Gaite Parisienne, Swan Lake, and Coppelia. After retiring in 1957 she became a full-time faculty member at the School of American Ballet (1964-89). She was instrumental in bringing classical and modern Rus¬ sian repertoires to the U.S.
Danish language Official lan¬ guage of Denmark, belonging to the Scandinavian (North) branch of the Germanic languages. It began to separate from the other Scandinavian languages c. ad 1000. Modern Danish is the Scandinavian language that has undergone the greatest amount of change from Old Scandinavian. A spelling reform in 1948 eliminated the capitalization of nouns and intro¬ duced the letter a for aa, thereby making the spelling more similar to that of Norwegian and Swedish. Evidence of Denmark’s political influence can be seen in the stamp of the Danish language on the Norwegian, Swed¬ ish, and Icelandic languages. It is taught in the schools of the Faroe Islands, of Iceland, and of Greenland.
D'Annunzio \dan-'niint-se-o\, Gabriele (b. March 12, 1863, Pescara, Italy—d. March 1, 1938, Gardone Riviera, on Lake Garda) Italian writer and military hero. He was a journalist before turning to poetry and fic¬ tion. His prodigious output includes The Child of Pleasure (1898), intro¬ ducing the first of his many passionate Nietzschean-Superman heroes; The Triumph of Death (1894), his best-known novel; Alcyone (1904), consid¬ ered his greatest poetic work; and the powerful play The Daughter ofJorio (1904). His works are marked by egocentrism, fluent and melodious style, and an overriding emphasis on sensual gratification. He urged Italy’s entry into World War I, in which he distinguished himself militarily. In 1919 he set himself up as dictator of the port city Fiume in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles and effectively secured it for Italy; he was forced to step down in 1920. He later became an ardent fascist. His eloquence, daring, political leadership, extravagant spending, and scandalous affairs (espe¬ cially with Eleonora Duse) made him one of the most striking personali¬ ties of his day.
danse macabre See dance of death
Dante (Alighieri) Vdan-ta-.a-ta-'gyer-eV (b. c. May 21-June 20, 1265, Florence—d. Sept. 13/14, 1321, Ravenna) Italian poet. Dante was of noble ancestry, and his life was shaped by the conflict between papal and impe¬ rial partisans (the Guelphs and Ghibellines). When an opposing political fac¬ tion within the Guelphs (Dante’s party) gained ascendancy, he was exiled (1302) from Florence, to which he never returned. His life was given direction by his spiritual love for Beatrice Portinari (d. 1290), to whom he dedicated most of his poetry. His great friendship with Guido Cavalcanti shaped his later career as well. La Vita Nuova (1293?) celebrates Beatrice in verse. In his difficult years of exile, he wrote the verse collection The Banquet (c. 1304-07); De vulgari eloquentia (1304-07; “Concerning Ver¬ nacular Eloquence”), the first theoretical discussion of the Italian literary
Alexandra Danilova in Swan Lake.
THE BE1TMANN ARCHIVE
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Danton > D'Arcy I 511
language; and On Monarchy (1313?), a major Latin treatise on medieval political philosophy. He is best known for the monumental epic poem The Divine Comedy (written c. 1310-14; originally titled simply Commedia), a profoundly Christian vision of human temporal and eternal destiny. It is an allegory of universal human destiny in the form of a pilgrim’s journey through hell and purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, then to Para¬ dise, guided by Beatrice. By writing it in Italian rather than Latin, Dante almost singlehandedly made Italian a literary language, and he stands as one of the towering figures of European literature.
Danton \da nJ to n \, Georges (-Jacques) (b. Oct. 26, 1759, Arcis- sur-Aube, France—d. April 5, 1794, Paris) French revolutionary leader. A lawyer in Paris before the French Revolution, he cofounded the Cord¬ eliers Club (1790) and frequently made impassioned speeches before both it and the Jacobin Club. He was elected minister of justice in 1792, and he became a member of the first Committee of Public Safety in April 1793. Effectively the head of government for three months, he pursued a policy of compromise and negotiation. He was not reelected to the Committee when its term expired in Jitly, and he became leader of the moderate Indulgents, which had risen from the Cordeliers. His moderation and opposition to the Reign of Terror led to his own death at the guillotine.
