonsai aesthetic has encoded some important techniques and design guidelines. Like the aesthetic rules that govern, for example, Western common practice period music, bonsai's guidelines help practitioners work within an established tradition with some assurance of success. Simply following the guidelines alone will not guarantee a successful result. Nevertheless, these design rules can rarely be broken without reducing the impact of the bonsai specimen. Some key principles in bonsai aesthetics include:


title: Bonsai

text: A bonsai display presents one or more bonsai specimens in a way that allows a viewer to see all the important features of the bonsai from the most advantageous position. That position emphasizes the bonsai's defined "front", which is designed into all bonsai. It places the bonsai at a height that allows the viewer to imagine the bonsai as a full-size tree seen from a distance, siting the bonsai neither so low that the viewer appears to be hovering in the sky above it nor so high that the viewer appears to be looking up at the tree from beneath the ground. Noted bonsai writer Peter Adams recommends that bonsai be shown as if "in an art gallery: at the right height; in isolation; against a plain background, devoid of all redundancies such as labels and vulgar little accessories."


title: Bonsai

text: For outdoor displays, there are few aesthetic rules. Many outdoor displays are semi-permanent, with the bonsai trees in place for weeks or months at a time. To avoid damaging the trees, therefore, an outdoor display must not impede the amount of sunlight needed for the trees on display, must support watering, and may also have to block excessive wind or precipitation. As a result of these practical constraints, outdoor displays are often rustic in style, with simple wood or stone components. A common design is the bench, sometimes with sections at different heights to suit different sizes of bonsai, along which bonsai are placed in a line. Where space allows, outdoor bonsai specimens are spaced far enough apart that the viewer can concentrate on one at a time. When the trees are too close to each other, aesthetic discord between adjacent trees of different sizes or styles can confuse the viewer, a problem addressed by exhibition displays.


title: Bonsai

text: Exhibition displays allow many bonsai to be displayed in a temporary exhibition format, typically indoors, as would be seen in a bonsai design competition. To allow many trees to be located close together, exhibition displays often use a sequence of small alcoves, each containing one pot and its bonsai contents. The walls or dividers between the alcoves make it easier to view only one bonsai at a time. The back of the alcove is a neutral color and pattern to avoid distracting the viewer's eye. The bonsai pot is almost always placed on a formal stand, of a size and design selected to complement the bonsai and its pot.


title: Bonsai

text: Indoors, a formal bonsai display is arranged to represent a landscape, and traditionally consists of the featured bonsai tree in an appropriate pot atop a wooden stand, along with a shitakusa (companion plant) representing the foreground, and a hanging scroll representing the background. These three elements are chosen to complement each other and evoke a particular season, and are composed asymmetrically to mimic nature. When displayed inside a traditional Japanese home, a formal bonsai display will often be placed within the home's tokonoma or formal display alcove. An indoor display is usually very temporary, lasting a day or two, as most bonsai are intolerant of indoor conditions and lose vigor rapidly within the house.


title: Bonsai

text: A variety of informal containers may house the bonsai during its development, and even trees that have been formally planted in a bonsai pot may be returned to growing boxes from time to time. A large growing box can house several bonsai and provide a great volume of soil per tree to encourage root growth. A training box will have a single specimen, and a smaller volume of soil that helps condition the bonsai to the eventual size and shape of the formal bonsai container. There are no aesthetic guidelines for these development containers, and they may be of any material, size, and shape that suit the grower.


title: Bonsai

text: Completed trees are grown in formal bonsai containers. These containers are usually ceramic pots, which come in a variety of shapes and colors and may be glazed or unglazed. Unlike many common plant containers, bonsai pots have drainage holes in the bottom surface to complement fast-draining bonsai soil, allowing excess water to escape the pot. Growers cover the holes with a screening to prevent soil from falling out and to hinder pests from entering the pots from below. Pots usually have vertical sides, so that the tree's root mass can easily be removed for inspection, pruning, and replanting, although this is a practical consideration and other container shapes are acceptable.


title: Bonsai

text: There are alternatives to the conventional ceramic pot. Multi-tree bonsai may be created atop a fairly flat slab of rock, with the soil mounded above the rock surface and the trees planted within the raised soil. In recent times, bonsai creators have also begun to fabricate rock-like slabs from raw materials including concrete and glass-reinforced plastic. Such constructed surfaces can be made much lighter than solid rock, can include depressions or pockets for additional soil, and can be designed for drainage of water, all characteristics difficult to achieve with solid rock slabs. Other unconventional containers can also be used, but in formal bonsai display and competitions in Japan, the ceramic bonsai pot is the most common container.


title: Bonsai

text: For bonsai being shown formally in their completed state, pot shape, color, and size are chosen to complement the tree as a picture frame is chosen to complement a painting. In general, containers with straight sides and sharp corners are used for formally shaped plants, while oval or round containers are used for plants with informal designs. Many aesthetic guidelines affect the selection of pot finish and color. For example, evergreen bonsai are often placed in unglazed pots, while deciduous trees usually appear in glazed pots. Pots are also distinguished by their size. The overall design of the bonsai tree, the thickness of its trunk, and its height are considered when determining the size of a suitable pot.


title: Bonsai

text: Some pots are highly collectible, like ancient Chinese or Japanese pots made in regions with experienced pot makers such as Tokoname, Japan, or Yixing, China. Today many potters worldwide produce pots for bonsai.


title: Bonsai

text: The Japanese tradition describes bonsai tree designs using a set of commonly understood, named styles. The most common styles include formal upright, informal upright, slanting, semi-cascade, cascade, raft, literati, and group/forest. Less common forms include windswept, weeping, split-trunk, and driftwood styles. These terms are not mutually exclusive, and a single bonsai specimen can exhibit more than one style characteristic. When a bonsai specimen falls into multiple style categories, the common practice is to describe it by the dominant or most striking characteristic.


title: Bonsai

text: A frequently used set of styles describes the orientation of the bonsai tree's main trunk. Different terms are used for a tree with its apex directly over the center of the trunk's entry into the soil, slightly to the side of that center, deeply inclined to one side, and inclined below the point at which the trunk of the bonsai enters the soil.


title: Bonsai

text: A number of styles describe the trunk shape and bark finish. For example, the deadwood bonsai styles identify trees with prominent dead branches or trunk scarring.


title: Bonsai

text: Although most bonsai trees are planted directly into the soil, there are styles describing trees planted on rock.


title: Bonsai

text: While the majority of bonsai specimens feature a single tree, there are well-established style categories for specimens with multiple trunks.