Contemporary history

Contemporary history describes the period timeframe that is closely connected to the present day; it is a certain perspective of modern history. The term "contemporary history" has been in use at least since the early 19th century. In the widest context of this use, contemporary history is that of current events and the part of history still in living memory. Based on current human lifespan-averages, contemporary history would extend for a period of approximately 80 years. In a narrower sense "contemporary history" may refer to the history remembered by most (more than 50 percent) of human beings alive, extending to about a generation. As the median age of people living on Earth is 30 years as of the present (2016) this is currently often understood as meaning anything after about 1991 when the Cold War order collapsed and use of the Internet became widespread outside of academia, defense and big business; the beginning of the "long 21st century".

The present age possesses a distinct character of its own.

Ludovico Einaudi

Ludovico Einaudi OMRI (Italian: [ludoˈviːko eiˈnaudi]; born 23 November 1955) is an Italian pianist and composer. He trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan and under composer Luciano Berio in the early 1980s. Einaudi began his career as a classical composer, and soon began incorporating other styles and genres—including pop, rock, world music, and folk music.

Einaudi composed the scores for a number of films and trailers, including The Intouchables and I'm Still Here, the TV miniseries Doctor Zhivago, and Acquario in 1996, for which he won the Grolla d'oro for best soundtrack. He has also released a number of solo albums of piano and orchestra, notably I Giorni in 2001, Nightbook in 2009, and In a Time Lapse in 2013. Taranta Project, a collaborative album, was released in May 2015, and Elements was released in October 2015.

Early life and education

Einaudi was born in Turin, Italy. His father, Giulio Einaudi, was a publisher working with authors like Italo Calvino and Primo Levi, and his grandfather, Luigi Einaudi, was President of Italy between 1948 and 1955. His mother played the piano to him as a child. He started composing his own music as a teenager, first writing by playing a folk guitar.

Nicki Minaj

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), professionally known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian-born American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, Minaj earned public attention after releasing three mixtapes between 2007–09. She signed a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment in 2009.

Minaj's debut studio album, Pink Friday (2010), peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and spawned the top-five single "Super Bass". During that time, Minaj became the first female solo artist to have seven singles simultaneously charting on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (2012), also topped the chart and its lead single, the pop crossover "Starships", peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Minaj's third studio album, The Pinkprint (2014), was preceded by its second single, "Anaconda", which peaked at number two on the Hot 100 and is her highest-charting single in the United States to date. Minaj made her film debut in the 2012 animated film Ice Age: Continental Drift, and also had a supporting role in the 2014 film The Other Woman. In 2013, she was a judge on the twelfth season of American Idol.

Dance

Dance is a performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin.

An important distinction is to be drawn between the contexts of theatrical and participatory dance, although these two categories are not always completely separate; both may have special functions, whether social, ceremonial, competitive, erotic, martial, or sacred/liturgical. Others disciplines of human movement are sometimes said to have a dance-like quality, including martial arts, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming and many other forms of athletics.

Performance and participation

Theatrical dance, also called performance or concert dance, is intended primarily as a spectacle, usually a performance upon a stage by virtuoso dancers. It often tells a story, perhaps using mime, costume and scenery, or else it may simply interpret the musical accompaniment, which is often specially composed. Examples are western ballet and modern dance, Classical Indian dance and Chinese and Japanese song and dance dramas. Most classical forms are centred upon dance alone, but performance dance may also appear in opera and other forms of musical theatre.

Half Girlfriend

Half Girlfriend is an Indian English coming of age, young adult romance novel by Indian author Chetan Bhagat. The novel, set in rural Bihar, New Delhi, Patna, and New York, is the story of a Bihari Boy in quest of winning over the girl he loves. This is Bhagat's sixth novel which was released on 1 October 2014 by Rupa Publications. The novel has also been published in Hindi and Gujarati versions as well. A Bollywood film adaptation is planned.

Dedicated to "non English-types", the book divulges the sentiments and linguistic struggles of a backward rural Bhojpuri-laced Hindi speaking boy from Bihar as he enrolls himself at the prestigious English-medium St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, and falls in love with a "high class English speaking rich Delhi girl". The girl does not admit the relationship but agrees to be his "half girlfriend". Chetan Bhagat commented, "Half-Girlfriend, to me, is a unique Indian phenomenon, where boys and girls are not clear about their relationship status with each other. A boy may think he is more than friends with the girl, but the girl is still not his girlfriend. Hence, I thought we needed a term like 'Half girlfriend'. Because, in India, that is what most men get."