title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Felix O'Neill was born in Creggan in County Armagh. He descended from Aodh Buidhe O'Neill, brother of Sir Henry O'Neill. Felix left Ireland for a career in the Spanish Army and is well remembered for his rescue of Charles Edward Stuart ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") following the Battle of Culloden. Felix became a lieutenant general in the Spanish Army and his four sons in turn all had honourable careers in the Spanish military. While most of them did not marry and have families, the youngest son Juan O'Neill (1768-1809) married Vincenta Gual y Vives de Cananas from Palma, Mallorca, and took up residence on the island. Having attained the rank of Captain-General, he died aged 40 leaving a son Felix who was only a year old. Through this man the O'Neills of the Fews line continued in Mallorca in the 19th century and in Argentina in the 20th century. The current day Argentinean descendants of Lieutenant General Felix O'Neill therefore have an historical claim to be leaders of this branch of the O'Neill dynasty. In the 2000s, Dr. Tulio José O'Neille of Buenos Aires in Argentina has come to light as the genealogically senior living heir of the O'Neill of the Fews. His grandfather moved from Spain and he is descended from Lt. Gen Felix O'Neille (1 November 1720 — 12 July 1792), from the Creggan, who serve in the Spanish Army, serving at times at Captain General of Aragon and Galicia.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: A contrary claim to the leadership of the dynasty comes from Spanish nobleman Don Carlos O'Neill, 12th Marquis de la Granja, who has been described as "the Prince of the Fews". He claims direct descent from the last undisputed "Lord of the Fews" Henry O'Neill although contemporary evidence shows that Henry had no descendants. While the family's precise link to the historical O'Neills of the Fews therefore remains unclear, their descent can be traced back to a certain 'Red' Henry O'Neill and his wife Hanna née O'Kelly, the daughter of counselor John O'Kelly of Keenagh, County Roscommon, whose children relocated to Spain in the 1750s and 1760s.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Henry and Hanna O'Neill became the parents of Arthur O'Neill in 1736. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. He joined the Spanish army in 1752 and was known by the name Don Arturo O'Neill de Tyrone. He served over 20 years in the Spanish colonial service, becoming Governor of Yucatan in October 1792, and later Governor of West Florida. On his return to Spain in 1803 he was appointed to the Supreme Council of War (replacing Governor Miguel de Uztaraiz) and was awarded the title of the 1st two years later. Arturo's brothers included Lieutenant-Colonel Niall 'Nicolas' O'Neill y O'Kelly who died at Zaragoza in Spain, and Tulio and Enrique O'Neill y O'Kelly who both relocated to the Caribbean island of St. Croix in the footsteps of a deceased uncle. These two brothers were granted a license by the Spanish crown to create sugar plantations on the island of Puerto Rico in 1783, although they never availed of it.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Tulio O'Neill y O'Kelly married Catherine O'Keefe y Whalen and became the parents of Arturo O'Neill y O'Keefe and Tulio O'Neill y O'Keefe. Don Arturo O'Neill y O'Keefe was born in March 1782 on St. Croix and married Joanna Chabert Heyliger there in April 1802. Arturo and his brother pleaded for permission to take up their father's right to land in Puerto Rico and this was granted in 1804. Arturo moved his family there in March 1810 and his descendants continue to reside there today as well as in Spain and the USA. Arturo became a Lieutenant Colonel on 17 August 1828 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico and inherited the title of from his uncle. He died on 7 September 1832 and is reportedly buried in the Roman Catholic Church of Frederiksted, Saint Croix.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Don Tulio O'Neill y O'Keefe was born on St. Croix in September 1784. He became a General in the Spanish army and won distinctions during the Peninsular War fighting the French. He married Manuela de Castilla Quevedo, the daughter of a Spanish noble family, in 1819. However she died shortly after the birth of their son, Don Juan Antonio Luis O'Neill de Castilla. Tulio was promoted to Field Marshal in charge of the Royal Guard in 1828 and it was he who made the public announcement of the birth of a daughter to the King in 1830, namely the future Isabel II of Spain. Tulio died in 1855 and the family line was continued through his son who inherited his mother's titles (the Marques de la Granja, the Marques de Caltojar, the Marques de Valdeosera and the Count of Benajiar). A later descendant of his also took the title of that had remained unclaimed by their relations in Puerto Rico. This branch of the family is often referred to as the O'Neills of the Fews of Seville and is currently headed by the Spanish nobleman Don Carlos O'Neill. Any claim of theirs to represent the O'Neills of the Fews dynasty however must be viewed in light of their descent from the junior branch of the O'Neill y O'Keefe family as well as the absence of a proven lineage linking to the historical "Lords of the Fews". The reservation as to clan leadership being made by a junior branch is debatable as Irish inheritance and Spanish inheritance follow different laws.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: The sept of McShane is a closely related branch of the Tír Eoghain O'Neills. When Shane O'Neill, Prince of Tyrone and chief of all the O'Neill clans, was killed in 1567, he had an estimated ten male children from his various wives and mistresses. As a group they were very young. During Shane's lifetime, he made claim to the legitimate patrimony of these children and thus they were raised in the courts of their various maternal grandfathers and aunts upon his death. These houses included the Gaelic noble families of O'Donnell, Maguire, O'Quinn, MacDonald, and MacLean. Sixteen years later in 1583 a confederation of the brothers met at the court of their uncle, the Chief of the MacLean clan in the Scottish isles. They were given an army of more than 2000 Scots to return to Ulster to attempt to retake their father's estate and title. When they invaded the brothers took the English and the O'Neill chiefs by surprise and created a large sphere of control in eastern Ulster, allied with the MacDonald's of Antrim. In an attempt to characterize them, the English began to refer to the group of brothers as "the Mac-Shanes" which in Gaelic meant "the sons of Shane". For seven years they battled Sir Turlough O'Neill, the recognized O'Neill Mor at the time, and the rising Baron Dungannon and eventually Earl of Tyrone, Hugh Rua O'Neill. The brothers were dealt a blow in 1590 when the Earl of Tyrone captured and hanged three of the brothers. The earl succeeded in capturing and imprisoning another three over the remainder of the decade until there were only two possibly three of the brothers and nephews hiding out in the Glenconkeyne forest in eastern Tyrone. Two sons of Con MacShane O'Neill, Hugh and Ever, became chief raiders within the O'Neill clan living there. That family had saved them as babies when their father had been killed nearby and had since been referred to as the Clan Shanes. In 1593, the Earl of Tyrone had the Clan Shane's chief killed and the family turned to Hugh MacShane as their new leader. Hugh was elected as their chief, and that O'Neill branch has since forth taken on the "MacShane" surname as an honorific for their loyalty to Shane O'Neill and to his battling sons. Hugh McShane O'Neill reigned as chief until 1622 and his sons and grandsons served as the chieftains of the family and were active in the wars and politics of Ulster, Ireland, and Spain for the next two centuries.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Some of Shane's surviving son's were given sizable land after the flight of the earls that had previously belonged to Hugh O'Neill. Henry was given land in Orior, Con was given the estate of Clabbye, and Brian was given land in Clinawly, Fermanagh. Brian's son Edmond was granted control of Lisdawericke, Megin, Cnoghan, Tollohiny Dirrilghta, Knockmcgallcrum & Gortnesillagh. Henry's son Cormocke (Cormac) was given land. This spread the clan throughout the province and lessened their influence. Brian, son of Hugh, the Chief of the McShane O'Neills led the clan in the 1642 Rising, the Irish Confederate Wars, and fought against Oliver Cromwell's Army through the death of his 2nd cousin Owen Roe O'Neill in 1649 and the victory of Cromwell in 1653. Brian remained in Spanish exile until 1666. Two decades later, his son the new Chief, Brian Og (the Younger) led the clan in service of the O'Neill regiments supporting King James II. After the defeat of the Jacobite forces, the family was "attainted" as Irish rebels in 1693, and Brian "Og" left with the Army of King James II and went into exile in France. The eventual heir, Owen McHugh O'Neill, completely dropped any association with the O'Neill name, and just took McShane as a surname due to the Irish Penal Laws, in an attempt to hold his father's small estate.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: After the fall of the O'Neill kingship, many MacShanes followed their cousins into military service in Spain and France and even served in the Irish regiments with their family and former enemies, the descendants of Hugh Rua O'Neill, the 2nd Earl. By the end of the 17th century, the Earl's line failed in exile, and the "Mac Shane" line legally inherited the chiefship and title. This line is presently in remainder to the Gaelic Principality and Earldom of Tyrone, the Viscountcy of Montjuich, and various lordships around Ulster. Further, with the Oireachtas act of March 2015, which reversed the Attainder of Shane O'Neill from 1569, the family have the recognized legal rights to the historical legacy and incorporeal property of Conn Bacach O'Neill, Shane the Proud, and Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: In the early 18th century, in an effort to retain property, many McShane families began to translate their surname from the Gaelic "Son of John" or "Mc Shane" to the English "Son of John" or Johnson. A good example is Major General Sir William Johnson, Bt. His father had been born a McShane but translated his name, allowing his son to succeed to his uncles properties. By the early-19th century most of the official documents fail to show any McShane families in their former territory as all of them had converted to the surname Johnson. However, by the 20th century, many of the Irish branches were returning to the Gaelic name. Today the clan recognizes McShane, Johnson, Johnston, and Shane as elements of the family and are still active and viable in Ulster, America, and Australia. The family leadership today is directly descended from Shane's son Conn, to his son Hugh McShane O'Neill and is closely involved in the greater O'Neill clan activities and their present chief takes part in the Association of O'Neill Clans and is on the O'Neill family council.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Most recently, DNA tests and research have proven the linkage between the MacShanes and the O'Neills of Tyrone. In a study begun in 2002, Patrick Guinness funded Trinity College, Dublin to conduct a DNA study on the O'Neil's of Ulster, to include the MacShane family. The results were published by Ed O'Neill and the late John McLaughlin that showed the McShanes were 100% match of a unique DNA sequence that is specific to the Chiefly line of the Tyrone O'Neills. It is estimated by Trinity College that the specific gene 'break' with the rest of the O'Neills of Ulster was either Aedh Macaomh Toinleasg O'Neill, King of Cenel Eoghain from 1176 to 1177, or his father, Muircheartach Muighe Line O'Neill.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Many O'Neills moved to the Caribbean, especially from the lines of the Counts of Tyrone of Hugh MacFerdorcha O'Neill. Their close connection to the Spanish government after the final fall of the O'Neills in 1690 provided the opportunity for new territory. Family documents that the O'Neill's had elements land on the Islands and were associated with the families of Rocco, Eammon, Constatino or Conn Eoghan, Edmundo, and Gill – all men who served in the Ultonia and Hibernia regiments for the Crown of Spain. Recent findings show that other O'Neill's settled in Puerto Rico in the 18th century. The earliest record, based on documents from the Spanish royal courts, show that Don Juan O'Neill arrived in Puerto Rico in the 1710s. Two O'Neill officers served in the Spanish Army forces of Bernardo de Galvez fighting the English in Florida and Alabama during the American Revolution.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Tulio and Enrique O'Neill y O'Kelly, of the O'Neills of the Fews, became residents of St. Croix in the 1770s in the footsteps of a deceased uncle. Tulio's sons, Arturo and Tulio O'Neill y O'Keefe, were granted land in Puerto Rico in 1804. Arturo moved his family there in March 1810 and his descendants continue to reside there today as well as in Spain and the USA.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Most O'Neill families of Puerto Rico have for many generations resided in the districts of Hato Nuevo, Mamey, and Sonadora of the city of Guaynabo on the northern coast of the island of Puerto Rico. Other O'Neill families have settled in the cities of Río Piedras and Caguas. Many other O'Neill families that moved from Barbados settled on the Island of Vieques. The O'Neills have been mayors of their cities.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: The O'Neills of Martinique settled in the early 1700s; in the next century, they claimed to be Count of Tyrone and lineally descended from Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. This claim (which rested on a single-sentence document in their own possession) is currently regarded as unproven. The main stem of this family is now extinct in the male line; collateral descendants may exist.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Today the ancient O'Neills flourish in Ireland, Europe, and the New World. Clan organizations and meetings are held regularly, and the family organization is recognized by every Irish historical governing body. The O'Neills are represented, and are the current presidents of, the Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains. They are members of the Clans of Ireland, and hold status with the Councils of each County in Ulster. And before the Government of Ireland stopped recognizing chiefs, they were one of the original chiefly families recognized in 1945 by the Chief Herald of Ireland. They still maintain good relations with the government in Dublin and have hosted the President of Ireland in Ulster twice. Most recently the parliament in Dublin reversed the legal attainments against O'Neill chiefs dating back to 1569.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Three of the ancient O'Neill dynasties or principalities, are still represented by direct descendants of the once independent kings, the O'Neills of Clannaboy, the Fews, and the McShane O'Neills of Tyrone. The chiefships pass under the elective derbfine system of Irish Brehon law, but many incumbents were also granted further titles that are inherited under primogeniture by various Roman Catholic kingdoms in Europe and by the British crown who today possess and use titles in Ireland, Spain, France, Scotland, Portugal, England, Australia, South Africa and the Americas. Further, O'Neills hold five existing House of Lords Peerages in Ulster, Scotland, and England.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Overseas branches flourish, such as in South Africa where descendants are referred to as Nels, mainly due to the influence of the Afrikaner people of the country. The family maintains a loose confederation with its sept princes and chiefs centered in Ireland, meeting annually. This chief's group met in 2007 to commemorate and retrace the Flight of the Earls, in 2010 outside Paris to announce a new, global clan organization that has the goal of constructing an O'Neill museum in Ulster as a central repository for all the family artifacts spread across the world. In 2013 they established a historical relationship with the Priory at Benburb, they met in 2015 to promote the O'Neill Summer School from Shane's Castle, in 2016 in Rome to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of the 2nd Earl, Hugh O'Neill, and in October 2017 they established a library and museum at the Priory in Benburb, presenting a historical writings collection previously in private hands out of Ireland for centuries.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Geneticists at Trinity College, Dublin suggested in 2006 that Niall of the Nine Hostages may have been the most fecund male in Irish history. Of their Irish sample, the geneticists found that 21 percent of men from north-western Ireland, 8 percent from all of Ireland, a substantial percentage of men from western and central Scotland, and about 2 percent of men from New York bore the same Y-chromosome haplotype. The geneticists estimated that about 2–3 million men bear this haplotype. Moore et al. concluded that these men descend from "a single early-medieval progenitor" and proposed that this could be Niall. According to the PBS documentary series "Finding Your Roots", Bill O'Reilly, Stephen Colbert, Colin Quinn, Bill Maher, and the show's host, Henry Louis Gates Jr. all display STR markers consistent with the Irish Modal Haplotype.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: It is a common misconception that there is one coat of arms associated to everyone of a common surname, when, in fact, a coat of arms is property passed through direct lineage. This means that there are numerous families of O'Neill under various spellings that are related, but because they are not the direct descendants of an O'Neill that owned an armorial device do not have rights or claims to any arms themselves.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: The coat of arms of the O'Neills of Ulster, the branch that held the title of High Kings of Ireland, were white with a red left hand (latterly, the Red Hand of Ulster), and it is because of this prominence that the red hand (though a right hand is used today, rather than the left used by the high kings) has also become a symbol of Ireland, Ulster, Tyrone and other places associated with the family of O'Neills. The red hand by itself has become a symbol of the O'Neill name, such that when other O'Neill family branches were granted or assumed a heraldic achievement, this red hand was often incorporated into the new coat of arms in some way.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: The red hand is explained by several legends, with a common theme but of a promise of land to the first man to sail or swim across the sea and touch the shores of Ireland. Many contenders arrive, including a man named O'Neill, who begins to fall behind the others. O'Neill cuts off his left hand and throws it onto the beach before the other challengers can reach the shore, becoming the first to touch land and win all of Ireland as his prize. These legends seem to originate (or to have been written down) in the 17th century, centuries after the red hand device was first used by O'Neill families.


