The highest rank May 18, 2011
Posted by egabriel in Ballet History, History Facts.Tags: ballerina, ballerinas, ballet, ballet dancing, Ballet History, ballet performance, dancing, famous, famous ballerina, famous ballerinas, famous ballet master, mastership, performance, prima ballerina, talents
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The highest rank that ever existed in ballet is Prima Ballerina Assoluta. It is rarely bestowed on the best of the best ballerinas for their exceptional talents and mastership. The rank itself was invented by famous French ballet master Marius Petipa who headed for many years Russian Imperial Ballet. The idea came to Petipa when he studied the history of the early Romantic Ballet. So, he became the official father of this title when he awarded it to the famous Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani whom he considered a supreme danseuse of all Europe.
Legnani went through extensive training at famous La Scala where she developed her technical expertise. At the time when Petita awarded her with the title, Pierina was also performing on the stage of St Petersburg Imperial Ballet. She was the first Ballerina in the world to perform outstanding 32 fouettés en tournant during the performance of the ballet Cinderella.
Although Legnani danced only for 8 years at the Imperial Ballet, she left deep impression on the contemporaries who witnessed her strength, stamina, and technique. Even today 32 fouettes en tournant is still considered a very difficult step to do.
Aplomb on the stage September 7, 2010
Posted by egabriel in Ballet History.Tags: ballerina, ballerinas, ballet, Ballet History, ballet master, classical ballet, culture, famous, famous ballerina, famous ballerinas, famous ballet, famous ballet dancer, famous ballet dancers, famous ballets, history, influence, stars
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Among those who died for her was influential young Count Sheremetev. Even Russian famous playwright and diplomat Alexander Griboedov was shot through the palm during one of those dangerous competitions.
The contemporaries describe her as a medium built, well-shaped brunette. She had black, fiery eyes veiled by long eye-lashes, great strength in her feet, aplomb on the stage, and together with that, grace. Lightness and speed in movements; her pirouettes and her elevation were astounding.
She was on the peak of her fame when suddenly famous Didelot left the theater after a conflict with theater administration in 1829. It all went down the hill after Father of Russian ballet left. Many romantic leading roles were taken away from Istomina and she played older characters on stage as the years rolled by. Her salary was lowered twice and in the end she requested her retirement from ballet and it was officially given to her by the emperor Nicholai I. Her days ended in relative obscurity in 1848.
Famous treatise July 2, 2010
Posted by egabriel in Ballet History.Tags: ballet, Ballet History, ballet literature, ballet master, classical ballet, famous, famous ballet, famous ballet dancer, history, literature
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Yet, his name entered the history and was saved to posterity not because he was a great dancer and Ballet Master. And it was not because of the numerous ballets that he staged and composed – they have not been reproduced for at least two centuries. It was due to his publishing of the famous treatise Les Lettres sur La Danse et sur Les Ballets.
This treatise has been printed in almost every European language. Due to this work, Noverre’s name is one of the most quoted in the literature of dance. He criticized professional ballet dancers of his time, cumbersome costumes, and old-fashioned musical styles and choreography. He was against the use of the mask in the ballet because it hides facial expression of the ballet dancers. He encouraged young ballet dancers to profit from their own talents rather than imitate their teachers or the style of a popular dance.
Noverre was the first to state in his treatise that ballet should stir up the audience’s emotions by the use of expressive movement. He called this type of dance, ballet d’action. His brilliant conclusion was that ballet should unfold through dramatic movement and the movement should express the relationship between the characters.
Famous mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras December 22, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Magic.Tags: ancient, animals, appearance, contradictory, control, documents, examples, fact, famous, figure, interpretation, magical, mathematician, messenger, philosopher, powers, traditions
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Magical powers were also attributed to the famous mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras, as recorded in the days of Aristotle. The traditions concerning Pythagoras are somewhat complicated due to the fact that the number of survived documents are often contradictory in their interpretation of the figure of Pythagoras.
Some of the magical acts attributed to him included being seen at the same hour in two cities. Or a white eagle permitting him to stroke it. A river greeting him with the words “Hail, Pythagoras!” Ancient Greeks also claimed that he could predict, that a dead man would be found on a ship entering a harbor.
