Biography of Marco Polo, Famous Explorer

Marco Polo was an inmate in the Genoese prison at the Palazzo di San Giorgio from 1296 to 1299, arrested for commanding a Venetian galley in a war against Genoa. While there, he told tales of his travels through Asia to his fellow prisoners and the guards alike, and his cellmate Rustichello da Pisa wrote them down. Once the two were released from prison, copies of the manuscript, titled The Travels of Marco Polo, captivated Europe. Polo told tales of fabulous Asian courts, black stones that would catch on fire (coal), and Chinese money made out of paper. Ever since people have debated the question: Did Marco Polo really go to China, and see all of the things he claims to have seen? Early Life Marco Polo was probably born in Venice, although there is no proof of his place of birth, around 1254 CE. His father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo were Venetian merchants who traded on the Silk Road; little Marcos father left for Asia before the child was born, and would return when the boy was a teenager. He may not have even realized that his wife was pregnant when he left. Thanks to enterprising merchants such as the Polo brothers, Venice flourished at this time as the major trading hub for imports from the fabulous oasis cities of Central Asia, India, and far-off, wondrous Cathay (China). With the exception of India, the whole expanse of Silk Road Asia was under the control of the Mongol Empire at this time. Genghis Khan had died, but his grandson Kublai Khan was Great Khan of the Mongols as well as the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China. Pope Alexander IV announced to Christian Europe in a 1260 papal bull that they faced wars of universal destruction wherewith the scourge of Heavens wrath in the hands of the inhuman Tartars [Europes name for the Mongols], erupting as it were from the secret confines of Hell, oppresses and crushes the earth. For men such as the Polos, however, the now stable and peaceful Mongol Empire was a source of wealth, rather than of hell-fire. Young Marco Goes to Asia When the elder Polos returned to Venice in 1269, they found that Niccolos wife had died and left behind a 15-year-old son named Marco. The boy must have been surprised to learn that he was not an orphan, as well. Two years later, the teenager, his father, and his uncle would embark eastward on another great journey. The Polos made their way to Acre, now in Israel, and then rode camels north to Hormuz, Persia. On their first visit to Kublai Khans court, the Khan had asked the Polo brothers to bring him oil from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which Armenian Orthodox priests sold in that city, so the Polos went to the Holy City to buy the consecrated oil. Marcos travel account mentions various other interesting peoples along the way, including Kurds and Marsh Arabs in Iraq. Young Marco was put off by the Armenians, considering their Orthodox Christianity a heresy, puzzled by Nestorian Christianity, and even more alarmed by the Muslim Turks (or Saracens). He admired the beautiful Turkish carpets with the instincts of a merchant, however. The naive young traveler would have to learn to be open-minded about new peoples and their beliefs. On to China The Polos crossed into Persia, through Savah and the carpet-weaving center of Kerman. They had planned to sail to China via India but found that the ships available in Persia were too rickety to be trusted. Instead, they would join a trade caravan of two-humped Bactrian camels. Before they departed from Persia, however, the Polos passed by the Eagles Nest, scene of Hulagu Khans 1256 siege against the Assassins or Hashshashin. Marco Polos account, taken from local tales, may have vastly exaggerated the fanaticism of the Assassins. Nevertheless, he was very happy to descend the mountains and take the road toward Balkh, in northern Afghanistan, famed as the ancient home of Zoroaster or Zarathustra. One of the oldest cities on earth, Balkh did not live up to Marcos expectations, primarily because Genghis Khans army had done its best to erase the intransigent city from the face of the Earth. Nonetheless, Marco Polo came to admire Mongol culture, and to develop his own obsession with Central Asian horses (all of them descended from Alexander the Greats mount Bucephalus, as Marco tells it) and with falconry - two mainstays of Mongol life. He also began to pick up the Mongol language, which his father and uncle already could speak well. In order to get to the Mongolian heartlands and Kublai Khans court, however, the Polos had to cross the high Pamir Mountains. Marco encountered Buddhist monks with their saffron robes and shaved heads, which he found fascinating. Next, the Venetians traveled toward the great Silk Road oases of Kashgar and Khotan, entering the fearsome Taklamakan Desert of western China. For forty days, the Polos trudged across the burning landscape whose very name means you go in, but you dont come out. Finally, after three and a half years of hard travel