title: O'Neill dynasty

text: Several Scottish families may descend from an O'Neill dynast named Anradhán. According to "Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne", Anradhán, son of Aodh Athlamháin, quarrelled with his elder brother, Domhnall, ancestor of the O'Neills, and left Ireland for Scotland. This source states that Anradhán won extensive lands by conquest, and married the daughter of the King of Scots. Anradhán, who does not appear in contemporary sources, was apparently an 11th-century dynast, son of Aodh Athlamháin, King of Aileach (died 1033). Although "Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne" states that Anradhán gained his lands through conflict, it is possible that he secured these lands in Argyll through marriage to their heiress. "Leabhar Chlainne Suibhne", Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh's genealogies, and Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh's pedigrees specifically state that the MacSweens were descended from Anradhán. According to Mac Fhirbhisigh's genealogies, Ó Cléirigh's pedigrees, and MS 1467, the Lamonts were also descendants. MacLachlans were also descendants, according to Ó Cléirigh's pedigrees and MS 1467. According to MS 1467, the MacSorleys of Monydrain, ([of Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg a branch of Clan Donald) and MacEwens of Otter are also descendants. The Gilchrists appear to be another family descended from Anradhán. The original Gaelic surname of the Highland Livingstones suggests that they were also descendants. There is uncertainty regarding the ancestry of the MacNeills. The family of Barra may well be unrelated to the family of Taynish and Gigha. It is uncertain if either family descended from Anradhán, although tradition dating to the turn of the twentieth century suggests that the Barra family may have.


title: Ischium

text: Situated below the ilium and behind the pubis, it is one of three regions whose fusion creates the coxal bone. The superior portion of this region forms approximately one-third of the acetabulum.


title: Ischium

text: The ischium is made up of three parts–the body, the superior ramus and the inferior ramus. The body contains a prominent spine, which serves as the origin for the superior gemellus muscle. The indentation inferior to the spine is the lesser sciatic notch. Continuing down the posterior side, the ischial tuberosity is a thick, rough-surfaced prominence below the lesser sciatic notch. This is the portion that supports weight while sitting (especially noticeable on a hard surface) and can be felt simply by sitting on the fingers. It serves as the origin for the inferior gemellus muscle and the hamstrings. The superior ramus is a partial origin for the internal obturator and the external obturator muscles. The inferior ramus serves partially as origin for part of the adductor magnus muscle and the gracilis muscle. The inferior ischial ramus joins the inferior ramus of the pubis anteriorly and is the strongest of the hip (coxal) bones.


title: Ischium

text: The body enters into and constitutes a little more than two-fifths of the acetabulum. Its external surface forms part of the lunate surface of the acetabulum and a portion of the acetabular fossa. Its internal surface is part of the wall of the lesser pelvis; it gives origin to some fibers of the internal obturator. No muscles insert on the body.


title: Ischium

text: Its anterior border projects as the posterior obturator tubercle. From its posterior border there extends backward a thin and pointed triangular eminence, more or less elongated in different subjects, the ischial spine, origin of the gemellus superior muscle.


title: Ischium

text: Above the spine is a large notch, the greater sciatic notch; Below the spine is a smaller notch, the lesser sciatic notch.


title: Ischium

text: The superior ramus of the ischium (descending ramus) projects downward and backward from the body and presents for examination three surfaces: external, internal, and posterior.


title: Ischium

text: The external surface is quadrilateral in shape. It is bounded above by a groove that lodges the tendon of the external obturator; below, it is continuous with the inferior ramus; in front it is limited by the posterior margin of the obturator foramen; behind, a prominent margin separates it from the posterior surface. In front of this margin the surface gives origin to the quadratus femoris, and anterior to this to some of the fibers of origin of the external obturator; the lower part of the surface gives origin to part of the adductor magnus.


title: Ischium

text: The internal surface forms part of the bony wall of the lesser pelvis. In front it is limited by the posterior margin of the obturator foramen. Below, it is bounded by a sharp ridge that provides attachment to a falciform prolongation of the sacrotuberous ligament, and, more anteriorly, gives origin to the transverse perineal and ischiocavernosus muscles.