Another examples of magical powers of Pythagoras are even wilder. He predicted the appearance of a white bear and declaring it was dead before the messenger reached him bearing the news. And once he bit a poisonous snake to death. These stories hint that Pythagoras was a divine man, and had ability to control animals and to transcend space and time.
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The most famous figures December 22, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Magic.Tags: acceptance, ancient, belief, concept, condemnation, deeds, descent, divine, famous, figures, generation, influence, magic, magicians, musician, mysteries, mythical, period, personages, singer, underworld, voice, wife
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I was always anxious to find when was the rise of positive concept of magic in ancient Greece. While doing my web analytics research, I discovered that this even, possibly took place somewhere in the sixth century b.c. Among the most famous of these figures between Homer and the Hellenistic period, are the Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Empedocles.
Orpheus is a mythical musician and singer, said to have lived in Thrace a generation before Homer. Orphic Mysteries, seems also to have been central to the personages of Pythagoras and Empedocles who lived in the sixth century b.c. Pythagoras for example is said to have described Orpheus, as, the father of melodious songs. Later Aeschylus describes him as the guy who haled all things by the rapture of his voice. This suggests belief in the influence of song and voice in magic. Orpheus is certainly associated with a great many deeds.
The most famous is his descent to the underworld to bring back his wife, Eurydice. Orpheus’ deeds are not usually condemned or spoken of negatively. This suggests that some forms of magic were more acceptable. Indeed the term applied to Orpheus to separate him from magicians of ill repute is a divine man. This fact shows, that there was a fine line between acceptance and condemnation.
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Position of heavenly bodies influenced the affairs of mankind October 15, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Astrology.Tags: affairs, astrologers, astrology, astronomers, astronomy, book, chiromancy, compliment, discoveries, false, famous, form, fortunes, history, horoscope, mankind, mathematicus, medieval, nature, position, predictions, reading, renaissance, sciences, sevices, stars, trouble, true, universe
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History of astrology. I just had to know what was going with astrology during Middle Ages. Well, Astrology became part of the Kabalistic lore of Jews and Christians, and came to be the substance of the astrology of the Middle Ages. Even church prelates and nobility were using astrologers’ services. And at that time everybody believed that the position of heavenly bodies influenced the affairs of mankind. In fact, astrology was placed on a similar footing of equality with astronomy and other sciences.
During the Middle Ages astrologer was proudly called “mathematicus”, which translated from Latin meant simply mathematician. During Middle Ages this term was used to denote a person proficient in astrology, astronomy, and mathematics. In those strange times astrologers were dominant by the terror they inspired, and by the martyrdom they endured when their predictions occasionally were either too true or too false. And the book “Liber Astronomicus” written by a couple of Italian astrologers who were famous in XIII century Europe was proclaimed to be the most important astrological work. To tell the truth, medieval and Renaissance astrologers did not give themselves the trouble of reading the stars, but contented themselves with telling fortunes by faces. They practiced chiromancy, and relied on afterwards drawing a horoscope to suit.
During the Renaissance, a new form of astrology evolved in which court astrologers would compliment their use of horoscopes with genuine discoveries about the nature of the universe as astronomers. How many of you know that Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, were themselves practicing astrologers? These guys overturned the old astrological order of the time.
Series of cryptic prophecies September 3, 2008
Posted by egabriel in History of Astrology.Tags: astrologer, astrologers, astrology, cryptic, events, famous, horoscope, popular, predictions, prophecies, publications, supporters
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The most famous predictions about European and world affairs were made by the astrologer Nostradamus. His claim to fame came after the publication in 1555 of his work Centuries. A book that represented a series of cryptic prophecies. So obscure are the predictions that they have been interpreted as relating to a great variety of events since, including the French and English Revolutions, and the World War 2.
Nostradamus became so popular that in 1556 he was summoned to the French court by queen Catherine de Medici and commissioned to draw up the horoscope of the royal children. She was one of his most staunch supporters. Later Nostradamus fell out of favor with many in the court and was accused of a witchcraft, but Catherine de Medici continued to support him and patronized him until his death.