and adventure, the Polos made it to the Mongol court in China. In Kublai Khans Court When he met Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, Marco Polo was just 20 years old. By this time he had become an enthusiastic admirer of the Mongol people, quite at odds with the opinion in most of the 13th century Europe. His Travels notes that They are those people who most in the world bear work and great hardship and are content with little food, and who are for this reason suited best to conquer cities, lands, and kingdoms. The Polos arrived in Kublai Khans summer capital, called Shangdu or Xanadu. Marco was overcome by the beauty of the place: The halls and rooms... are all gilded and wonderfully painted within with pictures and images of beasts and birds and trees and flowers... It is fortified like a castle in which are fountains and rivers of running water and very beautiful lawns and groves. All three of the Polo men went to Kublai Khans court and performed a kowtow, after which the Khan welcomed his old Venetian acquaintances. Niccolo Polo presented the Khan with the oil from Jerusalem. He also offered his son Marco to the Mongol lord as a servant. In the Khans Service Little did the Polos know that they would be forced to remain in Yuan China for seventeen years. They could not leave without Kublai Khans permission, and he enjoyed conversing with his pet Venetians. Marco, in particular, became a favorite of the Khans  and incurred a lot of jealousy from the Mongol courtiers. Kublai Khan was extremely curious about Catholicism, and the Polos believed at times that he might convert. The Khans mother had been a Nestorian Christian, so it was not so great a leap as it might have appeared. However, conversion to a western faith might have alienated many of the emperors subjects, so he toyed with the idea but never committed to it. Marco Polos descriptions of the wealth and splendor of the Yuan court, and of the size and organization of Chinese cities, struck his European audience as impossible to believe. For example, he loved the southern Chinese city of Hangzhou, which at that time had a population of about 1.5 million people. That is about 15 times the contemporary population of Venice, then one of Europes largest cities and European readers simply refused to give credence to this fact. Return by Sea By the time Kublai Khan reached the age of 75 in 1291, the Polos probably had just about given up hope that he would ever allow them to return home to Europe. He also seemed determined to live forever. Marco, his father, and his uncle finally got permission to leave the Great Khans court that year, so that they could serve as escorts of a 17-year-old Mongol princess who was being sent to Persia as a bride. The Polos took the sea route back, first boarding a ship to Sumatra, now in Indonesia, where they were marooned by changing monsoons for 5 months. Once the winds shifted, they went on to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and then to India, where Marco was fascinated by Hindu cow-worship and mystical yogis, along with Jainism and its prohibition on harming even a single insect. From there, they voyaged on to the Arabian Peninsula, arriving back at Hormuz, where they delivered the princess to her waiting bridegroom. It took two years for them to make the trip from China back to Venice; thus, Marco Polo likely was just about to turn 40 when he returned to his home city. Life in Italy As imperial emissaries and savvy traders, the Polos returned to Venice in 1295 laden with exquisite goods. However, Venice was embroiled in a feud with Genoa over control of the very trade routes that had enriched the Polos. Thus it was that Marco found himself in command of a Venetian war galley, and then a prisoner of the Genoese. After his release from prison in 1299, Marco Polo returned to Venice and continued his work as a merchant. He never went traveling again, however, hiring others to make expeditions instead of taking on that task himself. Marco Polo also married the daughter of another successful trading family and had three daughters. In January of 1324, Marco Polo died at the age of about 69. In his will, he freed a Tartar slave who had served him since his return from China. Although the man had died, his story lived on, inspiring the imaginations and adventures of other Europeans. Christopher Columbus, for example, had a copy of Marco Polos Travels, which he notated heavily in the margins. Whether or not they believed his stories, the people of Europe certainly loved to hear about the fabulous Kublai Khan and his wondrous courts at Xanadu and Dadu (Beijing). Sources Bergreen, Laurence. Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu, New York: Random House Digital, 2007. â€Å"Marco Polo.† Biography.com, AE Networks Television, 15 Jan. 2019, www.biography.com/people/marco-polo-9443861. Polo, Marco. The Travels of Marco Polo, trans. William Marsden, Charleston, SC: Forgotten Books, 2010. Wood, Frances. Did Marco Polo Go to China?, Boulder, CO: Westview Books, 1998.