title: Ischium

text: Posteriorly the ramus forms a large swelling, the tuberosity of the ischium, where the hamstrings originate.


title: Ischium

text: The inferior ramus of the ischium (ascending ramus) is the thin, flattened part of the ischium, which ascends from the superior ramus, and joins the inferior ramus of the pubis—the junction being indicated in the adult by a raised line.


title: Ischium

text: The outer surface is uneven for the origin of the obturator externus and some of the fibers of the adductor magnus; its inner surface forms part of the anterior wall of the pelvis.


title: Ischium

text: Its medial border is thick, rough, slightly everted, forms part of the outlet of the pelvis, and presents two ridges and an intervening space.


title: Ischium

text: The ridges are continuous with similar ones on the inferior ramus of the pubis: to the outer is attached the deep layer of the superficial perineal fascia (fascia of Colles), and to the inner the inferior fascia of the urogenital diaphragm.


title: Ischium

text: Tracing these two ridges downward, they join with each other just behind the point of origin of the transverse perineal muscles. Here the two layers of fascia are continuous behind the posterior border of the muscle.


title: Ischium

text: To the intervening space, just in front of the point of junction of the ridges, the transverse perineal attaches, and in front of this is a portion of the ischiocavernosus, and the crus penis in the male, or the crus clitoridis in the female.


title: Ischium

text: Avulsion fractures of the hip bone (avulsion or tearing away of the ischial tuberosity) may occur in adolescents and young adults during sports that require sudden acceleration or deceleration forces, such as sprinting or kicking in football, soccer, jumping hurdles, basketball, and martial arts. These fractures occur at tubercles (bony projections that lack secondary ossification centers). Avulsion fractures occur where muscles are attached: anterior superior and inferior iliac spines, ischial tuberosities, and ischiopubic rami. A small part of bone with a piece of a tendon or ligament attached is avulsed (torn away).


title: Ischium

text: Ischial bursitis (also known as "weaver's bottom") is inflammation of the synovial bursa located between the gluteus maximus muscle and the ischial tuberosity, and is usually caused by prolonged sitting on a hard surface.


title: Ischium

text: Adoption of "ischium" into English-language medical literature dates back to c. 1640; the Latin term derives from Greek ἰσχίον "iskhion" meaning "hip joint". The division of the "acetabulum" into "ischium" (ἰσχίον) and "ilium" (λαγών, "os lagonicum") is due to Galen, "De ossibus". Galen, however, omits mention of the "pubis" as a separate bone.


title: Ischium

text: The clade Dinosauria is divided into the Saurischia and Ornithischia based on hip structure, including importantly that of the ischium. In the majority of dinosaurs, the ischium extends down from the ilium and towards the tail of the animal. The acetabulum, which can be thought of as a "hip-socket", is a cup-shaped opening on each side of the pelvic girdle formed where the ischium, ilium, and pubis all meet, and into which the head of the femur inserts. The orientation and position of the acetabulum is one of the main morphological traits that caused dinosaurs to walk in an upright posture with their legs directly underneath their bodies.


title: Rachid Taha

text: Rachid Taha (, , ; 18 September 1958 – 12 September 2018) was an Algerian singer and activist based in France described as "sonically adventurous". His music was influenced by many different styles including rock, electronic, punk and raï.


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha was born on 18 September 1958 in Sig, Mascara Province, Algeria, although a second source suggests he was born in the Algerian seacoast city of Oran. This town was the "birthplace of raï" music, and 1958 was a key year in the Algerian struggle for independence against French authority. He began listening to Algerian music in the 1960s, including street-style music called chaabi. Additionally, music from the Maghreb region was part of his upbringing.


title: Rachid Taha

text: He moved with his parents to France when he was ten years old, settling in an immigrant community around the French city of Lyon in 1968. His father was a textile factory worker, with long hours and low pay, such that his life was compared to that of a "modern slave", according to one account. Aged 17, Taha worked during the day at a central heating plant, described as a "menial job", and hated this work, but at night worked as a club DJ playing Arabic music, rap, salsa, funk and "anything else that took his fancy."


title: Rachid Taha

text: In the late 1970s, Taha founded the nightclub called "The Rejects" or, in French, "Les Refoulés", where he would "spin" mashups of Arabic pop classics over Led Zeppelin, Bo Diddley and Kraftwerk backbeats.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In the 1980s, Algeria's indigenous pop music known as "raï" began to achieve international attention. Originally raï music was based on "city slickers adapting music from the sticks" and was described as ribald, but it became more of a medium for political protest when young people in the 1960s and 1970s used it to "express their anger and desires." Taha suggested that Algerian musical styles and rock are "closely linked". Taha was influenced by the Moroccan chaâbi band Nass El Ghiwane which has been described as "Morocco's answer to the Beatles or the Stones."


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 1981, while living in Lyon, Taha met Mohammed and Mokhtar Amini and the three of them, along with Djamel Dif and Eric Vaquer would soon form a band. In 1982, Taha was the lead vocalist for the Arab-language rock group which they named Carte de Sejour, meaning "Green Card" or "Residence Permit" depending on the translation. He sang in both French and Arabic, but usually in Arabic. Taha was inspired by the group "The Clash":


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha believed his early recordings helped to inspire The Clash to create the song "Rock the Casbah". A "New York Times" music reporter wrote of Taha's cover version of the Clash's hit song probably influenced by his earlier work:


title: Rachid Taha

text: These were difficult years since record stores often refused to stock their records "because they didn't want Arabs coming into their shops". There was little money; the band performed in suburbs of Lyon. Taha took a standard patriotic French song entitled "Sweet France" (in French: "Douce France") which had originally been recorded by Charles Trenet in the 1940s, kept the lyrics, but sang it with "furious irony" which irritated many French listeners, particularly coming from a "scruffy, bohemian-looking Arabic singer", to the point where Taha's version was banned from French radio. The "acerbic" song created a "splash", nevertheless, and won Taha some recognition as a serious artist. The group never achieved much commercial success and, as a result, Taha had to work a series of day jobs in a factory, then as a house painter, a dishwasher, and later as an encyclopedia salesman. They recorded their first maxi album "Carte De Séjour" in 1983. In 1984, with the help of British guitarist Steve Hillage, the group achieved a "sharp, driving sound" which played well on the radio, and the LP was entitled "Rhoromanie". In his songwriting, Taha wrote about living in exile and the cultural strife associated with being an Algerian immigrant in France. In 1986, his "sneering punk-rock cover of 'Douce France'" was seen as an "unmistakable protest against the nation's treatment of its immigrant underclass", and caused consternation in French political circles. His song "Voilà, Voilà" protested racism. Taha had to cope with anti-Arab sentiment and confusion; for example, "The New York Times" stated in a front-page story that Taha was Egyptian rather than Algerian, but later posted a correction. Later, in 2007, Taha-as-an-immigrant was mentioned in France's National Center of the History of Immigration.


title: Rachid Taha

text: When performing live, Taha wore various outfits, including at one point a leather fedora hat, then later a red cowboy hat. The band's second and last LP entitled "Ramsa" (Five) was released in 1986. The band dissolved in 1989.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 1989, Taha moved to Paris to launch his solo career. At one point he was invited to Los Angeles to record with musician Don Was, who had been a producer associated with the Rolling Stones. Taha mixed a variety of instruments and styles for his sound. With a drum instrument called a doumbek or darbuka, his new group played Arabic-style beats. It appeared at one point that Taha might become an "overnight success", but after the release of the album "Barbès", sales were disappointing in the United States, possibly because Americans were not keen on Arabic-sounding music during the time of the first Gulf War.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 1993, Taha again worked with Hillage who helped produce his second solo album, the self-titled "Rachid Taha" and helped him achieve "the kind of clubland-raï synthesis". Hillage worked on nine solo Taha albums from 1993 to 2006, helping Taha return to his "north African roots". In 1995, he released the album entitled "Olé Olé" with Taha looking like an "Aryan androgyne" with dyed blond hair and blue contact lenses, to make a point about anti-Arab bigotry and at the "homophobia of North African culture." "Valencia" features the singing of Kirsty Hawkshaw. In 1997, his song "Ya Rayah" became a hit. He performed in the Canary Islands.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 2001, Taha released "Made in Medina", and a music critic commented that he used a "full and varied instrumental palette" along with "a dizzying vocal facility that transcends whatever style he's plugged." The album was recorded in Paris, New Orleans, and London with input from the American jam band Galactic. Taha saw parallels between African and American music and said "New Orleans is like Algiers ... They were both French colonies at one time, and there's even an area there called Algiers," and he noted that Louisiana Zydeco drum patterns were similar to raï music. "Made in Medina" combined Algerian roots, techno, pop music, and early rock and punk influences with "remarkable consistency" with previous works, according to Hillage. There were elements of political protest in his music leading a BBC critic to describe him as a "shit-disturbing artist who risks challenging his own culture as undemocratic." A report in "The Guardian" suggested that Taha had achieved a cult status in pop music.


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha's breakthrough album as a solo artist was his bestseller "Diwân", featuring remakes of songs from Algerian and Arab traditions. The album featured traditional instruments like the oud but with a "contemporary veneer of programmed percussion and samples added in." Taha mixed the oud with strings using a contemporary beat along with guitar work, according to one account. Taha's album "Tékitoi", produced by Steve Hillage and released in 2004, brought acclaim and recognition from other rock musicians. The title track is "street slang" meaning, roughly, "Who the Hell Are You?" (from the French "Tu es qui, toi ?" shortened into "T'es qui, toi ?") and the music had "echoes of Joe Strummer", according to a review in "The Observer". In 2005 Taha performed with Robert Plant, Patti Smith and Brian Eno. He covered The Clash song "Rock the Casbah" which he retitled with the Arabic name of "Rock El Casbah". This song appeared in the 2007 film about Clash frontman Joe Strummer entitled "". The song suggested rock music as "banned but unstoppable". Taha performed the song along with "The Clash" musician Mick Jones. "The Guardian" selected "Rock El Casbah" as one of the top 50 cover songs.


