Month: May 2020

DanceAfrica

DanceAfrica is a festival of dance that takes place annually in New York City during the Memorial Day weekend in late May. Founded by choreographer Chuck Davis, the festival began in 1977 as a means of counteracting the negative stereotypes of African dance presented in the media. It features international dancers and musicians and showcases such forms as African folk dance, Afro-Caribbean fusion, and African-American dance theatre. The weekend also includes African music and film presentations and an outdoor marketplace featuring African-themed arts, food, clothing, and crafts. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Galalith

Galalith is a biodegradable, nonflammable plastic material made of the milk protein casein and formaldehyde. Called “milk stone,” it was one of the first synthetic materials ever produced. It was used for Art-Deco jewelry, buttons, and pens and replaced ivory in piano keys. Though it could be easily dyed and cut, it could not be molded, and this drawback, along with milk rationing in WWII, led to its commercial demise. It can be easily produced at home with milk and what other common ingredient? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Cavalcata Sarda

This famous procession—or cavalcata—was originally held in Sassari, Sardinia, Italy, more than 900 years ago to celebrate a victory over Saracen invaders. Today the procession consists of costumed groups from over 100 Sardinian villages. Wearing the traditional dress of their region, participants in the Cavalcata Sarda often ride through the streets in ox-drawn carts. After the procession is over, the celebration continues with singing and dancing.

Source: The Free Dictionary

Fagin

Fagin is a fictional character in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist who has sparked much debate over the years. Allegedly based on an actual criminal, the character teaches boys to steal and is described as villainous, selfish, miserly—and Jewish. He is called “the Jew” more often than “Fagin,” despite the fact that Dickens removed over 180 instances of it after befriending a Jewish couple. Which of Dickens’s later Jewish characters may be an apology for his anti-Semitic portrayal of Fagin?

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hay-on-Wye Festival of Literature

This celebration of words and language has been held in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, since 1988. It offers 10 days of comedy, theater and musical performances in addition to conversations and readings by poets and fiction writers. The festival regularly features some of the most widely known Welsh, Irish, English, European, and American writers in the world; musical performances have included the Welsh National Opera Male Choir and the English Shakespeare Company. A series of master classes in poetry, short story, and screenwriting has also been established for young writers. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Bengal Famine of 1943

The Bengal Famine took place in the midst of WWII in British-occupied Bengal, now Bangladesh, and parts of eastern India. What distinguished the year of 1943 was not that rice production fell dramatically, but rather that food prices soared while wages stagnated. It has been called a “man-made famine” because, according to some, the occupying British both exacerbated it with their actions and failed to provide relief. How many people are estimated to have died from starvation due to the famine? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary