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Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 June 1984 by former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix.

Originating as a performing troupe called Les Échassiers ("The Stilt Walkers"), they toured Quebec in various forms between 1979 and 1983. Their initial financial hardship was relieved in 1983 by a government grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to perform as part of the 450th anniversary celebrations of Jacques Cartier's voyage to Canada. Their first official production Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil was a success in 1984, and after securing a second year of funding, Laliberté hired Guy Caron from the National Circus School to recreate it as a "proper circus". Its theatrical, character-driven approach and the absence of performing animals helped define Cirque du Soleil as the contemporary circus ("nouveau cirque") that it remains today.

After financial successes and failures in the late 1980s, Nouvelle Expérience was created—with the direction of Franco Dragone—which not only made Cirque du Soleil profitable by 1990, but allowed it to create new shows. It expanded rapidly through the 1990s and 2000s, growing from one production to dozens of shows in over 300 cities on six continents. The company employed 4,900 people from 50 countries and generated an annual revenue of approximately US$1 billion in 2017. The multiple permanent Las Vegas shows alone play to more than 9,000 people a night, 5% of the city's visitors, adding to the over 100 million people who have seen Cirque du Soleil productions worldwide.

In 2000, Laliberté bought out Daniel Gauthier's stake in the company, and with 95% ownership continued to expand the brand. In 2008, Laliberté sold 20% of his share to the investment groups Istithmar World and Nakheel of Dubai, but later bought back their stake following the 2008 global financial crisis. In 2015, TPG Capital, Fosun Industrial Holdings, and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec purchased 90% of Cirque du Soleil while Laliberté retained a 10% stake in the company. In February 2020, Laliberté sold his remaining 10% stake in the company to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for $75 million. Following a bankruptcy brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was sold to a group of its creditors led by Catalyst Capital Group in November 2020.

The company's creations have received numerous prizes and distinctions, including three Drama Desk Awards; seven Primetime Emmy Awards;     multiple Gemini Awards; a Daytime Emmy Award; a Juno Award; and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2000, Cirque du Soleil was awarded the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, and in 2002 was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

1979–1983: Origins
In 1979, after having quit college and learned the art of fire breathing, Guy Laliberté organized a summer fair in Baie-Saint-Paul with the help of Daniel Gauthier and Gilles Ste-Croix. As part of a publicity stunt to convince the Quebec government to help fund this production, Ste-Croix walked the 56 mi from Baie-Saint-Paul to Quebec City on stilts. This gave them funding for the stilt-walking troupe Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul, which then toured Quebec the following year in 1980.

Although well received by audiences and critics alike, Les Échassiers was a financial failure. Laliberté spent the following winter in Hawaii while Ste-Croix stayed in Quebec to set up a nonprofit holding company named "The High-Heeled Club" (Club des Talons Hauts) to mitigate the losses of the previous summer. This allowed Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul to break even by fall 1981. The following summer, Laliberté and Ste-Croix founded La Fête Foraine, a street performance festival that featured circus performances and workshops to teach the circus arts to the public. Laliberté managed and produced the fair for 2 more years, becoming a moderate financial success.

In 1983, the government of Quebec gave him a $1.6 million grant to host a production the following year as part of Quebec's 450th anniversary celebration of the French explorer Jacques Cartier's arrival in Turtle Island (North America). This became Cirque du Soleil's first production Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil.

1984–1989: Foundation and early productions
The company's first production Le Grand Tour performed in Quebec for 13 weeks in summer 1984. Although several issues persisted during the first tour (including a collapsed tent and conflict between artists), it was a financial success. After securing funding from the Canadian government for a second year from the help of Quebec premier René Lévesque, Laliberté hired Guy Caron, head of the National Circus School, as Cirque du Soleil's artistic director. Laliberté and Caron reworked the company's performance style to emulate that of Moscow Circus by having the acts tell a story. Further influences from the Circus of China, Cirque Arlette Gruss, and Circus Roncalli led Cirque du Soleil to approach their shows in a more theatrical fashion with live music and no technical crew on stage. To assist in this shift towards a theatrical production, Laliberté and Caron hired Belgian director Franco Dragone to direct segments of their 1985 production, Cirque du Soleil.

The company's first non-Quebec performances in Ontario in 1985 were unsuccessful, leading to a $750,000 deficit. To enable a 1986 tour, the Desjardins Group covered $200,000 of bad checks, financier Daniel Lamarre represented the company for free, and the Quebec government allotted it an additional year of funding. La Magie Continue, their 1986 production, proved more artistically successful with the direction of Franco Dragone. This extended to the creation of their 1987 show Le Cirque Réinventé.

In the summer of 1987, Cirque du Soleil was invited to present Le Cirque Réinventé at the Los Angeles Arts Festival. Despite only having enough money to make a one-way trip, the company agreed to open for the festival in September of that year. Le Cirque Réinventé 's first American performances were an instant critical and financial hit, allowing them make a profit of over $1.5 million by the end of 1987. The show continued to tour Canada and the United States throughout 1988 and 1989, during which time plans for a second touring show named Éclipse started being developed. Due to artistic differences with these plans, Guy Caron, along with a number of artists, left the company causing the plans to be shelved. Gilles Ste-Croix, who had been away from the company since 1985, subsequently replaced Caron as artistic director.

1990–1999: Expansion
By the end of 1989, the company once again faced deficit due to internal conflicts amongst the company's leaders as well as from lukewarm reception to their revamped tour of Le Cirque Réinventé in the United States. In response to this, Cirque du Soleil took their plans for their previously shelved show Éclipse and developed it into Nouvelle Expérience. Franco Dragone returned as director in addition to a creative team made up of Dominique Lemieux, Michel Crête, René Dupéré, Luc Lafortune, and Debra Brown. Nouvelle Expérience premiered on 8 May 1990 in Montreal to critical acclaim, touring North America through the end of 1991 and later residing in Las Vegas in 1992 and 1993. Their following touring shows — Saltimbanco, Alegría, Quidam, and Dralion — proved to be equally successful.

The success of Nouvelle Expérience 's contract in Las Vegas led to a deal between Cirque du Soleil and the Mirage Casino-Hotel to create a permanent show, Mystère, residing in Treasure Island Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It premiered in December 1993. Its success as the company's first permanent production would later allow for the creation of two more permanent shows in 1998: O in Las Vegas and La Nouba at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. During this time of expansion the company also founded their International Headquarters in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighbourhood and their multimedia division, Cirque du Soleil Images. In 1999 they premiered their film Alegría, also directed by Dragone.

Following the premiere of La Nouba in 1998, the creative team that had developed all of the company's shows from 1990 to 1998 left. Starting with the creation of Dralion in 1999, Cirque du Soleil began producing shows with entirely new creative teams.

First international ventures
Le Cirque Réinventé marked the company's first performances outside of North America when it performed in London and Paris in 1990. The show received a mixed reception and was not followed by another production until Saltimbanco 's 1995 European tour, which better solidified Cirque du Soleil's presence in the European market.

Cirque du Soleil also toured Japan in the summer of 1992 at the behest of the Fuji Television Network. Combining acts from their previous shows Nouvelle Expérience and Le Cirque Réinventé, they created their first arena show Fascination which toured Japan from May to August of that year. Fascination 's positive reception allowed Cirque du Soleil to play Saltimbanco there in 1994, thereby establishing the company's market in the Asia and Pacific region for their subsequent tours in the late 1990s and 2000s.

2000–2009: Rapid growth
In 2000, the company produced their IMAX film Journey of Man. Shortly afterwards, at the beginning of 2001, Daniel Gauthier left the company and was bought out by Guy Laliberté, bringing his ownership stake in the company to 95%. Gilles Ste-Croix also soon left to found the horse-based touring show Cheval, leading Laliberté to hire Lyn Heward and Daniel Lamarre as Presidents and C.O.O.'s of the company's Creative Content and New Ventures divisions, respectively.

In 2002, the company created the touring show Varekai and in 2003 premiered the resident show Zumanity in Las Vegas, their first "X-rated" show performed only for adults aged 18 years and older. The company also produced their first television shows that year: the documentary reality miniseries Fire Within and the variety series Solstrom. In 2004, Cirque du Soleil premiered the resident show Kà at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, directed by Robert Lepage. In September of that year, the company launched their record label, Cirque du Soleil Musique, after their agreement with BMG Canada expired.

In 2005, Lamarre took over as President of Cirque du Soleil from Laliberté while Heward took on the role of executive producer for special projects. In that same year the company premiered the touring show Corteo. The same year, the Cirque du Soleil switched ticketing companies to go with Outbox's technology, a white label system, of which it also became a shareholder. Cirque du Soleil premiered two shows in 2006: Delirium, their first significant touring arena show, in January of that year and The Beatles Love, their first collaboration with The Beatles, in June. Similarly, in 2007 they opened two more productions with the resident show Wintuk in New York City and the touring tent show Koozå. In July 2007 the company made their first effort to convert tent shows to arena settings by launching Saltimbanco 's arena tour in London, Ontario (this custom would be followed by other tent shows in later years).

The company opened three resident shows within the span of 3 months in 2008 — Zaia in Macau, China, Criss Angel Believe in Las Vegas, and Zed in Tokyo, Japan — which furthered their practice of producing multiple shows at the same time. That year Cirque du Soleil also announced that they sold a 20% stake in the company to Dubai investors Istithmar World and Nakheel in order to finance their goals, including plans for a resident show in Dubai directed by Guy Caron and Michael Curry (according to Laliberté, these plans were later "put on ice" due to the 2008 recession).

In 2009, they launched 3 more shows: the touring tent show Ovo, the touring theatre show Banana Shpeel, and the resident show Viva Elvis in Las Vegas. At this time Cirque du Soleil began being criticized for the quality of their productions. Banana Shpeel became labelled as one of the company's first "failures" when it was panned by both critics and audiences; Criss Angel Believe and Viva Elvis also received negative reviews.

2010–2015: Cutbacks and restructuring
The touring show Totem premiered in 2010 and was soon followed by three more shows in 2011: the resident show Iris in Los Angeles and the touring shows Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour and Zarkana. Although the company was still growing at this time, it continued to face several issues with its newer productions. Zarkana and Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour received poor reviews and the company had a string of closures. Banana Shpeel closed in Toronto in October 2010 after cancelling its previously-announced engagement in San Francisco. In July 2011, Cirque du Soleil announced the closure of Zed due to poor ticket sales as a direct result of the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. In November 2011 MGM Grand asked the company to close and replace Viva Elvis by the end of 2012 due to poor ticket sales. In February 2012, the company announced the closure of Zaia due to disappointing ticket sales and in November 2012, despite critical praise, announced the closure of Iris, also due to low ticket sales. In December 2012, the company announced a new division — Cirque du Soleil Média — in conjunction with Bell Media, followed by the release of their second film Worlds Away. At this time Cirque du Soleil also announced 50 layoffs. The layoffs consisted mostly of 30 employee positions at their International Headquarters in Montreal, including three vice-presidents.

With the high output of shows between 2007 and 2011 in combination with its multiple closures, the company began slowing down its operations. In 2012 and 2013 it only opened two shows: the touring tent show Amaluna and the resident show Michael Jackson: One in Las Vegas. On 16 January 2013, Cirque du Soleil announced that it would be laying off 400 of its 5000 employees worldwide, most of which at their International Headquarters. The company noted that it had not been profitable in 2012 despite having garnered over $1 billion in revenue that year. Later that year, on 30 June 2013, the company faced headlines when acrobat Sarah "Sasoun" Guyard-Guillot died after falling during a performance of Kà in Las Vegas, its first on-stage death in its history.

In January 2014, Cirque du Soleil announced the creation of Cirque du Soleil Theatrical, a division aimed developing more traditional theatre productions in order to diversify their production output. The company subsequently announced numerous subsidiaries in addition to its Theatrical division, including the Sandbox Hospitality Group, 45 Degrees, 4U2C, and Outbox Enterprises. In April 2014, Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities, a touring tent show, premiered in Montreal to critical acclaim and was followed in November 2014 by Joyà, both the company's first resident show in Mexico and their first dinner theatre production.

On 20 April 2015, Guy Laliberté announced that he had sold a 90% joint stake in the company to the investment groups TPG Capital, Fosun Capital Group, and La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for approximately $1.5 billion, while retaining a 10% stake in the company himself. The sale received regulatory approval from the Government of Canada on 30 June 2015. Under the new ownership, the company began majorly restructuring its executive leadership in order to focus on increasing their profitability. Their finance director, chief operating officer, and numerous vice-presidents were all replaced within six months of the company's sale. Notably, the position of Chief Operating Officer held by Charles Décarie was given to finance lawyer Jonathan Tétrault.

2015–2020: Rebranding and diversification
In November 2015 the company premiered the touring arena show Toruk — The First Flight based on James Cameron's Avatar franchise. It was followed shortly after by the touring tent show Luzia and the company's first Broadway musical Paramour, both opening in April 2016. By the end of 2016 the company had also launched the preschool television series Luna Petunia on Netflix. In 2017, it launched three more productions. Séptimo Día — No Descansaré, an arena show based on the music of Soda Stereo, premiered in March for a short year-long tour targeted largely at South and Central American audiences. In April 2017, it premiered the touring tent show Volta and in October, Crystal, the company's first ice show.

Under the ownership of TPG Capital, Fosun Capital Group, and La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Cirque du Soleil took steps to diversify and rebrand the company. On 6 July 2017, Cirque du Soleil announced that it had acquired the Blue Man Group as a new subsidiary of the company for a reported cost of US$65.5 million. On 21 November 2017, the company announced the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group as the name of the organization's new umbrella company.

On 25 April 2018, the company announced that 45 Degrees, their special events subsidiary, had taken over the main company's creation and production department. On 5 July 2018, they announced their acquisition of the children's entertainment company VStar Entertainment Group and its subsidiary Cirque Dreams. Cirque du Soleil launched the children's show Big Top Academy through TVO in October 2018. In November 2018, it premiered the touring tent show Bazzar in India, the company's first production to tour in that region. In 2019, the company opened six shows: the touring tent show Alegría: In a New Light; the touring arena shows Axel and Messi10; the touring theatre show  'Twas the Night Before; and two resident shows — X: The Land of Fantasy in Hangzhou, China and R.U.N in Las Vegas. During this time Cirque du Soleil also acquired The Works Entertainment company for $40 million to further diversify its subsidiaries.

In February 2020, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announced that it had acquired Guy Laliberté's remaining 10% stake in Cirque du Soleil, bringing its total ownership in the company from 10% to 20%.

2020–2021: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
On 19 March 2020, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cirque du Soleil announced that all 44 active shows worldwide would be suspended, and that 4,679 employees, comprising 95 percent of their staff, would be temporarily laid off, effective immediately. These actions brought the company into a state of financial collapse with a debt of over $1 billion. Although it received financial support with a $50 million injection from its shareholders and a $200 million loan from the Quebec government, on 29 June 2020 the company announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection and was terminating 3,500 employees who had previously been laid off. CEO Daniel Lamarre stated the intention of the company was to rehire "a substantial majority" of terminated employees once coronavirus-related shutdowns were lifted and operations could resume, business conditions allowing.

In connection with the filing, Cirque du Soleil entered a stalking horse bid from its shareholders with the intention of drawing outside bidders to buy the company. In July 2020, the company's shareholders offered a proposal that would allow its creditors to obtain a 45% stake in the company while the current shareholders would maintain a 55% shared stake. On 17 July 2020, a takeover proposal by the company's creditors valued at US$1.2 billion was approved as a benchmark bid in the company by the Quebec Superior Court. On 17 August 2020, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec reported that it had to write off the US$75 million investment which it had made only four months prior, in February. On 24 November 2020, it was announced that the company emerged from bankruptcy and was sold to a group of its creditors led by Canadian investment company Catalyst Capital Group.

In January 2021, the company's previously announced 2021 production Nysa was cancelled as a direct result of the pandemic.

2021–present: Emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic
With the exception of the resident shows Joyà and X: The Land of Fantasy, which reopened with limited capacities in the summer of 2020, Cirque du Soleil did not reopen its shows for over a year following its worldwide COVID-19 performance suspension in March 2020. In the summer of 2021, the company began gradually reopening several of its shows, beginning with all its Las Vegas-based resident shows (with the exception of Zumanity, which permanently shut down in November 2020) and some of its touring shows in late 2021 and 2022. However, some touring shows that had been temporarily suspended due to the pandemic were retroactively permanently closed at this time, including Totem, Volta, and Axel.

In November 2021, the resident show Drawn to Life premiered — the company's first new production since the start of the pandemic. Later that month, Cirque du Soleil announced that Daniel Lamarre would be stepping down as president and CEO of the company and transitioning into the role of executive vice-chairman of the board, while former chief financial officer and chief operating officer Stéphane Lefebvre would take over as president and CEO, effective 1 December 2021.

In 2022, Mad Apple opened in the former Zumanity theatre at New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, followed by the touring shows Echo and Songblazers in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Shows
Each Cirque du Soleil production is a synthesis of circus styles from around the world, with its own central theme and storyline. Shows employ continuous live music, with performers rather than stagehands changing the props.

The duration of each touring show is typically between 2 and 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission. Permanent shows are usually between 70 and 90 minutes in length without an intermission. Typically touring shows as well as resident shows perform a standard 10 shows a week. Touring shows usually have one "dark day" (with no performances) while resident shows have two.

Future productions

 * Nuevo Vallarta resident show: In November 2019, Grupo Vidanta and Cirque du Soleil announced the creation of a second dinner theatre resident show in Mexico, performed in a specially designed 600-seat theatre in Nuevo Vallarta.
 * Auana: In April 2023, Cirque du Soleil and Outrigger Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel announced the creation of a new resident show in Waikiki, Honolulu titled Auana, performed in the hotel's 784-seat showroom, premiering on 15 December 2024.

Areas of activity
With the intent of diversifying its activities worldwide, the Cirque du Soleil has created subsidiaries, such as multimedia environments and ticket selling tools.

Outbox Technology
Outbox was built around the idea that event producers need a white label system to support them in selling tickets directly to customers. It allows all live entertainment venues to control their inventory, pricing, and consumer data without any third party involvement.

4U2C
4U2C creates multimedia visual environments that combine video, sound, lighting and special effects for a variety of projection surfaces.

45 Degrees
45 Degrees produces custom-made experiential content for clients who are seeking high-end creative services for their events.

Projects

 * Cirque du Monde: A social action project founded in 1994 designed to reach marginalized youth nationally and internationally by teaching circus arts and skills.
 * One Drop: In 2007, Cirque du Soleil founded One Drop, a charitable project designed to bring clean water to developing countries.
 * Jukari Fit to Fly: Cirque du Soleil collaborated with Reebok in 2009 to create a gym workout set based on trapeze work.
 * Safewalls: An artistic outreach project in which urban street artists were hired to create visual artworks for the company in 2011.
 * Desigual inspired by Cirque du Soleil: Cirque du Soleil partnered with Desigual fashion design in 2011 to develop a collection of clothing and accessories, which were made available at Desigual stores and Cirque du Soleil show boutiques. The partnership was discontinued in 2015.
 * Movi.Kanti.Revo: In association with Google, Cirque du Soleil released a Google Chrome extension in 2012.
 * Felix & Paul Studios VR: Between 2014 and 2017, the Cirque du Soleil Média collaborated with Felix & Paul Studios to create a number of virtual reality videos based on Zarkana, Kurios, Kà, O, and Luzia. Inside the Box of Kurios later won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2016.
 * Cirque du Soleil Theme Park: On 12 November 2014, Cirque du Soleil, Grupo Vidanta, and Goddard Group announced plans for a theme park in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. The plans called for at least two lands, the Village of the Sun and the Village of the Moon, as well as an outdoor evening show accommodating as many as 3,000 to 5,000 spectators, and may include a water park and nature park elements. The opening was initially delayed from 2018 to a mid-2019 opening. Further delays have subsequently pushed the projected opening date to 2023. The last press release about this project was submitted in 2021.
 * One Night for One Drop: From 2013 to 2019, Cirque du Soleil organized an annual one-night event in support of the clean water charity One Drop.
 * NFL Experience Times Square: A short-lived project with interactive displays about the National Football League.

Cirque du Soleil Events + Experiences
From the 1990s until 2015, Cirque du Soleil produced a variety of public and private events and performances under its Special Events division. In April 2015, the company announced that its Special Events division formed a subsidiary company called 45 Degrees. Led by Yasmine Khalil, the new company continued to produce special events for Cirque du Soleil while expanding to offer creative content outside Cirque du Soleil as well. 45 Degrees later merged with the C-Lab (creative laboratory) division of the main company, continuing to produce special event performances while also designing shows with new concepts (such as the dinner-show concept in Joyà and the ice concept in Crystal). In April 2019, Cirque du Soleil announced that the 45 Degrees subsidiary had become a division named "Cirque du Soleil Events + Experiences" under which the company now develops its special events and projects.

Collaboration with Celebrity Cruises
In March 2004, Celebrity Cruises announced its first collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. By the end of that year, the collaboration had launched "The Bar at the Edge of the Earth" on both the Constellation and Summit cruise ships, a bar and lounge inspired by Cirque du Soleil featuring live characters and projections. However, due to lukewarm reception, Celebrity Cruises announced in October 2005 that it would be removing the live characters and projections from the lounges and retooling its Cirque du Soleil offering so as to create a more standard circus performance. In December 2005, the collaboration premiered the 30-minute acrobatic show A Taste of Cirque du Soleil on both ships. It continued through 2006 and was eventually discontinued.

Cirque du Soleil at Sea
On 9 November 2015, Cirque du Soleil announced that it would be re-entering the cruise ship business in collaboration with MSC Cruises. The partnership plans included a $21 million investment by MSC to create special theatre spaces in four of their Meraviglia class ships while Cirque du Soleil would create eight new shows, two on each ship in alternating performances. The partnership was later branded as Cirque du Soleil at Sea.

In June 2017, it launched its first two productions on the MSC Meraviglia — Viaggio and Sonor. This was followed by Syma and Varélia on the MSC Bellissima in March 2019 and Cosmos and Exentricks on the MSC Grandiosa in November 2019. Two more shows were planned to launch on MSC Virtuosa in 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic forced all Cirque du Soleil at Sea productions to close.

Lounges and nightclubs
Following the opening of The Beatles Love in Las Vegas in June 2006, Cirque du Soleil opened the Revolution lounge at The Mirage resort in 2007, its first venture into the Las Vegas nightlife business. The lounge was based on the work of The Beatles, in conjunction with the concept of The Beatles Love. In 2009, the company opened the Gold Lounge at the Aria Resort and Casino based on the life of Elvis Presley and their show Viva Elvis. In May 2013 the Light Group opened the Light nightclub in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in concurrence with the premiere of Michael Jackson One. It would later be host to the musical For the Record, the company's first project out of its theatrical division.

In October 2015, Cirque du Soleil renounced its intention to be involved in Las Vegas nightclubs and has since dissociated itself from all its lounges and clubs. Both the Revolution and Gold Lounges closed in 2015 while the Light nightclub is no longer affiliated with the company.

Luna Petunia
In 2014 Cirque du Soleil Média and Saban Brands produced Luna Petunia, an animated series for preschool-aged children. It began airing on Netflix in September 2016. On 1 May 2018, Saban Brands sold Luna Petunia to Hasbro.

The Wiz
In a collaboration with Universal Television and Sony Pictures Television, the Cirque du Soleil Theatrical division co-produced the television broadcast of The Wiz Live! (based on the musical of the same name) which aired in December 2015 on NBC. Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon directed the show along with Broadway writer/actor Harvey Fierstein, who contributed new material to the original Broadway script. Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Stephanie Mills, Ne-Yo, David Alan Grier, Common, Elijah Kelley, Amber Riley, and Uzo Aduba and Shanice Williams starred in the broadcast. It was speculated that a live version of the show would play on Broadway during the 2016–2017 season, however this plan fell through.

Tours
Touring Cirque du Soleil shows are customarily mounted under a grand chapiteau (i.e. big top) hauled from site to site along with a large entrance tent, artistic tent, kitchen, school, and other items necessary to support the cast and crew.

It typically takes eight days to set up and three to break down the site. About 100 local workers are hired as temporary staff, overseen by one of the company's tent masters.

Before 2006, Cirque du Soleil performed exclusively in tents and permanent theatres, with the exception of the brief arena tours of Le Grand Tour du Cirque du Soleil in 1984 and Fascination in 1992. 2006's Delirium was the company's first significant touring show for the arena market. Its success led Cirque du Soleil to re-stage its Grand Chapiteau shows for arena tours, beginning with Saltimbanco in 2007 and subsequently with most of their major Grand Chapiteau productions.

The company's tours contribute to venue cities' economies: renting lots for shows, parking spaces, selling and buying promotions, renting hotel rooms, purchasing food, and hiring local help. For example, during its 2009 stay in Santa Monica, California, Koozå brought an estimated US$16700000 2009 to the city government and local businesses.

Filmography
The company's multimedia division Cirque du Soleil Images creates original products for film, television, video, and DVD and distributes its productions worldwide. Its creations have garnered numerous awards, including a multiple Gemini Awards and seven Primetime Emmy Awards for Fire Within, Corteo, Dralion, Nouvelle Expérience, and Le Cirque Réinventé.

Firing of HIV-positive artist
In November 2003, gymnast Matthew Cusick (represented by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund) filed a discrimination complaint against Cirque du Soleil in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Cusick (a trainee performer who was scheduled to begin working at Mystère) alleged that in April 2002, Cirque du Soleil fired him because he tested HIV-positive, even though company doctors had already cleared him as healthy enough to perform. Cirque du Soleil alleged that due to the nature of Cusick's disease coupled with his job's high risk of injury, there was a significant risk of his infecting other performers, crew or audience members. Cirque du Soleil said that they had several HIV-positive employees, but in the case of Cusick, the risk of him spreading his infection while performing was too high to take the risk. A boycott ensued and Just Out ran a story on it with the headline "Flipping off the Cirque". Cirque du Soleil settled with Cusick in April 2004. Under the settlement, the company began a company-wide anti-discrimination training program; changed its employment practices pertaining to HIV-positive applicants; paid Cusick $60,000 in lost wages, $200,000 in front pay, and $300,000 in compensatory damages; and paid $40,000 in attorney fees to Lambda Legal.

An additional complaint was filed on Cusick's behalf by the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Their complaint stemmed from the City of San Francisco's ban on city contracting with employers that discriminate based on HIV status; the circus leases property owned by the city-owned Port of San Francisco.

Trademark and copyright disputes
Cirque du Soleil opposed Neil Goldberg and his company Cirque Productions over its use of the word "Cirque" in the late 1990s. Goldberg's company was awarded a trademark on its name "Cirque Dreams" in 2005.

In August 1999, Fremonster Theatrical filed an application for the trademark Cirque de Flambé. This application was opposed by the owners of the Cirque du Soleil trademark in August 2002, on the grounds that it would cause confusion and "[dilute] the distinctive quality" of Cirque du Soleil's trademarks. A judge dismissed the opposition and the Cirque de Flambé trademark application was approved in 2005.

In April 2016, Cirque du Soleil filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, and Sony Music Entertainment in federal court in New York, alleging that Timberlake's song "Don't Hold the Wall" (co-written with Timbaland) from his third studio album The 20/20 Experience (2013) infringed the copyright of Cirque du Soleil's song "Steel Dream" from its 1997 album Quidam. The two parties settled out of court.

H.B. 2 law in North Carolina
In 2016 the company cancelled of all touring shows to North Carolina, including Ovo in both Greensboro and Charlotte, and Toruk in Raleigh, following signature of the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (commonly known as "HB2") by North Carolina governor Pat McCrory. Cirque du Soleil was criticized for this decision and accused of taking a double standard, for cancelling the shows in North Carolina while many times they have performed their shows in countries like the United Arab Emirates which violates a number of fundamental human rights.

Fatalities
On 16 October 2009, 24-year-old performer Oleksandr "Sacha" Zhurov, of Ukraine, died at a hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from head injuries he had sustained during a training session. He had been with the company only a few months at the time of the accident. An initial report of the incident said Zhurov had fallen off a trampoline but, in 2010, it was reported he had fallen while doing training exercises on a Russian swing. An investigation by Quebec's occupational-safety board decided that while Zhurov made the error that ultimately resulted in his death, the company should be fined $1,915 for failing to adequately determine the risks associated with equipment.