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha played in Morocco in 2006. In 2007, Taha performed in Canada and a reporter from the "Montreal Gazette" described his performance while wearing a "pewter pimp suit" which was "stunning":


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 2008 he performed with the band Dengue Fever. He was described as a ""wild Algerian punk fan" performing among a lineup which read like a "Who's Who of West African music", and was part of "Africa Express", a response to the lack of African musicians at Bob Geldof's "Live 8" musical extravaganza.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 2008, Taha was growing increasingly prominent, with greater audiences in places such as Canada, although there were reports that his music had "trouble getting airplay" in France. He performed with Nigerian artists Femi Kuti and Seun Kuti in Lagos at a "Felabration" of the music of their late father Fela Kuti, as well as with Brian Eno in an anti-war concert in London.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 2009, Taha released "Bonjour" which "The Guardian" music critic Robin Denselow described as "calmed down" under a new producer, Gaëtan Roussel. Denselow wrote: "The result is an unlikely set in which Taha appears to be deliberately courting a new, wider market by playing down that wild rebel image." Denselow felt the music was more "commercial" and "not his most exciting." It included a "rousing tribute" on his cover song "Rock El Casbah" to the late Clash guitarist Joe Strummer. In 2010, Taha played in Toronto, Canada to large audiences. Taha performed with Algerian artist Mehdi Haddab who plays the oud. Taha's song "Habina" was featured in the 2010 film, "It's Kind of a Funny Story". Guitarist Carlos Santana recorded his song "Migra" which went on to sell over 25 million copies. In recent years, Taha toured nations including the United States and Dubai.


title: Rachid Taha

text: In 2013 Taha released the "Zoom" album, which was produced by guitarist Justin Adams and featured guests Mick Jones and Brian Eno;. Jones toured with Taha as part of the Zoom project. The album included a new recording of "Voilà, Voilà". Taha also recorded "Now or Never" (words and music by Aaron Schroeder / Wally Gold and previously recorded by Elvis Presley), which features Jeanne Added singing in English.


title: Rachid Taha

text: The song '"Barra Barra'" from his album "Made in Medina" was featured in the 2001 film "Black Hawk Down" as well as in the Games Convention 2008 trailer of the game "Far Cry 2". It was also featured in the 2007 film "The Hunting Party".


title: Rachid Taha

text: His song "Garab" from "Made in Medina" was used in the movie "The Truth About Charlie" in 2002, and also in "Blood and Chocolate" in 2007.


title: Rachid Taha

text: His song "Ya Rayah" from his album "Carte Blanche (Rachid Taha album)" was used in the movie "Something New (film)" (2006)


title: Rachid Taha

text: Some critics attribute Taha's unique sound to his use of the mandolute, a mixture of the traditional oud with European fretted instruments. One critic described his arrangements as "no less bombastic" since they mixed North African rhythms and "string orchestra flourishes" with "pummeling big-beat techno, distorted electric guitars, snatches of Bo Diddley, Led Zeppelin and other macho sounds."


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha was described as "gregarious" and "quick with a smile." A person who liked to party throughout the night, he also had a cosmopolitan group of friends. Taha was quoted as saying "I've never wanted to just stay in my own neighborhood, my own community ... It's a kind of conformism. You have to be adventurous."


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha was not fond of contemporary French cinema and said "I'd much rather watch some dumb Hollywood movie than another haute bourgeois auteurist piece of crap." He was a critic of the Bush administration although he made comments favoring a bombing raid on Iran, and said that "Iran shouldn't be allowed to have nukes."


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha suffered from Chiari malformation diagnosed in 1987. "I'm tired of people thinking I'm a drunk on stage. While these are the symptoms of Arnold Chiari disease. I'm stumbling because I'm losing my balance. I'm wavering. It generates a disruption in the body.""


title: Rachid Taha

text: Taha died from a heart attack in his sleep on 12 September 2018, six days before his 60th birthday. He is survived by his longtime partner Véronique Pré and their son, Lyes. A posthumous album, "Je suis Africain", previously finished before his death, was released on September 20, 2019.


title: Justine Clarke

text: Justine Clarke (born 16 November 1971) is an Australian actress, singer, musician, author and television host. She has been acting since the age of seven and has appeared in some of Australia's best-known TV shows. She is best known as a presenter on the Australian children's show "Play School", a role with she has held since 1999. She is also a film and stage actor, and won the Best Actress Award at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival in Argentina in 2006 for her role in independent film "Look Both Ways". She has won two ARIA Awards.


title: Justine Clarke

text: Justine Clarke was born in Sydney, New South Wales. At the age of seven, while attending Woollahra Public School with other up and coming talents like Mouche Phillips and Deni Hines, she began appearing in television commercials, one of which was Arnott's Humphrey B. Bear biscuits. At eleven she played the role of Brigitta in the stage musical, "The Sound of Music".


title: Justine Clarke

text: Clarke's first significant acting role was as the character Anna Goanna in the 1985 film "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome". The same year she appeared in the TV series "The Maestro's Company" and featured in the 1986 mini-series "Professor Poopsnaggle's Steam Zeppelin". The following year she made appearances in "A Country Practice" and "Willing and Abel".


title: Justine Clarke

text: In 1988, Clarke began an eighteen months role on the soap opera, "Home and Away", as one of 17 original cast members, playing the character of Ruth "Roo" Stewart. The character of Roo was reinstated in the cast list in 2010, portrayed by Georgie Parker, making the character of Roo one of only two remaining original characters in the series (along with Ray Meagher's character of Alf Stewart). Clarke was one of several "Home and Away" cast-members to star in a stage musical about the soap, which toured the UK in 1991.


title: Justine Clarke

text: Following her departure from "Home and Away" in 1989, Clarke appeared in the short-lived series "Family and Friends" before going on to act in several mini-series including "Come In Spinner" and "Golden Fiddles".


title: Justine Clarke

text: Clarke's film "Turning April" in 1996 was followed by "Blackrock" in 1997, in which Heath Ledger played his first credited feature film role. More recently she has starred in the films "Danny Deckchair" and "Look Both Ways". The role of Meryl Lee in "Look Both Ways" scored Clarke a nomination for an Australian Film Institute (AFI) Lead Actress award in 2005.


title: Justine Clarke

text: After appearing in three episodes of the series "Wildside", she played Dr Samantha O'Hara in 21 episodes of "All Saints". She also played the leading role in the Australian medical drama "The Surgeon" and appeared in the third season of the critically acclaimed Australian TV Drama series "Love My Way", as Simone.


title: Justine Clarke

text: 2009 saw Clarke star in the Showcase television series "Tangle". In 2012, she appeared in "Woodley". Other television appearances followed, including playing the role of Bernadette in "The Time of Our Lives" from 2013 to 2014; Eve in "House Husbands" in 2016, and as Noelene Hogan in "Hoges".


title: Justine Clarke

text: An experienced stage actor, Clarke has worked with the Sydney Theatre Company in productions such as "The Man with Five Children", "Trelawny of the Wells", "Cyrano de Bergerac", "The Herbal Bed", "Hedda Gabler", "Stiffs" and "Muriel's Wedding".


title: Justine Clarke

text: In February–March 2022, Clarke stars in Dennis Kelly's one-woman play, "Girls & Boys". The play is staged by State Theatre Company South Australia at the Odeon Theatre, Norwood in Adelaide as part of the Adelaide Festival, and directed by the artistic director of STCSA, Mitchell Butel.


title: Justine Clarke

text: In the 1990s, Clarke performed in a number of bands with fellow Australian thespians, including Loene Carmen and Noah Taylor. These groups included the country and western combo "The Honky Tonk Angels"; punk band "The White Trash Mamas"; and the avant-garde "Cardboard Box Man". In the late '90s she was a backing vocalist in the Sydney band "Automatic Cherry", which also featured The Cruel Sea guitarist James Cruickshank. The band released the album "Slow Burner" in 1997.


title: Justine Clarke

text: Clarke has released multiple albums through ABC Music and has twice won the ARIA Award for Best Children's Album, in 2013 for "A Little Day Out With Justine Clarke" and in 2018 for "The Justine Clarke Show!".


title: Justine Clarke

text: In 2014, Clarke teamed up with Tex Perkins for series of shows paying tribute to Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra.


title: Justine Clarke

text: In 2016, Clarke collaborated with singer-songwriter Josh Pyke on 'Words Make The World Go Around', a song to celebrate, promote and raise funds for the work of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.


title: Justine Clarke

text: Clarke's first-ever, career-spanning greatest hits collection, "Everybody Roar! The Best of Justine Clarke", was released in November 2019. In 2019, she released her first ever original Christmas song, "Here Comes a Merry Christmas", written with longtime collaborators Peter Dasent and Arthur Baysting.


title: Justine Clarke

text: Clarke has three children, named Josef, Nina and Max, with her husband, actor Jack Finsterer, and resides in Sydney.


title: Justine Clarke

text: The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Clarke has won two awards from six nominations.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: "Rebel Rebel" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released in the UK in February 1974 by RCA Records as the lead single from the album "Diamond Dogs". Written and produced by Bowie, the song is based around a distinctive guitar riff reminiscent of the Rolling Stones. Cited as his most-covered track, "Rebel Rebel" has been described as Bowie's farewell to the glam rock movement that he had helped initiate, as well as being a proto-punk track. Two versions of the song were recorded: the well-known UK single release and the shorter US single release, which featured added background vocals, extra percussion and a new arrangement.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: Upon its release, the song was a commercial success, peaking at number five on the UK Singles Chart and number 64 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. The song received critical acclaim for its central guitar riff and strength as a glam anthem. Several publications consider it to be one of Bowie's greatest songs. It was performed live by Bowie during many of his concert tours and since appeared on many compilation albums. It was remastered in 2016 as part of the "Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)" box set.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: Originally planned in late 1973 as part of an aborted "Ziggy Stardust" musical, "Rebel Rebel" was Bowie's last single in his signature glam rock style. It was also his first hit since 1969 not to feature lead guitarist Mick Ronson; Bowie played guitar himself on this and almost all the other tracks on "Diamond Dogs", producing what "NME" critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called "a rocking dirty noise that owed as much to Keith Richards as it did to the departed Ronno". Singer-songwriter Jayne County, who was a cast member of "Pork" and among Bowie's entourage for two years, maintains that her 1973 song "Queenage Baby", which included the lyric "can't tell whether she's a boy or a girl", was an influence for "Rebel Rebel".