William Golding s Lord Of The Flies - 1552 Words

â€Å"Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness† (Werner Herzog). In places such as the Middle East, many places are in chaos. With much of the time spent fighting against others, for what cause or what price, seems irrelevant. However, many times during the fighting, when everything is scarce, the true natures of people come out. If there is a shortage in food, or medical supplies, people are not afraid to turn on once neighbors to steal if need be. Once â€Å"the law† stops caring, there is nothing stopping people from doing whatever they like. In the Middle East, in the places where war is going on, many people don’t really notice the beasts around themselves. In Lord of the Flies, Golding shows an island†¦show more content†¦A small boy requested the conch, and while being laughed at â€Å"He says the beastie came in the dark.† â€Å"Then he couldn’t see it!† followed by laughter and cheers (36). Here the group is laughing at the very fact of there being a beast on the island, and just dismiss it. Golding uses two distinct moods contrasting each other, with the little ones in a scared and worried state, while the big ones laugh and cheer and have fun. To a degree, there is dramatic irony present here when the big ones claim that there is no beast and laugh it off, the audience knows that there is in fact a type of â€Å"beast† on the island. After spending more time on the island, the big ones mood changes away from the laughter and joy that was previously there. While Ralph and Jack are discussing about how the young ones are scared of the island Simon says â€Å"As if, the beastie, the beastie or the snake-thing, was real. Remember? The two older boys flinched when they heard the shameful syllable† (52). Only now is everyone starting to recognize that there is in fact a beast on the island. The boys were originally going to hunt and kill all the snakes on the island, but it transformed from being something that they hunted to being scared or shamed by them. Now the beast is no longer a laughing matter, but a slightly more pressed issue with many smaller kids being scared of it, and bringing shame in the form of the snakes of the island. Many from the group begin to realizeShow MoreRelatedWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1263 Words   |  6 PagesResearch Paper: Lord of the Flies William Golding, the author of Lord of The Flies, included adults for only a brief time throughout the novel, playing only a minor role at the end. The absence of adults exemplifies how children require the structure and guidance that only parents can provide, symbolically, how nations newly freed from the British Empire’s control would be better off under English colonial power to survive and maintain order before deteriorating into anarchy. The adults of theRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies752 Words   |  4 Pagespossible, so a five year old who teases others to Adolf Hitler would be classified as perpetrators of evil. Lord of the Flies is a fictional story about a group of British boys who get stranded on island. The author of the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding, showcases Zimbardo’s ideas in his story. Zimbardo did not form his theory Through the character development of Jack and Roger, Golding illustrates the intensity of evil when one is impacted by situational forces. Before Ralph and Piggy unifiesRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1869 Words   |  8 PagesEssay Outline – Unit 11 Introductory paragraph: Topic Sentence (includes the book title and author) The novel Lord of the flies by William Golding is a type of literature that revolves around an anti-war theme. Main Points that will be discussed in the essay presented in order of weakest to strongest: 1. Lord of the flies was written during WWII and one of the manifestations is the dead man in the parachute presumably a victim of a bombed plane. 2. Faction among the group which is similar toRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1282 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Golding, the author of Lord of The Flies, included adults for only a brief time throughout the novel, playing only a minor role at the end. The absence of adults exemplifies how children require the structure and guidance that only parents can provide, this can be seen how nations newly freed from the British Empire’s control would be better off under English colonial power to survive and maintain order before deteriorating into anarchy. The adults of the novel can be seen as the motherRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1389 Words   |  6 PagesA response to Lord Of The Flies Imagine an airplane crash. The heat of flames scorch passengers’ backs in addition to the wind burning their faces. Lucky, this crash was over water and near an island so most passengers survive, with an exception of the airplane staff and the pilot. Even though alive, many are in fits of fear and