On 29 June 2013, 31-year-old performer Sarah "Sasoun" Guyard-Guillot, of France, died in an ambulance en route to hospital as the result of blunt force trauma she had sustained from a fall during a performance of Kà in Las Vegas, Nevada. She'd been with the company since 2006. It was originally thought that Guyard-Guillot's safety harness had failed her and that was what resulted in her fall but, in actuality, a cable responsible for keeping her in the air had been cut after accidentally being knocked loose by movement during the performance. Reports as to how far Guyard-Guillot fell differ from source to source, with some saying she fell as little as 50 feet and others as much as 94 feet. The show resumed 17 days after the death without the final aerial battle scene. The company was fined as a result.

On 29 November 2016, 42-year-old set technician Olivier Rochette, of Canada, died in San Francisco, California, from head injuries he had sustained after accidentally being hit in the head by an aerial lift while preparing for a production of Luzia. Rochette was the son of Cirque du Soleil co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix.

On 17 March 2018, 38-year-old aerial straps performer Yann Arnaud, of France, died at a hospital in Tampa, Florida, after falling during a performance of Volta. He had been with the company for 15 years.

Notable people

 * Criss Angel, magician and frequent collaborator
 * Anthony Gatto, juggler
 * Guy Laliberté, founder and former CEO
 * Mathieu Laplante, producer, director, choreographer, and former circus performer
 * Thom Wall, juggler and publisher of academic circus books
 * Mason Ryan, former WWE wrestler and current Cirque du Soleil performer

title: Cirque du Soleil


text:
Talk:List of cities in Sweden

Comments
See also: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Swedish cities. -- Mic 18:13, Jul 29, 2003 (UTC)

There were never 135 cities (by the pre-1971 definition as a type of municipality) at the same time. In 1901 the number was 92. When the last city (Säffle) got its title in 1951 there were 133. In 1968 Öregrund was amalgamated with Östhammar, reducing the number to 132. From 1971 onwards no municipalities have this status and some more of the former cities were merged into other municipalities, as Torshälla into Eskilstuna, Gränna into Jönköping &c. So the total number should be 133. --Muniswede 21:03, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Malcolmxl5 (talk) 14:56, 22 September 2012 (UTC)

List of former Swedish town privileges → List of cities in Sweden – This is a rather esoteric name, and at least a mild violation of WP:ASTONISH. It also doesn't make much sense, as it seems to promise a list of "privileges" but in fact lists places. I think my proposal is the simplest solution, to match other articles in List of cities in Europe and the corresponding template. That Sweden doesn't use the word most often translated as "city" to refer to these entities is no reason to get pedantic in English. See also the Wikipedia definition of city, which makes this seem fair by WP:COMMONNAME. I would also be alright with List of towns in Sweden, though it would be a second choice for me. --BDD (talk) 18:53, 31 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Population figures?
Whence these? They appear to be those of the current statistically defined "localities" (the term used by Statistics Sweden), which -- because of modern urban development and population growth -- look completely different from that of the historic cities.

These population figures should be replaced by sourced historical figures (or estimates) for various periods. There is probably a bit of work involved in tracking this down, but I'm pretty sure the information is available. --Hegvald (talk) 08:19, 2 March 2016 (UTC)

 * Two years later: I have removed the population figures. Sourced historical figures would be welcome, but the arbitrary unsourced figures that were there until now were misleading. --Hegvald (talk) 09:01, 23 May 2018 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:List of cities in Sweden


text:
Bunny hop

Bunny hop can refer to:

 * Bunny hop (dance), a novelty dance from the 1950s
 * Bunny hop (cycling), in cycling, a trick that involves the rider lifting their bike over an obstacle while remaining on the bike and in motion
 * Bunny hopping, in video games, a technique used to increase movement speed and control by jumping repeatedly while moving forward
 * Bunny hop jump, in figure skating, typically the first jump learned by beginning skaters

title: Bunny hop


text:
National anthem of Russia

The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the "State Anthem of the Soviet Union", composed by Alexander Alexandrov, and new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had collaborated with Gabriel El-Registan on the original anthem. From 1944, that earliest version replaced "The Internationale" as a new, more Soviet-centric and Russia-centric Soviet anthem. The same melody, but without any lyrics, was used after 1956. A second version of the lyrics was written by Mikhalkov in 1970 and adopted in 1977, placing less emphasis on World War II and more on the victory of communism, and without mentioning Joseph Stalin by name.

The Russian SFSR was the only constituent republic of the Soviet Union without its own regional anthem, instead using the national anthem of the Soviet Union. The lyric-free "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya", composed by Mikhail Glinka, was officially adopted in 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of Russia, and confirmed in 1993, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, by the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin. This anthem proved to be unpopular with the Russian public and with many politicians and public figures, because of its tune and lack of lyrics, and consequently its inability to inspire Russian athletes during international competitions. The government sponsored contests to create lyrics for the unpopular anthem, but none of the entries were adopted.

Glinka's anthem was replaced soon after Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, first took office on 7 May 2000. The federal legislature established and approved the music of the national anthem of the Soviet Union, with newly written lyrics, in December 2000, and it became the second anthem used by Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The government sponsored a contest to find lyrics, eventually settling upon a new composition by Mikhalkov; according to the government, the lyrics were selected to evoke and eulogize the history and traditions of Russia. Yeltsin criticized Putin for supporting the reintroduction of the Soviet-era national anthem even though opinion polls showed that many Russians favored this decision.

Public perception of the anthem is positive among Russians. A 2009 poll showed that 56% of respondents felt proud when hearing the national anthem, and that 25% liked it.

Historical anthems
Before "The Prayer of the Russians" (Моли́тва ру́сских) was chosen as the national anthem of Imperial Russia in 1816, various church hymns and military marches were used to honor the country and the Tsars. Songs used include "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!" (Гром побе́ды, раздава́йся!) and "How Glorious is our Lord" (Коль сла́вен). "The Prayer of the Russians" was adopted around 1816, and used lyrics by Vasily Zhukovsky set to the music of the British anthem, "God Save the King". Russia's anthem was also influenced by the anthems of France and the Netherlands, and by the British patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!".

In 1833, Zhukovsky was asked to set lyrics to a musical composition by Prince Alexei Lvov called "The Russian People's Prayer", known more commonly as "God Save the Tsar!" (Бо́же, Царя́ храни́!). It was well received by Nicholas I, who chose the song to be the next anthem of Imperial Russia. The song resembled a hymn, and its musical style was similar to that of other anthems used by European monarchs. "God Save the Tsar!" was performed for the first time on 8 December 1833, at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. It was later played at the Winter Palace on Christmas Day, by order of Nicholas I. Public singing of the anthem began at opera houses in 1834, but it was not widely known across the Russian Empire until 1837.

"God Save the Tsar!" was used until the February Revolution, when the Russian monarchy was overthrown. Upon the overthrow, in March 1917, the "Worker's Marseillaise" (Рабо́чая Марселье́за), Pyotr Lavrov's modification of the French anthem "La Marseillaise", was used as an unofficial anthem by the Russian Provisional Government. The modifications Lavrov made to "La Marseillaise" included a change in meter from 2/2 to 4/4 and music harmonization to make it sound more Russian. It was used at governmental meetings, welcoming ceremonies for diplomats and state funerals.

After the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government in the 1917 October Revolution, the anthem of international revolutionary socialism, "L'Internationale" (usually known as "The Internationale" in English), was adopted as the new anthem. The lyrics had been written by Eugène Pottier, and Pierre Degeyter had composed the music in 1871 to honor the creation of the Second Socialist International organization; in 1902, Arkadij Jakovlevich Kots translated Pottier's lyrics into Russian. Kots also changed the grammatical tense of the song, to make it more decisive in nature. The first major use of the song was at the funeral of victims of the February Revolution in Petrograd. Lenin also wanted "The Internationale" to be played more often because it was more socialist, and could not be confused with the French anthem; other persons in the new Soviet government believed "La Marseillaise" to be too bourgeois. "The Internationale" was used as the state anthem of Soviet Russia from 1918, adopted by the newly created Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, and was used until 1944.

Music

The music of the national anthem, created by Alexander Alexandrov, had previously been incorporated in several hymns and compositions. The music was first used in the Hymn of the Bolshevik Party, created in 1939. When the Comintern was dissolved in 1943, the government argued that "The Internationale", which was historically associated with the Comintern, should be replaced as the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. Alexandrov's music was chosen as the new anthem by the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin after a contest in 1943. Stalin praised the song for fulfilling what a national anthem should be, though he criticized the song's orchestration.

In response, Alexandrov blamed the problems on Viktor Knushevitsky, who was responsible for orchestrating the entries for the final contest rounds. When writing the Bolshevik party anthem, Alexandrov incorporated pieces from the song "Life Has Become Better" (Жить Ста́ло Лу́чше), a musical comedy that he composed. This comedy was based on a slogan Stalin first used in 1935. Over 200 entries were submitted for the anthem contest, including some by famous Soviet composers Dmitri Shostakovich, Aram Khachaturian and Iona Tuskiya. Later, the rejected joint entry by Khachaturian and Shostakovich became Song of the Red Army, and Khachaturian went on to compose the Anthem of the Armenian SSR. There was also an entry from Boris Alexandrov, the son of Alexander. His rejected entry, "Long Live our State" (Да здравствует наша держава), became a popular patriotic song and was adopted as the anthem of Transnistria.

During the 2000 debate on the anthem, Boris Gryzlov, the leader of the Unity faction in the Duma, noted that the music which Alexandrov wrote for the Soviet anthem was similar to Vasily Kalinnikov's 1892 overture, "Bylina". Supporters of the Soviet anthem mentioned this in the various debates held in the Duma on the change of anthem, but there is no evidence that Alexandrov consciously used parts of "Bylina" in his composition.