title: Rebel Rebel

text: Recording for "Rebel Rebel" began at a solo session at Trident Studios in London following Christmas 1973. It would be Bowie's last known visit to Trident, his principal recording studio since 1968. The recording was subsequently completed the following month in January 1974 at Ludolph Studios in Nederhorst den Berg, Netherlands. In the studio, Bowie informed bassist Herbie Flowers and guest guitarist Alan Parker that he wanted it to "sound like the Stones", before he picked up Parker's black Les Paul and played it to them. Parker then completed it, before the rest of the backing track was recorded.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: According to biographer Marc Spitz, the lyrics of "Rebel Rebel" revisit familiar Bowie territory, featuring "a 'hot' young 'tramp' worrying his or her parents with his or her sexy nihilism", are reflected by the line "You got a few lines and a handful of 'ludes'." Even though the world is ending, the "Rebel" doesn't care, suggesting "we like dancing and we look divine." It also features gender-bending lyrics ("You got your mother in a whirl / She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl"). According to author Peter Doggett, in the context of "Diamond Dogs", the song serves as a "musical continuation" between the "Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing (Reprise)" medley: it begins with a D to E chord change that was prefigured with a bass guitar slide that constructed the medley's final "chaotic" moments.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: The song's distinctive guitar riff is described by rock journalist Kris Needs as "a classic stick-in-the-head like the Stones' 'Satisfaction'". The riff's chords are D, E, and A and were created by Bowie and enhanced by Parker, who, according to Doggett, added the "downward trail" at the end of each line. Paul Trynka writes that Parker added "a particular chord shape rather than the original single note just before the chord change and a distinctive 'beeeoonng' in the last line of the chorus just as [Bowie] sings 'I love you so'." Bowie later said, "It's a fabulous riff! Just fabulous! When I stumbled onto it, it was 'Oh, thank you!" Parker later said Bowie came up with the Stones-like riff to "piss off" Mick Jagger. Parker was upset upon learning he was uncredited on the final version. He stated: "I can tell my own playing, and my own sound, and I know it's me." Flowers further recalled: "David played the riff to Alan, Alan made sure it was good enough to record, then [Alan] played it." Although O'Leary compliments the riff, he notes that with Ronson's absence, it gets "run into the ground"; throughout the song's over four-minute runtime, the riff is solely absent in the two bridges and the "hot tramp" lines.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: "Rebel Rebel" was released on 15 February 1974 in the UK by RCA Records (as LPB05009) as the lead single of "Diamond Dogs" with the "Hunky Dory" song "Queen Bitch" as the B-side. The B-side, according to Spitz, was selected by RCA to provide the label with some "much needed fiscal plasma". The single quickly became a glam anthem, the female equivalent of Bowie's earlier hit for Mott the Hoople, "All the Young Dudes". It reached number five on the UK Singles Chart and number 64 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: The original UK single version had a slightly different mix than the album version; the album mix was the only mix to appear on compilation albums, until the single mix appeared on "Re:Call 2", as part of the 2016 box set "Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)". The UK single mix was again remastered in 2019 and released on digital media streaming services.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: "Rebel Rebel" was released as a single with a different mix in the US and Mexico in May 1974, with "Lady Grinning Soul" as the B-side. According to Doggett, Bowie was not satisfied with creating an enduring "dance-floor anthem", so he recorded a new mix in New York in April 1974, which Doggett calls a "Latin dub mix" that was over two decades ahead of its time. The US mix is shorter (2:58) and more uptempo, dense and camp than the UK single, featuring "sine waves" of percussion by Geoff MacCormack, an original backing vocal line that is preceded by a "rush of backward echo", acoustic guitar and a new arrangement that buries the signature riff beneath phasing. According to Pegg, the US mix begins at the first "hot tramp" lyric at the 1:20 mark in the original UK mix. Within a couple of months, it was withdrawn and replaced by the UK single version, but the same arrangement was used on Bowie's Diamond Dogs Tour, appearing on its concert album "David Live".


title: Rebel Rebel

text: The song has received critical acclaim for its guitar riff and strength as a glam anthem, being described as a fitting farewell to Bowie's glam era. Marc Spitz praised the song in the biography "", calling the riff "magnificent" and Bowie's "last great glitter anthem". He also described the song as Bowie's most "pure and lasting rocker" when mentioning the artist's early 2000s re-recorded version for his 2003 album "Reality". "Cash Box" said that this was "Bowie's best single ever," describing it as a "strong rocker with incredible hooks throughout." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, in his review of "Diamond Dogs", called the song "tight" and "sexy" and one of Bowie's best, although he felt the song did not contribute to the overall theme of the album. Dave Thompson, also of AllMusic, described "Rebel Rebel" as one of Bowie's most "playful" numbers and considered it a fitting farewell to the artist's glam rock era and, in a way, to "the entire glam movement which Bowie created", as well as indicating the direction his career was taking. Barry Walters of "Pitchfork", in a review of "Diamond Dogs" following Bowie's death, praised the song's "glorious" guitar riff, its "stomping beat", the "hot tramp" lyric pause between both and their "return". Walters continued, "If Bowie often drifted above listeners' heads, here he shoots straight at their solar plexus and scores with what ranks among the greatest, most insistent riffs of the '70s. Rockers who'd dismissed Bowie as a dandy now gave the dude a pass." Journalist C. M. Crockford of punknews.org called "Rebel Rebel"'s guitar riff the best Bowie ever wrote, and a fitting end to his glam rock era.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: Following Bowie's death in 2016, "Rolling Stone" listed "Rebel Rebel" as one of his 30 essential songs. Spencer Kaufman of "Ultimate Classic Rock" ranked the song at number seven on his list of Bowie's 10 greatest songs, praising its guitar riff – "one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in rock history" – and as a glam rock anthem, writing, "the tune serves as the perfect bridge between the Rolling Stones and punk rock." In 2018, the writers of "NME" listed "Rebel Rebel" as Bowie's fifth greatest song. They praised the "heaven-sent" riff and also believed it to be reminiscent of the Rolling Stones. Jon Savage of "The Guardian", in his list of the 20 best glam-rock songs of all time, ranked the US version of the single at number 18.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: On 14 February 1974, Bowie recorded a lip synced performance of "Rebel Rebel" at Hilversum's Avro Studio 2 for the Dutch television programme "Top Pop". Broadcast two days later, it featured Bowie superimposed over flashing disco lights "by the miracle of chromakey" and donning what Pegg called his short-lived "pirate image" – a spotted neckerchief and a black eye-patch. Bowie later recalled:


title: Rebel Rebel

text: Following the performance, the pirate look, along with the Ziggy Stardust hairstyle, was ditched in favour of the "swept-back parting and double-breasted suits" of the Diamond Dogs Tour. The "Top Pop" clip later became the song's semi-official video.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: The song was a standard of Bowie's concerts from the Diamond Dogs Tour to the Sound+Vision Tour. For his performance at Live Aid in 1985, Bowie performed a saxophone-heavy version. After retiring the song on his Sound+Vision Tour in 1990, Bowie restored "Rebel Rebel" for the "Hours..." Tour. In early 2003, he recorded a new version, featuring an arrangement by Mark Plati without the original's reference to quaaludes. This was issued on a bonus disc that came with some versions of "Reality" the same year and on the 30th Anniversary Edition of "Diamond Dogs" in 2004. In 2004 the track was blended in a mash-up with the "Reality" song "Never Get Old"; the result was issued as the single "Rebel Never Gets Old".


title: Rebel Rebel

text: "We love David Bowie", commented Jane's Addiction front-man Perry Farrell in 2001. "Given the length of his career, I'm stunned that he still pushes things musically. But, please, please, David, can you sing 'Rebel Rebel' still?"


title: Rebel Rebel

text: Live versions of the song by Bowie have been released on "David Live" (1974), "A Reality Tour" (recorded 2003), "Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74)", "Live Nassau Coliseum '76", "Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)", "Glastonbury 2000", "Serious Moonlight (Live '83)" and "Glass Spider (Live Montreal '87)" which were both part of the box set "Loving the Alien (1983–1988)", "I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)", and on "Glass Spider" (1988) (video-only release).


title: Rebel Rebel

text: "Rebel Rebel" has appeared on several compilation albums, the first being "ChangesOneBowie" in 1976. It was also remastered in 2016, along with the entire "Diamond Dogs" album, as part of the "Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976)" box set. The rare US single version was included on the 1989 "Sound + Vision" box set, on the bonus disc of the 30th Anniversary Edition of "Diamond Dogs" in 2004, and on "Re:Call 2". The song's original UK single mix appeared on CD in 2016 on "Re:Call 2"; however, it was sourced not from the original analog tape, but rather from a pristine 7-inch single, as the tape was thought to be lost. The original single mix was released again on 24 May 2019 to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the "Diamond Dogs" album, this time sourced from the original tape, which had been recovered since the release of "Who Can I Be Now?"


title: Rebel Rebel

text: The track is cited by Nicholas Pegg as Bowie's most-covered track. A cover version by Dead or Alive was released as a single in 1994, under the name International Crysis, and peaked at number 76 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Rebel Rebel

text: The U.S. version of the single, also released in Canada and Mexico, had "Lady Grinning Soul" as the B-side.


title: SAP Center

text: The SAP Center at San Jose (originally known as San Jose Arena and the HP Pavilion at San Jose) is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, for which the arena has earned the nickname "The Shark Tank".


title: SAP Center

text: Plans for a San Jose arena began in the mid-1980s, when a group of local citizens formed Fund Arena Now (FAN). The group contacted city officials and pursued potential sponsors and partners from the NHL and NBA. In the late 1980s, mayor Tom McEnery met with FAN, and subsequently a measure to allocate local taxes for arena construction came up for a public vote on June 7, 1988, passing by a narrow margin.