panic, and others are in shock. After hurried deliberation, a lone member of the group is elected leader in hopes that they will calm the panic, and make the hard, but necessaryRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1315 Words   |  6 PagesWilliam Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies was set somewhere on the timeline of World War Two, a war between the Axis and the Allies lasting from 1939 until 1945. Although WWII was fought between many countries in the Pacific and Europe, the main contender was Germany, led by Adolf Hitler. Hitler and his followers, the Nazis, changed the lives of everyone when they attempted to strengthen Germany and brought out all the evil and ugli ness in the world. After WWII, nothing would be able to change theRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies886 Words   |  4 Pageshow to live their lives not knowing what s right or wrong. Everyone has a different opinion towards different things. Some say gun laws should be banned while some say they want a gun in their house. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding there are clear aspects of leadership shown within the characterization between Jack and Ralph. I m chief, said Ralph, because you chose me. And we were going to keep the fire going. Now you run after food- (Golding 150). There is evident conflict between theRead MoreWilliam Golding s Lord Of The Flies1672 Words   |  7 Pages The Different Social Cognition of the Similar Stories — Synthesis essay of Lord of the Flies Final Project With the development of British culture, the format of Desert Island Literature has an inevitable connection with the geographical and culture heritage of the development of British history. 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Off-the-Job Behavior Free Essays

Textbook Case Study Off-the-Job Behavior 1. Do you believe Oiler’s employee rights were violated? Explain your position. Peter Oiler’s termination from his job by the Winn-Dixie Corporation was an obvious violation of his employee rights. We will write a custom essay sample on Off-the-Job Behavior or any similar topic only for you Order Now Though balancing employee rights with proper discipline is a constant challenge for HR professionals. But in this case of Oiler, the work place behavior of the employer had not changed and there is no problem, with the co-employers also. Also in the own time, the company have no rights about the way he dress. Hence there is also no such challenge for the Winn-Dixie that it has to terminate Oiler. Hence I would consider that Winn-Dixie has violated the employee rights of Oiler. Also his social security has been compromised. When we consider the situation here is more normal than a similar case in 2005, which happened in Georgia. According to that, the courts consider this as sexual discrimination under 42 U. S. C. Sec. 1983 and Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. And the development of trans-gender transitions has a real concern and the laws accept the claims of discrimination under employer’s categorizing of genders. Thus Oiler’s claim is acceptable and Winn-Dixie has to oblige to the claims of Oiler. Here Oiler’s can be taken as an example of opposition of trans-genders in the general public. Though the laws are guarding them, the manipulation of thought caused by these cases is more than the actual violation. Since the court ruled out as not a violation, it will be a wrong guideline as the decision can be referenced in consecutive references. . What do you see as the consequences of organizations that punish employees for certain off-the-job behaviors? Explain. In the case of punishment of the employees, the people have united against this unrightfully action. Also it had created an uneasy environment among the workers. Most organizations which do the punishment of workers for off-job behaviors as they feel as their ri ght, run the risk of being faced with numerous lawsuits and allegations of partiality and discriminatory practices. Hence these organizations end up with a bad reputation and a question mark for credibility. Which in turn costs, they also face losing customers, business partners and stockholders. There will be a greater number of individuals who do not agree with these abrupt decisions than who support it. Hence they will decide to cut their ties with organizations who favor such practices. It would be safe to assume that many businesses that were previously a part of the Winn-Dixie organizations like financial institutions, suppliers etc. ade the decision to no longer be associated with a company that would practice such unethical and immoral standards of business. This will in turn destroy the past achievement and the support it had earned and also future trades with other organization is also threatened. Hence it completely obliterates the potential success of any business or organization. Any business organization must have rules and regulations which must be followed to and by all employees. Additionally, businesses must have particular methods in place to discipline individuals who do not follow the rules. 