Lyrics

After selecting the music by Alexandrov for the national anthem, Stalin needed new lyrics. He thought that the song was short and, because of the Great Patriotic War, that it needed a statement about the impending defeat of Germany by the Red Army. The poets Sergey Mikhalkov and Gabriel El-Registan were called to Moscow by one of Stalin's staffers, and were told to fix the lyrics to Alexandrov's music. They were instructed to keep the verses the same, but to find a way to change the refrains which described "a Country of Soviets". Because of the difficulty of expressing the concepts of the Great Patriotic War in song, that idea was dropped from the version which El-Registan and Mikhalkov completed overnight. After a few minor changes to emphasize the Soviet Fatherland, Stalin approved the anthem and had it published on 7 November 1943, including a line about Stalin "inspir[ing] us to keep the faith with the people". The revised anthem was announced to all of the USSR on January 1, 1944 and became official on March 15, 1944.

After Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet government examined his legacy. The government began the de-Stalinization process, which included downplaying the role of Stalin and moving his corpse from Lenin's Mausoleum to the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. In addition, the anthem lyrics composed by Mikhalkov and El-Registan were officially scrapped by the Soviet government in 1956. The anthem was still used by the Soviet government, but without any official lyrics. In private, this anthem became known the "Song Without Words". Mikhalkov wrote a new set of lyrics in 1970, but they were not submitted to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet until May 27, 1977. The new lyrics, which eliminated any mention of Stalin, were approved on 1 September, and were made official with the printing of the new Soviet Constitution in October 1977. In the credits for the 1977 lyrics, Mikhalkov was mentioned, but references to El-Registan, who died in 1945, were dropped for unknown reasons.

"Patrioticheskaya Pesnya"
With the impending collapse of the Soviet Union in early 1990, a new national anthem was needed to help define the reorganized nation and to reject the Soviet past. The Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, Boris Yeltsin, was advised to revive "God Save The Tsar" with modifications to the lyrics. However, he instead selected a piece composed by Mikhail Glinka. The piece, known as "Patriotícheskaya Pésnya" (Патриоти́ческая пе́сня), was a wordless piano composition discovered after Glinka's death. "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya" was performed in front of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR on November 23, 1990. The song was decreed by the Supreme Soviet to be the new Russian anthem that same day. This anthem was intended to be permanent, which can be seen from the parliamentary draft of the Constitution, approved and drafted by Supreme Soviet, Congress of People's Deputies and its Constitutional Commission (with latter formally headed by President of Russia). The draft, among other things, reads that: "The National Anthem of the Russian Federation is the Patriotic Song composed by Mikhail Glinka. The text of the National Anthem of the Russian Federation shall be endorsed by the federal law."

However, conflict between President and Congress made passage of that draft less likely: the Congress shifted onto more and more rewriting of the 1978 Russian Constitution, while President pushed forward with new draft Constitution, which does not define state symbols. After 1993 Russian constitutional crisis and just one day before the constitutional referendum (i.e. on December 11, 1993) Yeltsin, then President of the Russian Federation, issued a presidential decree on December 11, 1993, retaining "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya" the official anthem for Russia, but this decree was provisional, since the draft Constitution (which was passed a day later) explicitly referred this matter to legislation, enacted by parliament. According to Article 70 of the Constitution, state symbols (which are an anthem, flag and coat of arms) required further definition by future legislation. As it was a constitutional matter, it had to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the Duma.

Between 1994 and 1999, many votes were called for in the State Duma to retain "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya" as the official anthem of Russia. However, it faced stiff opposition from members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, who wanted the Soviet anthem restored. Because any anthem had to be approved by a two-thirds supermajority, this disagreement between Duma factions for nearly a decade prevented passage of an anthem.

Call for lyrics
When "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya" was used as the national anthem, it had official lyrics but was not accepted. The anthem struck a positive chord for some people because it did not contain elements from the Soviet past, and because the public considered Glinka to be a patriot and a true Russian. However, the lack of lyrics doomed "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya". Various attempts were made to compose lyrics for the anthem, including a contest that allowed any Russian citizen to participate. A committee set up by the government looked at over 6000 entries, and 20 were recorded by an orchestra for a final vote.

The eventual winner was Viktor Radugin's "Be glorious, Russia!" (Сла́вься, Росси́я!). However, none of the lyrics were officially adopted by Yeltsin or the Russian government. One of the reasons that partially explained the lack of lyrics was the original use of Glinka's composition: the praise of the Tsar and of the Russian Orthodox Church. Other complaints raised about the song were that it was hard to remember, uninspiring, and musically complicated. It was one of the few national anthems that lacked official lyrics during this period. The only other wordless national anthems in the period from 1990 to 2000 were "My Belarusy" of Belarus (until 2002), "Marcha Real" of Spain, and "Intermeco" of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Modern adoption

The anthem debate intensified in October 2000 when Yeltsin's successor, Vladimir Putin, commented that Russian athletes had no words to sing for the anthem during the medal ceremonies at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Putin brought public attention to the issue and put it before the State Council. CNN also reported that members of the Spartak Moscow football club complained that the wordless anthem "affected their morale and performance". Two years earlier, during the 1998 World Cup, members of the Russian team commented that the wordless anthem failed to inspire "great patriotic effort".

In a November session of the Federation Council, Putin stated that establishing the national symbols (anthem, flag and coat of arms) should be a top priority for the country. Putin pressed for the former Soviet anthem to be selected as the new Russian anthem, but strongly suggested that new lyrics be written. He did not say how much of the old Soviet lyrics should be retained for the new anthem. Putin submitted the bill "On the National Anthem of the Russian Federation" to the Duma for their consideration on 4 December. The Duma voted 381–51–1 in favor of adopting Alexandrov's music as the national anthem on 8 December 2000. Following the vote, a committee was formed and tasked with exploring lyrics for the national anthem. After receiving over 6,000 manuscripts from all sectors of Russian society, the committee selected lyrics by Mikhalkov for the anthem.

Before the official adoption of the lyrics, the Kremlin released a section of the anthem, which made a reference to the flag and coat of arms:

"His mighty wings spread above us The Russian eagle is hovering high The Fatherland's tricolor symbol Is leading Russia's peoples to victory"

The above lines were omitted from the final version of the lyrics. After the bill was approved by the Federation Council on 20 December, "On the National Anthem of the Russian Federation" was signed into law by President Putin on 25 December, officially making Alexandrov's music the national anthem of Russia. The law was published two days later in the official government gazette Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The new anthem was first performed on 30 December, during a ceremony at the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow at which Mikhalkov's lyrics were officially made part of the national anthem.

Not everyone agreed with the adoption of the new anthem. Yeltsin argued that Putin should not have changed the anthem merely to "follow blindly the mood of the people". Yeltsin also felt that the restoration of the Soviet anthem was part of a move to reject post-communist reforms that had taken place since Russian independence and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This was one of Yeltsin's few public criticisms of Putin.

The liberal political party Yabloko stated that the re-adoption of the Soviet anthem "deepened the schism in Russian society". The Soviet anthem was supported by the Communist Party and by Putin himself. The other national symbols used by Russia in 1990, the white-blue-red flag and the double-headed eagle coat of arms, were also given legal approval by Putin in December, thus ending the debate over the national symbols. After all of the symbols were adopted, Putin said on television that this move was needed to heal Russia's past and to fuse the period of the Soviet Union with Russia's history. He also stated that, while Russia's march towards democracy would not be stopped, the rejection of the Soviet era would have left the lives of their mothers and fathers bereft of meaning. It took some time for the Russian people to familiarize themselves with the anthem's lyrics; athletes were only able to hum along with the anthem during the medal ceremonies at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

Public perception

The Russian anthem is set to the melody of the State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. As a result, there have been several controversies related to its use. Some such as cellist Mstislav Rostropovich vowed not to stand during the anthem. Russian cultural figures and government officials were also troubled by Putin's restoration of the Soviet anthem, even with different lyrics. A former adviser to both Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the Soviet Union, stated that, when "Stalin's hymn" was used as the national anthem of the Soviet Union, horrific crimes took place.

At the 2007 funeral of Yeltsin, the Russian state anthem was played as his coffin was laid to rest at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. While it was common to hear the state anthem during state funerals for Soviet civil and military officials, honored citizens of the nation, and Soviet leaders, as was the case for Alexei Kosygin, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, Boris Berezovsky, writing in The Daily Telegraph, felt that playing the anthem at Yeltsin's funeral "abused the man who brought freedom" to the Russian people. The Russian government states that the "solemn music and poetic work" of the anthem, despite its history, is a symbol of unity for the Russian people. Mikhalkov's words evoke "feelings of patriotism, respect for the history of the country and its system of government."

In a 2009 poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center and publicized just two days before Russia's flag day (22 August), 56% of respondents stated that they felt proud when hearing the national anthem. However, only 39% could recall the words of the first line of the anthem. This was an increase from 33% in 2007. According to the survey, between 34 and 36% could not identify the anthem's first line. Overall, only 25% of respondents said they liked the anthem. In the previous year, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center found out that 56% of Russians felt pride and admiration at the anthem, even though only 40% (up from 19% in 2004) knew the first words of the anthem. It was also noted in the survey that the younger generation was the most familiar with the words.