title: SAP Center

text: In 1991, soon after construction began, the NHL granted an expansion franchise to San Jose. After it was discovered that the arena would not be suitable for NBA or NHL use as originally designed, the Sharks requested an upgrade to NHL standards, including the addition of luxury suites, a press box, and increased seating capacity.


title: SAP Center

text: For the 1996–97 NBA season, the arena served as home to the Golden State Warriors while their regular home court in Oakland (now known as Oakland Arena) was under renovation.


title: SAP Center

text: In 2001, naming rights were sold to Compaq, and it was renamed "Compaq Center at San Jose" (not to be confused with the Compaq Center (formerly The Summit) in Houston, Texas). After HP purchased Compaq in 2002, the arena was renamed "HP Pavilion", the same name as one of its computer models.


title: SAP Center

text: In late April 2007, it was announced that the HP Pavilion at San Jose would be receiving several building improvements, including a new center-hung LED video display system from Daktronics similar to that of the TD Garden, home of the Boston Bruins of the NHL.


title: SAP Center

text: In June 2013, German software company SAP (co-founded by Sharks managing partner Hasso Plattner, who is also SAP's chairman of the board) purchased the naming rights to the facility in a five-year deal worth US$3.35 million per year. The arena was renamed "SAP Center at San Jose" upon approval by the San Jose City Council.


title: SAP Center

text: In 2006, the SAP Center sold the most tickets (633,435) to non-sporting events of any venue in the Western United States, and the fourth highest total in the world, after Madison Square Garden in New York City (US), the Manchester Arena in Manchester (UK), and Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (Canada).


title: SAP Center

text: Other events hosted at the arena include the 1996 United States Figure Skating Championships, the 47th National Hockey League All-Star Game in 1997, the 1999 NCAA Women's Final Four, ArenaBowl XVI in 2002, the 2007 USA Gymnastics Visa Championships, and UFC 139 on November 19, 2011. Intel Extreme Masters Season IX – San Jose in 2014 and Intel Extreme Masters Season X – San Jose were held at the venue. Prior to Super Bowl 50 in nearby Santa Clara, the arena housed introductory media activities for the event. The SAP Center hosted games 3, 4, and 6 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals in the Sharks' first appearance in franchise history, with the Cup being presented to the series-winning Pittsburgh Penguins after game 6. In 2012 and 2016, the arena played host to the USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials. The arena was the host to the West Regional semifinals and finals of the 2002, 2007, and 2017 NCAA men's basketball tournaments; as well as first- and second-round games of the 2010, 2013, and 2019 tournaments.


title: SAP Center

text: Mixed Martial Arts events have played a big role at the SAP Center. The MMA organization Strikeforce held many events in San Jose beginning with in 2006, then in 2009, through 2012 with . The first Bellator MMA organization event at SAP was in September 2015 and since has held 6 total events with the most recent being Bellator 199 on May 16, 2018. SAP Center has also been the host of premiere MMA promotion the UFC. The first event was UFC 139 on November 19, 2011, then on July 11, 2012, on April 20, 2013, and most recently on July 26, 2014.


title: SAP Center

text: SAP Center has also hosted WWE Pay Per Views. Royal Rumble (1998), Payback (2017) took place where Braun Strowman defeated Roman Reigns in the main event. took place at SAP Center.


title: Swordfishtrombones

text: Swordfishtrombones is the eighth studio album by singer and songwriter Tom Waits, released in 1983 on Island Records. It was the first album that Waits produced himself. Stylistically different from his previous albums, "Swordfishtrombones" moves away from conventional piano-based songwriting towards unusual instrumentation and a somewhat more abstract and experimental rock approach.


title: Swordfishtrombones

text: The cover art is a TinTone photograph by Michael A. Russ showing Waits with the actors Angelo Rossitto and Lee Kolima.


title: Swordfishtrombones

text: In 1989, "Spin" named "Swordfishtrombones" the second greatest album of all time. In 2000, it was voted number 374 in Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums".


title: Swordfishtrombones

text: "Pitchfork" ranked "Swordfishtrombones" at number 11 in its 2002 list of the best albums of the 1980s. In 2006, "Q" listed "Swordfishtrombones" as the 36th best album of the 1980s, while in 2012, "Slant Magazine" listed it as the decade's 26th best album.


title: Swordfishtrombones

text: All tracks written by Tom Waits. Arranger Frances Thumm. Recorded by Tim Boyle and Biff Dawes. Mixed by Dawes at Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, CA.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: The Big Four is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on 27 January 1927 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It features Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, and Inspector Japp. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: The structure of the novel is different from other Poirot stories, as it began from twelve short stories (eleven in the US) that had been separately published. This is a tale of international intrigue and espionage, therefore opening up the possibility of more spy fiction from Christie.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: In 1926 Christie was already deeply affected by the death of her mother earlier in the year and the breakdown of her marriage to Archibald Christie. Her brother-in-law, Campbell Christie, suggested that, rather than undergo the strain of composing a completely new novel, Christie should merely compile her most recent series of Poirot stories into a full length book. Campbell helped her revise the stories, which had been written for "Sketch" magazine, into a more coherent form for book publication. His assistance mainly took the form of revising the beginnings and ends of the stories to make them flow better into a novel – the substance of each story remains the same between the short story version and the novel version. Unlike the later "Partners in Crime" (1929), the order of the stories was retained.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Around this time, a novel was offered for publication to The Bodley Head and was rejected. No other information exists on this novel, but Zemboy suggests it was "The Big Four". His theory continues with Christie's relationship to her new publisher William Collins, Sons. Christie would have realized that "The Big Four" was an inferior novel and went to work writing "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" for the new publisher.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: The book was published a few weeks after the . The resulting publicity over her name caused the new novel to become a sales hit. Sales were good enough to more than double the success of "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd". It sold despite not being a traditional murder mystery, being a tale of international intrigue and espionage, and opening the possibility of more spy fiction from Christie.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: In 1942, Christie wrote to her agent, Edmund Cork of Hughes Massie, asking him to keep a manuscript in reserve (probably "Sleeping Murder") and statedI have been, once, in a position where I "wanted" to write just for the sake of money coming in and when I felt I "couldn't" – it is a nerve wracking feeling. If I had had one MS 'up my sleeve' it would have made a big difference. That was the time I had to produce that rotten book "The Big Four" and had to force myself in "The Mystery of the Blue Train".


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: An unexpected visitor called Mayerling comes in through Hercule Poirot's bedroom and collapses on the floor. The only clue to what he wants is his repeating Poirot's name and address and writing the number 4, many times. When Hastings jokingly calls it "The Mystery of the Big Four," the man begins speaking about an international crime cartel of that name. He describes the four leaders: Number 1 is a Chinese political mastermind named Li Chang Yen; Number 2 is probably American; Number 3 is a Frenchwoman; and Number 4 is known only as "the Destroyer." The man dies soon after and Poirot and Hastings go off on the trail of the Big Four.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Back home, Poirot reveals Achille Poirot did not exist – it was Hercule Poirot in disguise all along. He laments that all his other cases will seem boring and tame compared to this case. The novel ends with Hastings returning to Argentina and Poirot considering retirement.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: A multiethnic gang of four persons working towards world domination. They have a secret hideaway in a quarry of the Dolomites. It is owned by an Italian company which is a front company for Abe Ryland. The quarry conceals a vast subterranean base, hollowed out in the heart of the mountain. From there they use wireless communications to transfer orders to thousands of their followers across many countries. The characters comprise typical ethnic and national stereotypes of 1920s British fiction. They are:


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Jerry Speir points out that the novel departs from the formula of the Hercule Poirot series. The novel is not set in the manor house or a rural area like a number of its predecessors, nor do the characters represent the British gentry. The villains are a gang of international criminals, controlling a secret, global organization. Their goals include the so-called disintegration of human civilization. They control an unspecified "scientific force", a weapon of some kind. Speir speculates that they could hold the secrets to gravity or nuclear power.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Armin Risi agrees that this was to be the great case of Poirot's life, as the character himself claims that all other cases will seem tame by comparison. Poirot does not track down a murderer; he must face and expose a supranational association of high-ranking personalities who are working towards world domination. Risi sees the book as a work of secret history which was inspired by the events and causes of World War I and the October Revolution (the novel was presumably written in 1924 or 1925; see the biographical remark below). The basic scenario of the novel has secret powers (the Four) influencing humanity and the course of history. To Risi it seems to be Agatha Christie's warning about real-life organizations doing the same. He points out that Christie herself may not have been an objective historian. She was a member of the high society in the British Empire. But this fact possibly gave her access to first-hand observers of world politics and the secret affairs behind them. During the interwar period, World War I and the October Revolution were still significant topics of conversation. He theorizes that Christie may have learned of organizations of conspirators active in the era, at least those active in the City of London. There were already rumors that secret forces were planning World War II or even World War III.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: James Zemboy observes that this novel lacks the unity of plot of a proper novel. It is a series of episodes, only unified by the theme of Hercule Poirot investigating and uncovering the identity of one of the villains. The Big Four themselves are unique characters, each one representing a personification of evil. But Zemboy finds these characters lacking in traits to make them amusing, engaging, or personally interesting. The minor characters are not unique. They are generic messengers or information providers. John Ingles serves only to provide information on Li Chang Yen, Flossie Monro is only significant in providing a single clue, and Sonia Daviloff only serves to show Poirot the position of the chess table.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Zemboy finds the book atypically boring for Christie. He believes that readers whose only exposure to her work is this novel, will be unlikely to pursue more of her books. The episodic nature of the book could have led to it being twice as long or half as long, without making any difference. The pattern of the novel is a series of dangerous encounters and failures to catch the criminals. Poirot repeatedly sets traps for the enemy. Repeatedly the enemy knows in advance and does not fall for them. On the other side, the Big Four set traps for Poirot. He evades most of them, only to find that the Four anticipated his moves as well. He does fall for some "real" traps.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Jeremy Black, a historian, points out that a number of Agatha Christie's novels of the interwar period record the standard fears of affluent society in the era. She added the "paranoid" conviction of an underlying conspiracy. This is an element present in her literary work and absent in the adaptations of Agatha Christie for television and film.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Black adds that Christie's work is, in its way, typical of the literature of the interwar period, much of which reflected a concern about foreign threats and links between domestic and international challenges. The Big Four, the characters, are positioned as the hidden cause and connecting threat between the world-wide unrest, labour disputes, and the revolutions of the period—in particular, the October Revolution, with Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky described as their puppets. The Big Four also have advanced technology in their arsenal.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Li Chang Yen is both a creature of sinister Orientalism and an echo of an earlier literary character: Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer. The character was described as "the greatest genius which the powers of evil have put on the Earth for centuries", the foe of the British Empire and British civilization in general. The character combined great cruelty with advanced scientific research. In "The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu" (1913), the eponymous character is presented as a figure behind Anti-Western actions in British Hong Kong and Chinese Turkestan. He is striking against Western politicians and administrators who are aware of the secret geopolitical importance of Tonkin, Mongolia, and Tibet, using these areas as a keyhole to the gate of the Indian Empire.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Fu Manchu's agents were omnipresent even in England. His organization was likened to a yellow octopus with Fu Manchu as its head with dacoits and thugs as its tentacles. These agents killed secretly, swiftly, and leaving no clue behind. These were the literary predecessors of the Four and their agents.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: David Suchet, who played Poirot for ITV from 1989 to 2013, had a different suggestion as to the origins of the Big Four. He found them to be an evil counterpart of "The Four Just Men" series by Edgar Wallace. He agrees, however, that Li Chang Yen was inspired by Fu Manchu.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: This novel was published a year after "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd" (1926) and was overshadowed by its predecessor.