3. Would you consider Winn-Dixie an organization that exhibits characteristics of progressive discipline or the hot stove approach? Defend your position. According to me, Winn-Dixie is an organization which exhibits hot stove characteristics. This can be made on seeing the action taken by Winn-Dixie. Oiler has a clean organizational behavior and has a perfect work record. His career track record is also proper and he is considered as an asset by all the workers. When we consider about the harshness of the Disciplinary action, terminating the employee is considered as a most severe disciplinary action. And the Winn-Dixie had done this, hence it is a Hot stove characteristic. The hot-stove approach punishes all unacceptable behaviors with identical disciplinary actions whereas the progressive approach, warns individuals depending on the harshness and/or the reoccurrence of actions and behaviors which they have previously been warned against. The severe disciplinary action can be taken for an offense is so serious that immediate dismissal is appropriate such as theft, sexual harassment, violence, plagiarism etc. And since the person involved has not done anything, hence he should not be taken severe discipline. Also before taking a decision of terminating the employee, the company neither talked to Oiler for an explanation nor it has given Oiler a verbal warning so that he can be more careful in future. Thus it had taken the action immediately and without giving time to Oiler for confirming his position or giving any explanation. Hence Winn-Dixie is following hot stove procedure in disciplinary actions. How to cite Off-the-Job Behavior, Papers

Memories of a revolution. (revival of art and culture in Ukraine) Essay Example For Students

Memories of a revolution. (revival of art and culture in Ukraine) Essay Pity the nation that has lost its voice. Ukraine gained political independence in 1991 upon the collapse of the U.S.S.R. but inherited a shattered culture due to centuries of autocratic rule and political repression. Fortunately, cultural heritage can be reclaimed, at least in part, through memory and one of the people helping Ukraine rediscover its voice is Virlana Tkacz, artistic director of the Yara Arts Group at La Mama ETC in New York. Tkacza U.S.-born scholar and translator as well as a director has devoted her career to restoring the theatrical legacy of one of the Ukraines prominent theatre figures, Les Kurbas. Kurbas was a theatre director who in 1922 created the Berezil, one of the most innovative and revolutionary theatres in Europe at that time, only to be crushed by the Stalinist Terror of the 1930s. After touring Ukraine in 1990 with her production of A Light from the Far East, a collage of text and images from Kurbass diaries, Tkacz joined forces with Ukranian director Anatoly Starodub and La Mama director Ellen Stewart to create an international theatre festival celebrating Kurbass theatre work. And so in short order, in the eastern Ukranian city of Kharkiv, the Berezil International Theatre Festival was born. Tkacz traveled with her Yara Arts Group to the inaugural festival last spring to take part in what amounted to the restoration after some five decades of suppression of modernism and experimentation to a rich, historically potent theatre tradition. Tkaczs trek eastward mirrored her mentors voyage decades earlier. Kurbas was born in 1887 in western Ukraine, part of the relatively liberal Austro-Hungarian Empire, where artists had some access to European ideas and trends. Kurbas was fascinated with the new theatre he saw as a student at the University of Vienna and on his travels through Western Europe. He returned in 1916 to Kiev determined to Europeanize the Ukranian theatre. Until the Revolution, Kiev and most of eastern Ukraine had been ruled by czarist government, which crippled theatre there by strict censorship and severe restrictions, allowing only ethnographic dramas and operettas. In 1876, Czar Alexander II banned all performances in Ukranian which led to such absurdities as Ukranian folksongs sung in French. Plays which dealt with historical events or social problems were prohibited, as were Ukranian translations of foreign plays. WHEN THE CZAR was overthrown in 1917, all legal restrictions on Ukranian theatre were lifted. Kurbas staged European classics and presented new plays in Ukranian. But his work in Kiev was soon cut short by the chaos of civil war. Theatrical life in the city was destroyed, and Kurbas fled to the provinces. By 1922, however, the civil war had ended and a great modernist renaissance of Ukranian cultural life was beginning. Kurbas returned to Kiev with a new dream to create a revolutionary theatre. In the month of March (Berezil in Ukranian) he announced the formation of the Berezil Artistic Association. Because conditions were still unsettled in Kiev, the capital and the theatre