Danube \'dan-,yub\ River German Donau Vdo-.naiA Slovak Dunaj \du-'nl\ Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian Dunav Vdii-nav\ Romanian Dunarea \'du-nar-,ya\ Ukrainian Dunay \du-'nr\ River, central Europe. The second longest European river (after the Volga), it rises in Germany’s Black Forest and flows about 1,770 mi (2,850 km) to the Black Sea, passing along or through Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Mold¬ ova. Its many tributaries include the Drava, Tisza, and Sava rivers. It has been an important highway between central and eastern Europe from antiquity. The lower Danube is a major avenue for freight transport, and the upper Danube is an important source of hydroelectricity. A regulatory body that consists of its riparian nations was established in 1948 to over¬ see its use. A major hydroelectric and navigation complex was built in the 1970s at Iron Gate Gorge in Romania. A canal linking Kelheim on the Danube and Bamberg on the Main River, allowing traffic to flow between the North and Black seas, was completed in 1992.
The confluence of the Sava (foreground) and Danube rivers from the Kalemegdan fortress, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
JEAN S. BULDAIN/BERG & ASSOC.
Danube school Tradition of German landscape painting and etching that developed in the Danube River valley between Regensburg and Vienna in the early 16th century. The most important artists associated with the movement were Albrecht Altdorfer and Lucas Cranach the Elder; others included Wolf Huber (1485-1553) and Jorg Breu the Elder (1475/ 76-1537). They were among the pioneers in depicting landscape for its own sake, often in highly subjective, expressive fashion.
Danzig See Gdansk
dao \'dau\ or tao In Chinese philosophy, a fundamental concept signi¬ fying the correct or divine way. In Confucianism, dao signifies a morally correct path of behaviour. In Daoism the concept is more encompassing and includes the visible process of nature, by which all things change, as well as the principle underlying this process. This principle, known as
Absolute Dao, can be only imperfectly understood by the practitioner but is the guiding principle in life. Daoists view life and death as stages of Absolute Dao and advocate a way of life that brings one closer to con¬ formity with essential nature.
Daodejing Vdau-'do-'jiqX or Tao-te ching Classic text of Chinese philosophy. Written between the 6th and 3rd centuries bc, it was once called the Laozi after its traditional author Laozi, though its true author¬ ship is still unresolved. The Daodejing presents a way of life intended to restore harmony and tranquillity to a kingdom racked by disorder. It pro¬ motes a course of nonaction, understood as restraint from any unnatural action rather than complete passivity, thereby allowing the dao to resolve things naturally. It was designed as a handbook for rulers, who should rule by inaction, imposing no restrictions or prohibitions on their subjects. The Daodejing has had a tremendous influence on all later schools of Chinese philosophy and religion and has been the subject of hundreds of commentaries.
Daoism or Taoism Vdau-.iz-omX Major Chinese religio-philosophical tradition. Though the concept of dao was employed by all Chinese schools of thought, Daoism arose out of the promotion of dao as the social ideal. Laozi is traditionally regarded as the founder of Daoism and the author of its classic text, the Daodejing . Other Daoist classics include the Zhuangzi (4th-3rd century bc; ) and the Liezi. In Daoism, dao is the force or prin¬ ciple about which nothing can be predicated, but that latently contains the forms, entities, and forces of all phenomena. This natural wisdom should not be interfered with; DE, or superior virtue, is acquired through action so entirely in accordance with the natural order that its author leaves no trace of himself in his work. The tradition holds that all beings and things are fundamentally one. Daoism’s focus on nature and the natural order complements the societal focus of Confucianism, and its synthesis with Buddhism is the basis of Zen. See also yin-yang.