In September 2009, a line from the lyrics used during Stalin's rule reappeared at the Moscow Metro station Kurskaya-Koltsevaya: "We were raised by Stalin to be true to the people, inspiring us to feats of labour and heroism." While groups have threatened legal action to reverse the re-addition of this phrase on a stone banner at the vestibule's rotunda, it was part of the original design of Kurskaya station and had been removed during de-Stalinization. Most of the commentary surrounding this event focused on the Kremlin's attempt to "rehabilitate the image" of Stalin by using symbolism sympathetic to or created by him.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) strongly supported the restoration of Alexandrov's melody, but some members proposed other changes to the anthem. In March 2010, Boris Kashin, a KPRF member of the Duma, advocated for the removal of any reference to God in the anthem. Kashin's suggestion was also supported by Alexander Nikonov, a journalist with SPID-INFO and an avowed atheist. Nikonov argued that religion should be a private matter and should not be used by the state. Kashin found that the cost for making a new anthem recording will be about 120,000 rubles. The Russian Government quickly rejected the request because it lacked statistical data and other findings. Nikonov asked the Constitutional Court of Russia in 2005 if the lyrics were compatible with Russian law.

Regulations

Regulations for the performance of the national anthem are set forth in the law signed by President Putin on 25 December 2000. While a performance of the anthem may include only music, only words, or a combination of both, the anthem must be performed using the official music and words prescribed by law. During official performances of the national anthem, everyone present listens to it standing, and men remove their hats. If the National Anthem is played whilst the flag of the Russian Federation is being raised, the audience will face the flag.

Once a performance has been recorded, it may be used for any purpose, such as in a radio or television broadcast. The anthem may be played for solemn or celebratory occasions, such as the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, or the funerals of heads of state and other significant figures. When asked about playing the anthem during the Victory Day parades, Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov stated that because of the acoustics of the Red Square, only an orchestra would be used because voices would be swallowed by the echo.

The anthem is mandatory at the swearing-in of the President of Russia, for opening and closing sessions of the Duma and the Federation Council, and for official state ceremonies. It is played on television and radio at the beginning and end of the broadcast day. If programming is continuous, the anthem is played once at 0600 hours, or slightly earlier at 0458 hours. The anthem is also played on New Year's Eve after the New Year Address by the President. It is played at sporting events in Russia and abroad, according to the protocol of the organisation hosting the games. According to the law, when the anthem is played officially, everybody must stand up (in case the national flag is raising, facing to the flag), men must remove their headgear (in practice, excluding those in military uniform and clergymen). Uniformed personnel must give a military salute when the anthem plays.

The anthem is performed in 4/4 (common time) or in 2/4 in the key of C major, and has a tempo of 76 beats per minute. Using either time signature, the anthem must be played in a solemn and singing manner (Russian: Торжественно and Распевно). The government has released arrangements for orchestras, brass bands and wind bands.

According to Russian copyright law, state symbols and signs are not protected by copyright. As such, the anthem's music and lyrics may be used and modified freely. Although the law calls for the anthem to be performed respectfully and for performers to avoid causing offence, it does not define what constitutes offensive acts or penalties. Standing for the anthem is required by law but the law does not specify a penalty for refusing to stand.

title: National anthem of Russia


text:
Zhang Chongren

Zhang Chongren (27 September 1907 – 8 October 1998), also known as Chang Chong-jen, was a Chinese sculptor best remembered in Europe as a friend of Hergé, the Belgian cartoonist and creator of The Adventures of Tintin. The two met when Zhang was an art student in Brussels. Zhang served as the inspiration for Chang Chong-Chen, a recurring character in the Tintin stories.

Early life
Zhang was born the son of a gardener in 1907 in Xujiahui (Ziccawei), then a suburb of Shanghai, China. The young Zhang lost both his parents at an early age and grew up in the French Jesuit orphanage of Tou-Se-we (now Tushanwan) where he entered at the age of seven, and where he learned French. He then entered the Art School of the orphanage, where he learned to draw, and was systematically educated in Western art. After finishing school in 1928, Zhang worked with design for the film industry and at a local newspaper. In 1931, he left China for the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, Belgium.

Influence on Hergé
Hergé's early albums of The Adventures of Tintin were highly dependent on stereotypes for comedic effect. These included evil Russian Bolsheviks, lazy and ignorant Africans, and an America of gangsters, cowboys and Indians.

At the close of the newspaper run of Cigars of the Pharaoh, Hergé had mentioned that Tintin's next adventure (The Blue Lotus) would bring him to China. Father Gosset, the chaplain to the Chinese students at the University of Leuven, wrote to Hergé urging him to be sensitive about what he wrote about China. Hergé agreed, and in the spring of 1934 Gosset introduced him to Zhang Chongren. The two young artists quickly became close friends, and Zhang introduced Hergé to Chinese history and culture, and the techniques of Chinese art. Of similar age, they also shared many interests and beliefs. Hergé even promised to give authorship credits to Zhang in the book, but Zhang declined the offer. As a result of this experience, Hergé would strive, in The Blue Lotus and subsequent Tintin adventures, to be meticulously accurate in depicting the places Tintin visited.

As a token of appreciation, Hergé added the character "Chang Chong-Chen" (Tchang in original French-language version) to The Blue Lotus.

As another result of his friendship with Zhang, Hergé became increasingly aware of the problems of colonialism, in particular the Empire of Japan's advances into China, and the corrupt, exploitative International Settlement of Shanghai. The Blue Lotus carries a bold anti-imperialist message, contrary to the prevailing view in Europe, which was sympathetic to Japan and the colonial enterprise. As a result, it drew sharp criticism from various parties, including a protest by Japanese diplomats to the Belgian Foreign Ministry.

Return to China
At the end of his studies in Brussels in 1935, Zhang made a tour of France, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy before returning home to China. Upon his arrival back in Shanghai in 1936, Zhang held a number of shows exhibiting his drawings and sculptures. He also established the Chongren Studio to further his art and to teach.

Hergé lost contact with him during the invasion of China by Japan (which is usually regarded as the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War) and the subsequent Chinese Civil War. More than four decades would pass before the two friends would meet again. In an instance of life mirroring art, Hergé managed to resume contact with his old friend Zhang, years after Tintin rescued the fictional Chang in the closing pages of Tintin in Tibet. Zhang had been a street sweeper during the Cultural Revolution, before becoming the head of the Fine Arts Academy in Shanghai during the 1970s.

After the economic liberalization of China in 1979, Zhang received widespread acknowledgment in the Chinese art community. A collection of his oil paintings and sculptures were published and in his later years, Zhang worked as an editor and translator of several books on art. Among the portraits he painted are those of Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and French President François Mitterrand.

Zhang returned to Europe for a reunion with Hergé in 1981 on the invitation of the French government. In 1989 he received French citizenship and settled down to teach in the Paris suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne, where he died in 1998. Shortly after his death, a memorial museum dedicated to him was established in Qibao, Shanghai. A number of his paintings and sculptures are held in the China Museum of Fine Art in Beijing and the China Museum of Revolutionary Warfare.

title: Zhang Chongren


text:
Talk:Zhang Chongren

Untitled
Does this person really deserve an entry? I mean, it looks like he is only significant because he was a friend of Hergé. If we decide to keep it, most of the information from the Hergé article about him should be moved to this article. Otherwise, this entry is pointless. It gives no context as to why he was significant in Hergé's life or how he influenced him. All just MHO of course... —Frecklefoot 18:39, 29 Jul 2003 (UTC)

There are people who have been significant just as a friend of somebody. I believe that this is one such case, where Chang was basically a muse for Hergé (or a catalyst, to give it a more down-to-earth label).

I agree that most of the info on Chang should be moved from the Hergé articles to here.

(On a more general level, I believe that no subject is too arcane for Wikipedia. Saying 'this belongs here' and 'this does not belong here', is elitist. Elitism works when you have an elite, not when everyone can be editor. That is not to say that Wikipedia's articles cannot be coherent--just that the subject choice cannot be limited.) branko

keep entry
as a tintin fan since my youth, i found this entry informative. please keep it. - ME

Jie has greately improved the article. Now it can stand in its own right. User: Dimadick.

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Isao Tomita

Isao Tomita (冨田 勲), often known simply as Tomita, was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analog synthesizer arrangements. In addition to creating note-by-note realizations, Tomita made extensive use of the sound-design capabilities of his instrument, using synthesizers to create new sounds to accompany and enhance his electronic realizations of acoustic instruments. He also made effective use of analog music sequencers and the Mellotron, and featured futuristic science-fiction themes, while laying the foundations for synth-pop music and trance-like rhythms. Many of his albums are electronic versions and adaptations of familiar classical music pieces. He received four Grammy Award nominations for his 1974 album based on music by Claude Debussy, Snowflakes Are Dancing.

1932–1968: Early life and composing career
Tomita was born in Tokyo and spent his early childhood with his father in China. After returning to Japan, he took private lessons in orchestration and composition while an art history student at Keio University, Tokyo. He graduated in 1955 and became a full-time composer for television, film and theatre. He composed the theme music for the Japanese Olympic gymnastics team for the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

In 1965, Tomita wrote music for Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion, but the American-English version had a different theme by Bernie Baum, Bill Giant and Florence Kaye. In the same year he scored the original Japanese version of Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon, but the film was re-scored by Milton DeLugg when it was dubbed into English.

In 1966, he wrote a tone poem based on the Kimba the White Lion, and an original video animation synchronized to this tone poem was released in 1991. With Kunio Miyauchi, he created the music for the tokusatsu science fiction/espionage/action television series Mighty Jack, which aired in 1968. The same year, he co-founded Group TAC.

1969-1979: Electronic music
In the late 1960s, Tomita turned to electronic music with the impetus of Wendy Carlos and Robert Moog's work with synthesizers. He acquired a Moog III synthesizer and began building his home studio. He eventually realized that synthesizers could be used to create entirely new sounds in addition to mimicking other instruments. His first electronic album was Electric Samurai: Switched on Rock, released in Japan in 1972 and in the United States in 1974. The album featured electronic renditions of contemporary rock and pop songs, while utilizing speech synthesis in place of a human voice.