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: The "Times Literary Supplement" review of the book publication struck a positive although incorrect note in its issue of 3 February 1927 when it assumed that the different style of the book from its immediate predecessor, "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", was a deliberate ploy: "M. Poirot, the Belgian detective who has figured in others of Mrs Christie's tales, is in very good form in the latest series of adventures. The device which made 'Who killed Roger Ackroyd?' (sic) such a puzzling problem for the reader of detective fiction is one that a writer cannot easily employ a second time, and indeed the present story is not so much the clearing up of a mystery as a recital of Poirot's encounters with one of those familiar groups of international crooks of almost unlimited power who seek to dominate the world." Hastings was described as "dense as ever".


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: "The New York Times Book Review" of 2 October 1927 outlined the basics of the plot and stated Number Four' remains a mystery almost to the end. This, of course, makes it more difficult for the detective to guard against attack and to carry on his investigation, and it provides most of the thrills of the story."


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: The reviewer in "The Observer" of 13 February 1927 did not expect originality when reading a book dealing with the themes of "The Big Four", but did admit that "When one opens a book and finds the name Li Chang Yen and is taken to subterranean chambers in the East End 'hung with rich Oriental silks', one fears the worst. Not that Mrs Christie gives us the worst; she is far too adroit and accomplished a hand for that. But the short, interpolated mysteries within the mystery are really much more interesting than the machinations of the 'Big Four' supermen." The conclusion of the book was "pretentious" and "fails to be impressive" and the reviewer summed up by saying, "the book has its thrills – in fact, too many of them; it seeks to make up in its details what it lacks in quality and consistency."


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: "The Scotsman" of 17 March 1927 said, "The activities of Poirot himself cannot be taken seriously, as one takes, for example, Sherlock Holmes. The book, indeed, reads more like an exaggerated parody of popular detective fiction than a serious essay in the type. But it certainly provides plenty of fun for the reader who is prepared to be amused. If that was the intention of the authoress, she has succeeded to perfection".


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: Robert Barnard: "This thriller was cobbled together at the lowest point in Christie's life, with the help of her brother-in-law. Charity is therefore the order of the day, and is needed, for this is pretty dreadful, and (whatever one may think of him as a creation) demeaning to Poirot."


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: "The Big Four" was released by HarperCollins as a graphic novel adaptation on 3 December 2007, adapted and illustrated by Alain Paillou (). This was translated from the edition first published in France by in 2006 under the title of "Les Quatre".


title: The Big Four (novel)

text: The novel was adapted for television with David Suchet as Poirot, as part of the final series of "Agatha Christie's Poirot". The film premiered on ITV on 23 October 2013 and on PBS on 27 July 2014 in the United States; it also guest-starred Sarah Parish, Patricia Hodge, Tom Brooke, Nicholas Burns, and Simon Lowe. Suchet's former co-stars Hugh Fraser, Philip Jackson, and Pauline Moran reprised their roles as Hastings, Japp, and Miss Lemon. The episode is very loosely based on the novel, considered by writer Mark Gatiss to be "an almost unadaptable mess".


title: Love Jones (film)

text: Love Jones (stylized as love jones) is a 1997 American romantic drama film written and directed by Theodore Witcher, in his feature film directing debut. It stars Larenz Tate, Nia Long, Isaiah Washington, Bill Bellamy, and Lisa Nicole Carson.


title: Love Jones (film)

text: Two of the poems recited by Nia Long's character, Nina, were written by Sonia Sanchez and are included in her book "Like the Singing Coming Off the Drums: Love Poems".


title: Love Jones (film)

text: Although the film received favorable critical reviews, it was not a financial success. However, it is considered a cult classic. It is Theodore Witcher's only directorial work to date.


title: Love Jones (film)

text: In Chicago, Darius Lovehall is a poet who is giving a reading at the Sanctuary, an upscale nightclub presenting jazz and poetry to a bohemian clientele. Shortly before his set, he meets Nina Mosley, a gifted photographer. They exchange small talk, and Darius makes his interest clear when he retitles his love poem "A Blues For Nina". A mutual attraction is sparked between them. Darius runs into Nina for the second time at the record store and asked her out for drinks. Nina told him it was bad timing, but Darius was not taking no for an answer. He talks his friend Sheila into letting him copy Nina's address from the check she wrote, goes to another record store to get the CD she was for and then shows up at her place unexpectedly to deliver the CD and ask her out for a second time. They have sex on the first date, but neither Darius or Nina are sure what to do next. Nina has just gotten out of a relationship and is unsure if she still cares for her old boyfriend; Darius, meanwhile, is unsure about whether or not to admit that he really cares for Nina.


title: Love Jones (film)

text: Just as Darius dares to begin believing that Nina could be "the one," Nina's ex-beau Marvin invites her to join him in New York to try to work things out. After a night with Darius, Nina tells him that she is going to New York because of unfinished business. More as a test of Darius' feelings than as an earnest attempt to resolve things with Marvin, Nina leaves, only to return to find that Darius has been fooling around with another woman. At this, Nina steps out with Darius' self-satisfied buddy Hollywood, sparking a blowup between the men and a reconciliation between the lovers, which does not last, requiring yet another separation and subsequent attempt to set things right.


title: Love Jones (film)

text: The producers of "Love Jones" stated that they wanted to make a modern film about African-American life that did not use violence and recreational drugs as elements in the story.


title: Love Jones (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 80% approval rating based on reviews from 20 critics, with an average rating of 6.7/10. On Metacritic it has a score of 65% based on reviews from 22 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on scale of A to F.


title: Love Jones (film)

text: Roger Ebert gave the film a score of three out of four stars, and expressed the view that "There is also a bow to the unconventional in the ending of his film. Many love stories contrive to get their characters together at the end. This one contrives, not to keep them apart, but to bring them to a bittersweet awareness that is above simple love. Some audience members would probably prefer a romantic embrace in the sunset, as the music swells. But "Love Jones" is too smart for that." He also noted on the acting: "It's hard to believe that Tate--so smooth, literate and attractive here--played the savage killer O-Dog in "Menace II Society". Nia Long was Brandi, one of the girl friends, in "Boyz n the Hood". "Love Jones" extends their range, to put it mildly".


title: Love Jones (film)

text: James Berardinelli, writing for ReelReviews, also awarded the film three out of four stars, writing that "There are several reasons why this film works better than the common, garden-variety love story. To begin with, the setting and texture are much different than that of most mainstream romances. The culture, in which post-college African Americans mingle while pursuing careers and relationships, represents a significant change from what we're used to. The Sanctuary, the intimate Chicago nightclub where Darius and Nina meet, is rich in its eclectic, bluesy atmosphere. And "Love Jones"s dialogue is rarely trite. When the characters open their mouths, it usually is because they have something intelligent to say, not because they're trying to fill up dead air with meaningless words".


title: Love Jones (film)

text: The film was released on VHS by New Line Home Entertainment. It later received a standalone DVD release, as well as a New Line "double feature" DVD release, the latter of which also included the 1996 film "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate".


title: History of dance

text: The history of dance is difficult to access because dance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings. It is not possible to identify with exact precision when dance became part of human culture.


title: History of dance

text: Dance has been an important part of ceremony, rituals, celebrations and entertainment since before the birth of the earliest human civilizations. Archaeology delivers traces of dance from prehistoric times such as the 10,000-year-old Bhimbetka rock shelters paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from c. 3300 BC. Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial and ethnic dances of the ancient period.


title: History of dance

text: Dance may have been used as a tool of social interaction that promoted cooperation essential for survival among early humans. Studies found that today's best dancers share two specific genes associated with a predisposition for being good social communicators.


title: History of dance

text: Also, the term “kinesthetic” is the right term to help understanding how dance makes communication, and it means recognition of movement of one’s own body, this word is a combination of two words (kinein=to move, aesthesis= perception). And dance in communication is like language, you can understand, feel, see and hear. When someone uses all the body muscles and feeling in a dance you will send like a message to the audience or who was watching. So dance moves and background sounds play a big role too. When there is a group performance by holding hands or shoulders or even dancing opposite each other makes them feel communicated and bonded.


title: History of dance

text: Many dances of the early periods were performed as a ritual to the Gods who ancestors believed needed to be kept entertained for world peace.Dance used in many celebrations and until now. Throughout  history we can notice that dance had many uses such as also community dance, harvesting and worship. Dance evolution started as folk origins to court presentations and now theater or even cinema movies.


