h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm currently working on an Entry on Flamenco Dance, and I'd like you to take a look at this:

"Background:

Flamenco is the music of the gypsies from the south of Spain. This people is believed to have their origin in northern India.

The first document registering the arrival of gypsies to Spain is from 1447. During this time the Mores had been occupying particularly the south of Spain for almost 800 years, during which science, economy and culture flurished in a rich mix. The moorish influence from this time can be traced in Flamenco music, as well as the impact of Jewish, Catholic and local music.

The gypsies were nomads, and accustomed to making their own version of local music. Music is, and always has been, an important part of their celebrations and their everyday life.

At the end of 15th century the Mores were taken out by the Catholic Kings. Now a persecution of all ”non-catholics” started. It was to last for more than two centuries. The suffering and injustice during this time soon showed in the songs, and is still detectable in the lamenting texts of Flamenco songs.

Flamenco began to be used as a synonym for ”Andalucian gypsy” in the 18th century."

And after this I will concentrate on the dance...

Hi Titania,

A very interesting and informative beginning. I have a few minor nits to pick though.

You wrote: 'During this time the Mores had . . .'

It should be: 'During this time the Moors had . . .'

Also, you wrote: '...15th century the Mores were...'

It should be: '...15th century the Moors were...'

Basically, you might consider doing a global search and replace of 'Moors' for 'Mores' as you use 'moorish influence' in the second paragraph.

One more thing, this bit sounds a bit strange to me. 'This people is believed to have their origin in northern India.' Which people, Gypsies I presume? If so, perhaps it would sound better if you said, 'Gypsies are believed to have had their origin in northern India.'

hth

Thanks, Jake!

You're quite welcome.

And if someone would like to proof read the entire article on Flamenco Dance, I've finally finished it, at:
http://www.h2g2.com/A406676

I'd be very grateful

I'll pop over once I get back.

Quite a lovely read, very informative. I have a question though, in this paragraph:

'The dancers job is to project the mood of the song. Music and dance fall into three categories: jondo, or grande ("profound," or "grand"), intensely sad and dealing with themes of death, anguish, despair, or religion; intermediate, less profound, but also moving, often with an oriental cast to the music; and chico ("light"), with subjects of love, the countryside, and gaiety.'

you highlight the Spanish terms 'jondo', 'grande' and 'chico' but miss the appropriate Spanish term for intermediate. Was that intentional? BTW, according to my 'Random House Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary' intermediate translates to 'intermedio'. Hope this helps.

Apert from Jake's comment the rest looks fine.

Thanks Jake!
No, it was not intentional, byt the source I got the info from did not mention the Spanish word for intermediate, and I have no Spanish dictionary myself...
Thanks again!

Thank you, DD!

You're quite welcome Titania. You may want to run this by your Flamenco teacher though. Simply because 'intermedio' means intermediate, doesn't mean that's the commonly accepted Spanish usage for what you're describing.

<---- Everything I know about Flamenco I learned from reading your entry.

OK, I'll check...

...again!

This time I'm TRYING to write an article about 'Kalevala - land of heroes', which is the myth, the symbol and the national epic of Finland...

I'm regretting I ever thought of it, but now that I've started, I can't let go... but I'll tell you, I've never used my dictionary so repeatedly!

I need help to proof-read the 'Background' and the 'Kalevala - contents' parts...

It is not much, but I haven't managed to find ANY info in Swedish about Kalevala, except encyclopedias that charge you if you want to use them!!! So I've had to rely on encyclopedias in English (which there are plenty of, that don't charge you!) But since English isn't my mother tongue, it will take a while...

Grrrrrr! *grinding her teeth*

Sorry! Forgot the URL:

http://www.h2g2.com/A433388

Posted a whack at it. Didn't know if you wanted the contents done over into conversational english (like I really know that-being an amerikin[US] and all) so left it pretty much alone. If you would like I'll take a whack at that part, too. Shifted some phrases around but, any word changes are in ( ). + means add whatever is in the ( ).

Hope it helps. ta