along with it was moved to Kharkiv, where Kurbas and his company flourished, inspired by the eras revolutionary fervor. But the years of ethnographic stranglehold had taken their toll. By always playing in the same restricted repertoire, eastern Ukranian actors had developed a peculiar style of acting based on the preservation of established theatrical techniques. Kurbas felt this perfection of mastered forms brought Ukranian actors closer to the theatres of China or Japan rather than those of Europe. So he set out to develop his own system of stage movement. Actors had to learn to construct an image. Kurbas urged his actors to discover and use what he called transformed gestures a concrete stage image that would transmit all the psychological contradictions of character. The work was based on disruptions, contrasts and juxtapositions. Atonal, expressionistic music scores, cubist costumes and sets, and innovative montages of film and stage action were integrated into his drama. Each production created a sensation, and he soon became one of the foremost directors in the Soviet Union. Competitors like V sevelod Meyerhold in Moscow clamored to stage his work. .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 , .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .postImageUrl , .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 , .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:hover , .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:visited , .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:active { border:0!important; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:active , .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692 .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u848f377956cd3b1389c5619d3fba5692:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Culture of Britishness EssayTragically, his success was not to last. Kurbas was arrested in 1934 and exiled to the camps in the far north of Russia. Although for a time legend had it that he was drowned in the White Sea, researchers discovered two years ago that he was actually executed in Petrozavosk in 1937 on the grounds of formalism and modernism in art. His remains were never found. With Kurbass death and the suppression of the Berezil Theatre, modernism in Ukranian theatre was destroyed. Stalin assigned each people a role in the arts, explains Starodub, director of the Les Kurbas Centre in Kharkiv. Ukranians were to sing and dance in their pretty costumes. The proponents of socialist Realism embraced the old ethnographic traditions in the Ukraine, and it was back to happy peasants cavorting on stage. Its not possible to reanimate the Berezil theatre, Starodub admits. But we can continue in its spirit. We can gather the positive. Kurbas has a future once more in the Ukraine. He can help us find our place. Tkacz feels that Kurbass ideas can also help to reinvigorate theatre in the United States: The American theatre professional now often faces the decision of working in a theatre still based on 19th-century concepts of linear time and space, or a theatre that proclaims the inscrutability of its beautiful private images and its complete tyranny over actors, she contends. Kurbas dreamed of a theatre driven by a theory of performance, a theatre of experiment that would explore the nature of gestures and images. Today Kurbas and Berezil seem more like a vision for the future than one from the past. WITH JUST SUCH A VISION in mind, Tkacz created Blind Sight, based on the true story of the life of a blind Ukranian poet named Vasyl Yeroshenko, who traveled to Tokyo in 1914 and, writing in Japanese, became a noted author there. Blind Sight, La Mamas entry in the first Berezil Festival last spring, examined communication across barriers of language and nationality as a sightless artist sees cultures throughout Asia. When Yeroshenko returned to the Soviet Union in the 1920s, he also became one of Stalins victims, and like Kurbas was arrested and spent many years in labor camps. When he finally returned to his home village to die in 1952, the Soviet authorities burned his manuscripts. With an international cast that included local Ukranian actors, the production excited sold-out audiences in Kharkiv and Kiev, before returning to La Mama for its American premiere on April 15. Prior to the trip home, Ellen Stewart stooped before a monument commemorating Les Kurbas in a cemetery on the grim industrial outskirts of Kharkiv, rearranging flowers scattered by a strong wind. Stewart, who had been recently hospitalized, made the long and difficult trip to the Berezil festival because she believes in Kurbass vision. In addition, her ties to the Ukranian community in New York stretch back decades from the time in the early 60s when a Ukranian on East 9th Street was the only landlord who dared rent a theatre space to a black woman. Stewart sees the restoration of Kurbass pioneering work as a refusal to give in to despair. These people are the path of hope, she says simply.