Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

rebec

(Encyclopedia)rebec rēˈbĕk [key], one of the earliest forms of the violin. It was pear-shaped, had from three to five strings, and possessed a strident tone. Its use, which began in the 13th cent., was to play m...

Duncan, Isadora

(Encyclopedia)Duncan, Isadora ĭzˌədôrˈə dŭngˈkən [key], 1878–1927, American dancer, b. San Francisco. She had little success in the United States when she first created dances based on Greek classical ar...

Palés Matos, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Palés Matos, Luis lwēs pälāsˈ mäˈtōs [key], 1898–1959, Puerto Rican poet and essayist. Palés Matos was an outstanding exponent of Afro-Antillean poetry, which by use of African intonations,...

bolero

(Encyclopedia)bolero bəlârˈō [key], national dance of Spain, introduced c.1780 by Sebastian Zerezo, or Cerezo. Of Moroccan origin, it resembles the fandango. It is in 2–4 or 3–4 time for solo or duo dancing...

Santo Domingo, pueblo, United States

(Encyclopedia)Santo Domingo sänˌtə dəmĭngˈgō [key], pueblo (1990 pop. 2,866), Sandoval co., N central N.Mex., on the Rio Grande; founded c.1700 after earlier pueblos were destroyed by floods. Its inhabitants...

Warrensville Heights

(Encyclopedia)Warrensville Heights, city (1990 pop. 15,745), Cuyahoga co., NE Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland; inc. 1927. Although chiefly residential, it has plants that manufacture machinery, automobile equipment, an...

Astaire, Fred

(Encyclopedia)Astaire, Fred əstârˈ [key], 1899–1987, American dancer, actor, and singer, b. Omaha, Nebr., as Frederick Austerlitz. After 1911 he and his sister Adele (1896–1981), b. Adele Marie Austerlitz, f...

Sellars, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Sellars, Peter, 1957–, American director, b. Pittsburgh, grad. Harvard (1981). A highly innovative director, he began his career with the Boston Shakespeare Co. (1983–84) and Washington's American...

Stoppard, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Stoppard, Tom, 1937–, English playwright, b. Zlín, Czechoslovakia (now in the Czech Republic), as Tomas Straussler. During his childhood he and his family moved to Singapore, later (1946) settling ...

Diaghilev, Sergei Pavlovich

(Encyclopedia)Diaghilev, Sergei Pavlovich syĭrgāˈ pävˈləvĭch dyäˈgĭlyĭf [key], 1872–1929, Russian ballet impresario and art critic, grad. St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, 1892. In 1898 he founded ...

Browse by Subject