title: History of dance

text: Dance may be performed in religious or shamanic rituals, for example in rain dance performed in times of drought. Shamans dancing for rain is mentioned in ancient Chinese texts. Dance is an important aspect of some religious rites in ancient Egypt, similarly dance is also integral to many ceremonies and rites among African people. Ritual dances may also be performed in temples and during religious festivals, for example the Rasa ritual dances of India (a number of Indian classical dances may have their origin in ritual dances), and the Cham dances of Tibet.


title: History of dance

text: Another early use of dance may have been as a precursor to ecstatic trance states in healing rituals. Dance is used for this purpose by many cultures from the Brazilian rainforest to the Kalahari Desert. Medieval European "danses macabres" were thought to have protected participants from disease; however, the hysteria and duration of these dances sometimes led to death due to exhaustion.


title: History of dance

text: According to a Sinhalese legend, Kandyan dances originated 2500 years ago from a magic dance ritual that broke the spell on a bewitched king to cure the king of a mysterious illness.


title: History of dance

text: One of the earliest structured uses of dances may have been in the performance and in the telling of myths. It was also sometimes used to show feelings for one of the opposite gender. It is also linked to the origin of "lovemaking." Before the production of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing these stories down from generation to generation.


title: History of dance

text: In European culture, one of the earliest records of dancing is by Homer, whose "Iliad" describes chorea (χορεία "khoreia"). The early Greeks made the art of dancing into a system, expressive of all the different passions. For example, the dance of the Furies, so represented, would create complete terror among those who witnessed them. The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, ranked dancing with poetry, and said that certain dancers, with rhythm applied to gesture, could express manners, passions, and actions. The most eminent Greek sculptors studied the attitude of the dancers for their art of imitating the passion.


title: History of dance

text: An early manuscript describing dance is the "Natya Shastra" on which is based the modern interpretation of classical Indian dance (e.g. Bharathanatyam).


title: History of dance

text: During the reign of the last Mughals and Nawabs of Oudh, dance fell down to the status of 'nautch', an unethical sensuous thing of courtesans.


title: History of dance

text: Later, linking dance with immoral trafficking and prostitution, British rule prohibited public performance of dance. Many disapproved it. In 1947, India won its freedom and created for dance an ambience where it could regain its past glory. Classical forms and regional distinctions were re-discovered, ethnic specialties were honored, and by synthesizing them with the individual talents of the masters in the line and fresh innovations, emerged dance with a new face but with classicism of the past.


title: History of dance

text: In Sri Lanka, the ancient Sinhalese chronicle "Mahavamsa" states that when King Vijaya landed in Sri Lanka in 543 BCE he heard sounds of music and dancing from a wedding ceremony. The origins of the dances of Sri Lanka are dated back to the aboriginal tribes, and to the mythological times of aboriginal yingyang twins and "yakkas" (devils). The classical dances of Sri Lanka (Kandyan dances) feature a highly developed system of tala (rhythm) and provided by cymbals called thalampataa.


title: History of dance

text: There is a long recorded history of Chinese dances. Some of the dances mentioned in ancient texts, such as dancing with sleeve movements are still performed today. Some of the early dances were associated with shamanic rituals. Folk dances of the early period were also developed into court dances. The important dances of the ancient period were the ceremonial "yayue" dated to the Zhou dynasty of the first millennium BC. The art of dance in China reached its peak during the Tang dynasty, a period when dancers from many parts of the world also performed at the imperial court. However, Chinese opera became popular during the Song and Yuan dynasty, and many dances were merged into Chinese opera. The art of dance in women also declined from the Song dynasty onward as a result of the increasing popularity of footbinding, a practice that ironically may have originated from dancing when a dancer wrapped her feet so she may dance ballet-fashion. The best-known of the Chinese traditional dances are the dragon dance and lion dance. Lion dance was described in the Tang dynasty in form that resembles today's dance.


title: History of dance

text: The people of the Iranian plateau have known dance in the forms of music, play, drama or religious rituals and have used instruments like mask, costumes of animals or plants, and musical instruments for rhythm, at least since the 6th millennium BC. Cultural mixed forms of dance, play and drama have served rituals like celebration, mourning and worship. And the actors have been masters of music, dance, physical acts and manners of expression. Artifacts with pictures of dancers, players or actors were found in many archaeological prehistoric sites in Iran, like Tepe Sabz, Ja'far Abad, Chogha Mish, Tall-e Jari, Cheshmeh Ali, Ismaeel Abad, Tal-e bakun, Tepe Sialk, Tepe Musian, tepe Yahya, Shahdad, Tepe Gian, Kul Farah, Susa, Kok Tepe, Cemeteries of Luristan, etc.


title: History of dance

text: The earliest researched dance from historic Iran is a dance worshiping Mithra (as in the Cult of Mithras) in which a bull was sacrificed. This cult later became highly adhered in the Roman Empire. This dance was to promote vigor in life. Ancient Persian dance was significantly researched by Greek historian from Herodotus of Halikarnassos, in his work "Book IX (Calliope)", in which he describes the history of Asian empires and Persian wars until 478 BC. Ancient Persia was occupied by foreign powers, first Greeks, then Arabs, and then Mongols and in turn political instability and civil wars occurred. Throughout these changes a slow disappearance of heritage dance traditions occurred.


title: History of dance

text: Religious prohibition of dancing in Iran came with the spread of Islam, but it was spurred by historical events. Religious prohibition to dancing waxed and waned over the years, but after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 dancing was no longer allowed due to its frequent mixing of the sexes. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 was the end of a successful era for dancing and the art of ballet in Iran. The Iranian national ballet company was dissolved and its members emigrated to different countries. According to the principles of the “cultural revolution” in Iran, dancing was considered to be perverse, a great sin, immoral and corrupting. As a result, many of the talented Persian dancers moved to the West and spread out mainly in Europe and the United States and a new generation of Iranian dancers and ballet artists have grown up in the Diaspora.


title: History of dance

text: The origins of ballet dancing can be traced to the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century. Dance masters would teach the steps to nobility and the court would participate in performances as a form of social entertainment. This practice continued for several centuries. In the 17th century, courtly ballet reached its peak under the rule of King Louis XIV.


title: History of dance

text: By the 18th century, ballet had migrated from the French and Italian royal courts to the Paris Opéra under the careful direction of composer/dancer Jean-Baptiste Lully. Lully sought to develop ballet into more serious art. Under his influence, ballet was turned into a recognized art that was performed by professional dancers rather than courtiers.


title: History of dance

text: During the 18th century, ballet transitioned from a courtly dance of moving images as a spectacle to performance art in its own right. Ballet performances developed around a central narrative and contained an expressive movement that revealed the relationships between characters. This dramatic style of ballet became known as the ballet d'action. The ballet d'action strove to express, for the first time, human emotions drawn directly from the dancers themselves. Masks previously worn by performers were removed so that emotional content could be derived from facial expressions.


title: History of dance

text: Costumes during this time were very restricting for dancers. Although a more expressive use of the body was encouraged, dancers' movements were still restricted due to heavy materials and corseted dresses. Costumes often covered a dancer's physique and made it difficult to see complex or intricate choreography. It was not until choreographer Jean Georges Noverre called for dance reforms in 1760 with his "Letters on Dancing and Ballets" that costumes became more conducive. Noverre urged that costumes be crafted using lightweight fabrics that move fluidly with the body, complementing a dancer's figure. In addition, dancers wore soft slippers that fit snugly along the foot. This shoe design instilled confidence within the ballerina, daring her to dance on her toes. Naturalistic costuming allowed dancers to push the boundaries of movement, eventually rising en pointe.


title: History of dance

text: The era of Romanticism produced ballets inspired by fantasy, mystique, and the unfamiliar cultures of exotic places. Ballets that focused more on the emotions, the fantasy and the spiritual worlds and heralded the beginning of true pointe-work. Now, on her toes, the deified ballerina (embodied in this period by the legendary ballerina Marie Taglioni) seemed to magically skim the surface of the stage, an ethereal being never quite touching the ground. It was during this period that the ascending star of the ballerina quite eclipsed the presence of the poor male dancer, who was in many cases reduced to the status of a moving statue, present only in order to lift the ballerina. This sad state was really only redressed by the rise of the male ballet star Vaslav Nijinsky, with the Ballets Russes, in the early 20th century. Ballet as we know it had well and truly evolved by this time, with all the familiar conventions of costume, choreographic form, plot, pomp, and circumstance firmly fixed in place. Nijinsky brought athleticism into ballet. Although at that time his choreography was considered as controversial, now they are considered as one of the first contemporary ballets.


title: History of dance

text: Since the Ballets Russes began revolutionizing ballet in the early 20th century, there have been continued attempts to break the mold of classical ballet. Currently the artistic scope of ballet technique (and its accompanying music, jumper, and multimedia) is more all-encompassing than ever. The boundaries that classify a work of classical ballet are constantly being stretched, muddied and blurred until perhaps all that remains today are traces of technique idioms such as turnout.


title: History of dance

text: It was during the explosion of new thinking and exploration in the early 20th century that dance artists began to appreciate the qualities of the individual, the necessities of ritual and religion, the primitive, the expressive and the emotional. In this atmosphere modern dance began an explosion of growth. There was suddenly a new freedom in what was considered acceptable, what was considered art, and what people wanted to create. Many other things were suddenly valued as much as, or beyond, the costumes and tricks of the ballet.


title: History of dance

text: Most of the early-20th-century modern choreographers and dancers saw ballet in the most negative light. Isadora Duncan thought it was ugly, nothing more than meaningless gymnastics. Martha Graham saw it as European and Imperialistic, having nothing to do with the modern American people. Merce Cunningham, while using some of the foundations of the ballet technique in his teaching, approached choreography and performance from an entirely different standpoint compared to the traditional balletic format.


title: History of dance

text: The 20th century was indeed a period of breaking away from everything that ballet stood for. It was a time of unprecedented creative growth, for dancers and choreographers. It was also a time of the broadening of the definition of dance. Ballet Russes was a turning point to the future of ballet in the West and in the world. Collaborating with that era geniuses, such as Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso and others. Ballet Russes brought together great music, design and dance together in a one complete performance.