Tomita then started arranging Claude Debussy's impressionist pieces for synthesizer and, in 1974, released the album Snowflakes Are Dancing; it became a worldwide success and was responsible for popularizing several aspects of synthesizer programming. It was the top-selling classical music album for that year. The album's contents included ambience, realistic string simulations, an early attempt to synthesize the sound of a symphony orchestra, whistles, and abstract bell-like sounds, as well as a number of processing effects including reverberation, phase shifting, flanging, and ring modulation. Quadraphonic versions of the album provided a spatial audio effect using four speakers. A particularly significant achievement was its polyphonic sound, created prior to the era of polyphonic synthesizers. Tomita created the album's polyphony as Carlos had done before him, with the use of multitrack recording, recording each voice of a piece one at a time, on a separate tape track, and then mixing the result to stereo or quad. It took 14 months to produce the album.

In his early albums, Tomita also made effective use of analog music sequencers, which he used for pitch, filter or effects changes and processed Mellotron sounds - especially 8 Voice Choir, creating quite stunning ethereal effects. Tomita's modular human whistle sounds would also be copied in the presets of later electronic instruments. His version of "Arabesque No. 1" was later used as the theme to the astronomy television series Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer (originally titled Star Hustler) seen on most PBS stations in the United States; in Japan, parts of his version of "Rêverie" were used for the opening and closing of Fuji Television's transmissions; in Catalonia, "Arabesque No. 1" was also used for the intro and the outro for the children TV 1983 program Planeta Imaginari (imaginary planet).

Following the success of Snowflakes Are Dancing (1974), Tomita released a number of "classically" themed albums, including arrangements of: Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird (1976), Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition (1976), and Gustav Holst's The Planets (1976). Holst: The Planets introduced a science fiction "space theme". This album sparked controversy on its release, as Imogen Holst, daughter of Gustav Holst, refused permission for her father's work to be interpreted in this way.

1978's Kosmos featured his renditions of Arthur Honegger's Pacific 231, Charles Ives's The Unanswered Question and the Star Wars theme.

While working on his classical synthesizer albums, Tomita also composed numerous scores for Japanese television and films, including the Zatoichi television series, two Zatoichi feature films, the Oshi Samurai (Mute Samurai) television series and the Toho science fiction disaster film, Catastrophe 1999, The Prophesies of Nostradamus (U.S. title: Last Days of Planet Earth) in 1974. The latter blends synthesizer performances with pop-rock and orchestral instruments. It and a few other partial and complete scores of the period have been released on LP and later CD over the years in Japan. While not bootlegs, at least some of these releases were issued by film and television production companies without Tomita's artistic approval.

1980-2000: SoundCloud concerts
In 1984, Tomita released Canon of the Three Stars, which featured classical pieces renamed for astronomical objects. For example, the title piece is his version of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major. He credits himself with "The Plasma Symphony Orchestra", which was a computer synthesizer process using the wave forms of electromagnetic emanations from various stars and constellations for the sonic textures of this album.

Tomita performed a number of outdoor "SoundCloud" concerts, with speakers surrounding the audience in a "cloud of sound". He gave a big concert in 1984 at the annual contemporary music Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria called Mind of the Universe, mixing tracks live in a glass pyramid suspended over an audience of 80,000 people. He also performed another two special concerts in 1986 to celebrate the Statue of Liberty centennial (Back to the Earth) as well another one in Sydney on 1 January 1988 produced to celebrate Australia's bicentenary as unifield country. The Australian performance was part of a A$7 million gift from Japan to the country, which included the largest fireworks display up to that time: six fixed sound and lighting systems — one of those on a moored barge in the centre of the Sydney Harbour, another one was flown by Chinook helicopter during the relevant parts of the show. A fleet of barges with Japanese cultural performances,including a boat parade in which a kabuki theater performance was staged.passed by at various times. His last SoundCloud event was in Nagoya, Japan in 1997, featuring guest performances by The Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, and Rick Wakeman.

In the late 1990s, he composed a symphonic fantasy for orchestra and synthesizer titled The Tale of Genji, inspired by the eponymous 11th-century Japanese story. It was performed by symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Los Angeles, and London. A live concert CD version was released in 1999 followed by a studio version in 2000.

2001–2016: Later years
In 2001, Tomita collaborated with The Walt Disney Company to compose the background atmosphere music for the AquaSphere entrance at the Tokyo DisneySea theme park outside Tokyo. Tomita followed this with a synthesizer score featuring acoustic soloists for the 2002 film The Twilight Samurai (たそがれ清兵衛), which won the 2003 Japanese Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

The advent of the DVD-Audio format allowed Tomita to further pursue his interests in multichannel audio with reworked releases of The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy and The Tomita Planets 2003. He also performed a version of Claude Debussy's "Clair de lune" for the soundtrack of Ocean's 13 in 2007.

In 2012 Tomita performed "Symphony Ihatov" in Tokyo, directing the Japan Philharmonic, an accompanying choir, and featuring cyber-celebrity/diva, Hatsune Miku, a digital avatar created by the Japanese company Crypton Future Media.

In 2015, a number of tracks from Snowflakes are Dancing were featured on the soundtrack to Heaven Knows What, an American film directed by the Safdie brothers. The same year, in recognition of his long career and global influence on electronic music, Tomita won the Japan Foundation Award, an award launched "to honor individuals or organizations who have made a significant contribution to promoting understanding and friendship between Japan and the rest of the world through academic, artistic and other cultural pursuits".

Death
After having heart disease for many years, Tomita died of heart failure in Tokyo on 5 May 2016.

Legacy
Tomita is considered to be a pioneer in electronic music, but his influence spread beyond the genre both in Japan and overseas. In 1984, Stevie Wonder cited Tomita as one of the artists he respected most and a major influence exploring classical composers like Mussorgsky and Debussy. In 1987, Michael Jackson toured Tomita's home studio.

Tomita's music was featured during the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. "Rise of the Planet 9" from Dr. Copellius composed by Tomita was played during the cauldron lighting in the Opening Ceremony, while the Debussy piece "Moonlight" arranged by Tomita was played during the extinguishing of the torch in the closing ceremony.

Studio albums

 * Switched on Rock (1972) (as Electric Samurai)
 * Snowflakes Are Dancing (1974) US #57 Can #57
 * Pictures at an Exhibition (1975) US #49 Can #55
 * Firebird (1976) US #71 Can #88
 * Holst: The Planets (1976) US #67
 * The Bermuda Triangle (1978) US #152
 * Kosmos also known as Cosmos and Space Fantasy (1978) US #115
 * Daphnis et Chloé, also known as Bolero and The Ravel Album (1979) US #174
 * Grand Canyon (1982)
 * Dawn Chorus, also known as Canon of the Three Stars (1984)
 * Nasca Fantasy (1994) (supporting Kodō)
 * Bach Fantasy (1996)
 * The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy (2000)
 * The Planets 2003 (2003, DVD-A only)
 * The Planets - Ultimate Edition (2011, re-recording with an additional movement)
 * The Tale of Genji Symphonic Fantasy Ultimate edition (2011, new recording with new movements)
 * Clair de Lune - Ultimate Edition (2012, revised and expanded Snowflakes Are Dancing)
 * Symphony Ihatov (2013)
 * Pictures at an Exhibition - Ultimate Edition - (2014, revised and expanded)
 * Space Fantasy (2015, revised and expanded Kosmos)
 * Okhotsk Fantasy (2016)
 * Dr. Coppelius (2017)

Live albums

 * The Mind of the Universe - Live at Linz (1985)
 * Back to the Earth - Live in New York (1988)
 * Hansel und Gretel (Laserdisc-only 1993)
 * The Tale of Genji (1999)
 * Planet Zero (2011)

Compilation albums

 * Sound Creature (1977, demonstration/education album with part unreleased material)
 * Greatest Hits (1979)
 * A Voyage Through His Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1981)
 * The Best of Tomita (1984)
 * Space Walk - Impressions of an Astronaut (1984) RCA Records, USA
 * Tomita on NHK (2003)
 * Tomita Different Dimensions (1997)

Soundtracks

 * Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon (1965, no soundtrack album) Japanese version
 * Jungle Emperor Symphonic Poem (1966, 2009 re-recording, orchestral suite based on the TV series)
 * Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival (1970)
 * Catastrophe 1999: Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974)
 * Demon Pond (1979, no soundtrack album)
 * Misty Kid of Wind (1989)
 * Storm from the East (1992)
 * School|Gakko (1993)
 * Shin Nihon Kikou (Tomita supervised re-recordings of various TV scores 1994)
 * First Emperor (1994) (as musical supervisor)
 * Gakko II (1996)
 * Jungle Emperor Leo (1997)
 * 21 seiki e no densetsushi Shigeo Nagashima (2000)
 * Sennen no Koi Story of Genji (2001)
 * Tokyo Disney Sea Aquasphere Theme Music (2002)
 * The Twilight Samurai (2002)
 * The Hidden Blade (2004)
 * Blood Will Tell (2004)
 * Black Jack: The Two Doctors of Darkness (2005)
 * Love and Honor (2006)
 * Kabei: Our Mother (2008)
 * Welcome Home, Hayabusa (2012)
 * Isao Tomita Tezuka Osamu's Work Selection of Music (2016) (compilation CD release in Japan)

Honours

 * JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 4Class BAR.svg Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2003)

title: Isao Tomita


text:
Olympia Brown

Olympia Brown (January 5, 1835 – October 23, 1926) was an American minister and suffragist. She was the first woman to be ordained as clergy with the consent of her denomination. Brown was also an articulate advocate for women's rights and one of the few first generation suffragists who were able to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Early life and education
Olympia Brown was born on January 5, 1835, in Prairie Ronde Township, Michigan. Brown was the oldest of four children. Her parents, Lephia and Asa Brown, were farmers in what was then considered frontier land. They were the great-great-aunt and -uncle, respectively, of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. Lephia raised her children in a household that regarded religion and education as very important. This is evident from the building of a schoolhouse on the Brown territory.

