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Peoples and traditions
Artistic and cultural activity in Britain ranges from the highest
professional standards to a wide variety of amateur involvement. London is
one of the leading world centers for drama, music, opera and dance. Other
cities are serve as centers of artistic excellence in their regions. Some
650 professional arts festivals take place each year. The Edinburgh
International Festival is the largest of its kind in the world.
Britain has about 300 theatres intended for professional use, of which
about 100 are in London, including the Royal National Theatre. The Royal
Shakespeare Company performs in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's
birthplace, and in London. Sixty-four companies receive subsidies from the
Arts Councils. Contemporary British playwrights who have received
international recognition include Harold Pinter, Alan Ayckbourn, Caryl
Churchill and David Hare. The musicals of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber,
including "Evita", "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera", have been highly
successful in Britain, New York and around the world.
There is music for every taste in Britain including opera, choral and
classical orchestra's pieces, rock and pop, folk and jazz, military and
brass bands, acoustic and newly emerging musical collaborations such as
music theatre, music video, and music with live arts. In musical
composition, experimentation is in vogue, with composers mixing their
sources: medieval modes and minimalism, quotations from Wagner and from
Debussy, Indian `melodie`s and African rhythms. Since the early 60s with the
emergence of the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and the Who, through the 70s
with Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and the 80s with Dire Straits and
The Police and punk pioneers like.
Britain's leading symphony orchestras include the London Philharmonic, the
City of Birmingham Symphony, and the Ulster and the Royal Scottish
Orchestras. There are also chamber orchestras such as the English Chamber
Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
Opera is enjoying unprecedented audiences and attention in the 90s due to
performances on television as those directed by Jonathan Miller and well
publicised commercial recordings of the classics. Royal Opera, Covent
Gardens, and the English National Opera are the main London opera
companies. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own opera
companies. Scottish Opera has regular seasons at the Theatre Royal in
Glasgow and tours mainly in Scotland and northern England. Welsh National
Opera presents seasons in Cardiff and other cities in England.
Audiences have a wide choice of dance in Britain including classical
ballet, African people Dance, physical theatre, jazz, new dance and
contemporary dance. The lion's share of Arts Council funding for dance,
about 90 per cent goes to support the Royal Ballet (housed with the Royal
Opera in Covent Garden), the Birmingham Royal Ballet, which tours widely in
Britain and overseas; English Nati |