The drive for education instilled by Brown's mother had compelled her to finish high school and advance to the university level. Brown and her younger sister Oella decided to attend Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Mount Holyoke and a college education were what Brown had hoped for. Her excitement was tempered by the restrictions placed on women at Mount Holyoke. These restrictions included a list of forty rules, the abolition of a literacy society founded by the Browns, and religious restrictions. Perhaps the best example of the school's thinking was the words of a Chemistry professor, "You are not expected to remember all of this, but only enough to make you intelligent in conversation." Brown, who already knew she could meet the challenges of a higher education, looked elsewhere.

Putting aside her experiences at Mount Holyoke, Brown enrolled at Antioch College. Once Brown began her education at Antioch, she realized she had to catch up to higher standards. Brown also learned that despite the progressive nature at Antioch, there were still forms of discrimination. For example, in Brown's English class, women were not required to have speeches memorized. In a defiant act, Brown delivered her speeches from memory, just as the men had. Perhaps the crowning achievement of Brown’s time at Antioch was her ability to persuade her hero, Antoinette Brown Blackwell, to speak at Antioch.

Once Brown finished her schooling at Antioch, she decided her calling was to be a minister. After countless rejections, she was accepted to the Theological School of St. Lawrence University, although the school's president, Ebenezer Fisher, made it clear he did not believe women should be ministers. She arrived on campus in 1861 and graduated in 1863, becoming the first woman to graduate from an established theological school. Once again, Brown faced opposition from many sides. This included fellow students and the wives of the faculty. Brown took it all as a challenge. After her first year, Brown had gained acceptance and finished her schooling.

Ordination and parish ministry
Despite finishing her schooling, and gaining a year of preaching experience with Congregations in Marshfield and Montpelier, Vermont, Brown still met opposition to her ordination. The St. Lawrence faculty refused to ordain her. Brown decided to appeal to the Universalist Council, and traveled to nearby Malone, New York, to present her case to the Northern Universalist Association. Brown's appeal was a simple plea for equality. One member of the Council had heard Brown's sermon the week prior, and left his support. To the surprise of many, the council voted to ordain her. Thus on June 25, 1863, Olympia Brown became the first woman to be ordained as a minister in the Universalist Church. Historians have debated the place she holds in the history of women's ordination. Some consider her ordination, approved by her regional Association, to be of greater significance than that of Antoinette Brown Blackwell, ordained in 1853 by the Congregational Church in South Butler, NY. Brown Blackwell did not have formal support in her denomination beyond the local congregation. Olympia Brown was the first woman to be ordained with official approval from a national denomination.

After her ordination, Brown went to Vermont, preaching in various churches. She also spent some time at home with her family in Michigan, before beginning her first pastorate in Weymouth Landing, Massachusetts. She was formally installed in July 1864, and ministered to the congregation for several years. She went on to pastor a church in Bridgeport, Connecticut, being hired by the congregation despite initial reluctance by many parishioners who did not wish to have a woman pastor. In 1878, she accepted a call to a church in Racine, Wisconsin, where she would serve as minister until 1887. In all her ministerial settings she was well respected as a preacher. She was described by a reporter for the Superior Daily Leader as "the female Beecher of the rostrum." This was intended as a high compliment, as Henry Ward Beecher was widely considered to be the best preacher in the United States at the time.

Women's suffrage
From Brown's childhood and the abolition movement to Brown's own experiences with discrimination, Brown had always been aware of the quest for equal rights. Due to Brown's strong speaking skills and beliefs, Susan B. Anthony continually sought the involvement of Brown. With the encouragement of Lucy Stone and her husband, Henry Blackwell, Brown decided to travel to Kansas in order to speak on women's rights. Over the course of the summer, Brown delivered more than 300 speeches despite facing many hardships. Even though this was a great experience, Brown decided to return to ministry, until a change of heart in 1887.

Now that Brown had dedicated her life to the movement, she looked to do all she could. This included forming the New England Women's Suffrage Association, leading the Wisconsin Suffrage Association and becoming the president of the Federal Suffrage Association from 1903 to 1920.

Despite all this action, Brown saw few changes take place. Brown believed that the second generation of suffragists suffered from poor leadership and erroneously focused their efforts at the state level. It was not until 1913 when Brown was invited to join the newly formed Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, which would later be called the National Woman's Party, by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. This group looked to pass an amendment at the federal level and also vowed to use a more radical approach.

These new tactics led to the women's right to vote amendment being presented to Congress and marches in front of the White House. President Wilson met the two marches in front of the White House with displeasure. As a result, these women were to be jailed. The mistreatment of these women coupled with the massive press exposure led to more support for the movement.

Eventually, Congress passed the bill. However, with ratification still needed, Brown along with others hit the campaign trail one last time. Olympia Brown's last march was at the 1920 Republican National Convention. The 19th Amendment would finally be ratified on August 25, 1920, marking the first time that Olympia Brown along with countless other women were able to vote.

Personal life
Brown was married to John Henry Willis in 1873; she chose to keep her maiden name. They reared two children: Henry and Gwendolyn. Both of their children became teachers.

Brown spent her last years with her family in Racine, Wisconsin. She continued to support women's rights and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

Death and legacy
She died in Baltimore on October 23, 1926.

In 1963 to honor the centennial of Brown's ordination, the Theological School of St. Lawrence University mounted a plaque at the church she pastored at in Racine, Wisconsin. The inscription concludes, "The flame of her spirit still burns today." In 1989 the church was renamed the Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church.

In the 1970s the Olympia Brown League was founded by Susan Hester and Fran Kaplan to help women's name rights in Milwaukee, in response to a court decision against women seeking to keep their maiden names upon marriage; Brown had kept hers upon her marriage. Specifically, the case with that court decision was Kruzel v. Podell (1975), in which the Supreme Court of Wisconsin decided that a woman upon marriage adopts the last name of her husband by customarily using that name after marriage, but also stated that no law required her to.

An elementary school in Racine was named in Brown's honor in 1975.

In 1999 she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.

Olympia Brown's own papers and documents relating to her work are held at the Schlesinger Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and in the papers of the National Woman's Party at the Library of Congress.

The Olympia Brown mystery series of books is named after her.

Selected works

 * Woman's Suffrage (1907)
 * Acquaintances, Old and New, Among Reformers (1911)
 * Democratic Ideals: A Memorial Sketch of Clara B. Colby (1917)
 * Suffrage and Religious Principle: Speeches and Writings of Olympia Brown (1988, posthumous)

title: Olympia Brown


text:
Patrick Lane (poet)

Patrick Lane (March 26, 1939 – March 7, 2019) was a Canadian poet. He had written in several other genres, including essays, short stories, and was the author of the novel Red Dog, Red Dog.

Biography
Born in Nelson, British Columbia, he attended high school in Vernon and had no further formal education. He first began writing poetry seriously in 1960. During his twenties, he held a series of difficult jobs in the logging industry in the northern part of the province—as a choker, truck driver, Industrial First Aid man, sawmill worker, salesman and so on. In 1965, he moved to Vancouver and began to connect with other poets of his generation.

Lane, Bill Bissett and Seymour Mayne founded the small-press publisher Very Stone House in 1966.

In 1968, Lane's first marriage ended and he moved to South America to dedicate himself completely to writing. When he returned, he remarried and established a home in the Okanagan Valley in 1972. In 1974 he and his wife moved to the Sunshine Coast.

After a second divorce in 1978, he became Writer-in-Residence at University of Manitoba, where he met fellow poet Lorna Crozier. Also in 1978, Lane won the Governor General's Award for his collection Poems, New and Selected.

Lane lived for many years with Crozier in Saanichton, British Columbia, where he tended a garden of 0.5 acre that has been featured on the television program Recreating Eden, and which he wrote about in the memoir There is a Season.

He participated in Dial-A-Poem Montreal from 1985 to 1987.

From 1986 to 1990, Lane taught creative writing and Canadian literature courses at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and later taught at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia from 1991 to 2004. When he retired from formal teaching, he was still an adjunct professor at UVic and frequently led retreats and workshops for writers. In 2007, he was awarded the fourth annual Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence for his lifetime contribution to literature in British Columbia. His novel Red Dog, Red Dog appeared in 2008.

A recovering alcoholic and cocaine user, Lane wrote about his struggles with dependency in Addicted: Notes From the Belly of the Beast, which he co-edited with Crozier, and in There is a Season.

On November 21, 2014, Governor General David Johnston presented Patrick Lane with the Order of Canada, recognizing his more than 50 years of contribution to Canadian poetry and literature. His latest book "Washita", was nominated for the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.

He had five children, three from his first marriage and two from his second. He was the brother of poet Red Lane. He lived the latter part of his life in the Victoria, BC area and died on March 7, 2019, aged 79.

Edited with Lorna Crozier

 * Breathing Fire – 1995
 * Addicted: Notes from the Belly of the Beast – 2001
 * Breathing Fire 2 – 2004

title: Patrick Lane (poet)


text:
User:Illya23b

hey, just doing what i can :)

title: User:Illya23b