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2007年NPR美国国家公共电台一月-British Man Devotes Life to Beijing Opera

时间:2007-07-21 01:28来源:互联网 提供网友:joly   字体: [ ]
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From NPR news. This is All Things Considered. I'm Melissa Block. And I'm Michelle Norris. Beijing Opera is largely seen as a dying art in China. 40 years ago, 2000 troupes1 crisscrossed China performing traditional operas. Now there are just 76. NPR's Louisa Lin wants to introduce us to the unlikely new champion for Chinese opera. He's a British man who has devoted2 more than a decade to bringing Chinese opera to new audiences.

An elderly man in glasses squats3 at the side of the stage, tapping drumsticks together to keep time as actors whirl weapons through the air. The younger actors defer4 to a middle age man who's spinning a sword around the top of a long stick. It's a feat5 of balance and rapt spectators do a double take when they realize the performer isn't even Chinese.

And I saw a Beijing Opera in London in 1993. And that just shocked me. It really moved me.

GP is British, born to Iranian Azeri parents. At the age of 32, he gave up his life as a computer animator and enrolled6 in a Beijing Opera school, drawn7 by the difficulty of mastering this art form.

And there is no other culture which has put that much discipline into training at the perfect performer. That is what the Beijing Opera is about, the perfect performer.

On stage, the actors not only act, they sing and dance at the same time as performing heart-stopping feats8 of acrobatics9 and sword fighting. To get this far, GP spent five years undergoing punishing training at a school so dirty he describes it as a big toilet. He was decades older than the other students and he was testing his body on a daily basis starting at dawn with unbelievably painful contortions10.

You lie down on the bench, one foot would be tied to the bench, and then the other foot would be stretched all the way back to reach your forehead or your nose at 180 degrees. And then the teacher will just, ur, wrench11 that foot, up and down until the muscles relax. And it does work. It's just that you have to go through that threshold of pain.

Once the show begins, it's clear that P has taken a Chinese classic and made it his own.

Hi, G. what are you doing?

Painting my face. We have a show to do in a minute.

The cast is partly non-Chinese. And there's a lot of explanation in English.

En, the Monkey King has three colours.

The story is the much loved legend of the Monkey King, a mischievous12 monkey born from a stone who learns supernatural skills and uses them to challenge the emperor of heaven. P is the multilingual monkey.

I can move it, you'll give it to me. You promise. (En,不骗你呀。。。)Oh, let me try.

It's within the rules of the art form that you perform for that audience. What I have done is by taking it to London, to change the spoken parts into English. And that's, that's within the rules of the opera.

He's destroyed my party.

That even means adding a bit of comedy rap opera to the mix.

I'm gonna slap that monkey. I'm gonna kill that monkey.

This is performed by the queen of heaven KL who's enjoying working with P.

He's got a striking resemblance to a monkey without the makeup13. This role was made for him. This role was really made for him.

It's true P does have something simian14 about him. On the stage, his eyes dart15 back and forth16 and his nose twitches17. Nonetheless, P admits some of the old pros18 still look down on him. But he earns praise from Ren Guangping, tonight's Dragon King, who has been in the business 35 years.

I really admire G for making it this far, he says, it's not easy even for Chinese performers. And this hybrid19 bilingual opera wins good reviews from both Western and Chinese audience members. Like GF and HL.

Surprising, it's very different from what I expected. But I'm really enjoying it.

Have you seen Beijing Opera in the past?

Never, never. I've always been put off by the threat of shrieking20. But I'm enjoying this.

And that's really Chinese stuff, expressing the more acceptable way. So it'll be more popular.

But the popularity of Beijing Opera is fading fast with young Chinese audiences turning to karaoke, DVDs and the Internet. Much to P's sorrow.

I used to get really angry at the state of the opera as it is, I mean, angry at the Chinese people. I just tell them that this, this is yours, you made this, this incredible beautiful thing, and it's also you who are destroying it, who are forgetting it, throwing it away. What can I do?

He's now decided21 what to do. This foreign Monkey King is revolutionary, too, reinventing Beijing Opera for a wider audience. But it's a measure of just how great the problem is that the very innovations that may just keep Beijing Opera alive, also risk destroying its most traditional forms. Louisa Lin, NPR news, Shanghai.
-------------------------
crisscross
to travel many times from one side of an area to another:
They spent the next two years crisscrossing the country by bus.
defer
defer to somebody/something phrasal verb
to agree to accept someone's opinion or decision because you have respect for that person:
I will defer to your wishes.
do a double take
to look at someone or something again because you are very surprised by what you saw or heard
feat
something that is an impressive achievement, because it needs a lot of skill, strength etc to do
heart-stopping
very exciting or frightening

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 troupes 0c439f23f628a0f1a89e5889471d8873     
n. (演出的)一团, 一班 vi. 巡回演出
参考例句:
  • There are six Kunqu opera troupes left in the country. 整个国家现在只剩下六个昆剧剧团。
  • Note: Art performance troupes include within and outside of the system. 注:艺术表演团体统计口径调整为含系统内、系统外两部分。
2 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
3 squats d74c6e9c9fa3e98c65465b339d14fc85     
n.蹲坐,蹲姿( squat的名词复数 );被擅自占用的建筑物v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的第三人称单数 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。
参考例句:
  • The square squats in the centre of the city. 广场位于市中心。 来自互联网
  • Various squats, lunges, jumps and sprints are incorporated for the humans. 主人们还要进行下蹲、弓步、跳跃和短跑等各项训练。 来自互联网
4 defer KnYzZ     
vt.推迟,拖延;vi.(to)遵从,听从,服从
参考例句:
  • We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
  • We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。
5 feat 5kzxp     
n.功绩;武艺,技艺;adj.灵巧的,漂亮的,合适的
参考例句:
  • Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
  • He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。
6 enrolled ff7af27948b380bff5d583359796d3c8     
adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 );登记,招收,使入伍(或入会、入学等),参加,成为成员;记入名册;卷起,包起
参考例句:
  • They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起,他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
8 feats 8b538e09d25672d5e6ed5058f2318d51     
功绩,伟业,技艺( feat的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去,他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
  • His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。
9 acrobatics IzgzpT     
n.杂技
参考例句:
  • Acrobatics is hard to learn but beautiful to watch.杂技不好学,但很好看。
  • We watched a performance which included a puppet show and acrobatics.我们观看了一场演出,内容有木偶和杂技。
10 contortions bveznR     
n.扭歪,弯曲;扭曲,弄歪,歪曲( contortion的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Trimeris' compound, called T-20, blocks the final structural contortions from taking place. T-20是特里米瑞斯公司生产的化合物。它能阻止分子最终结构折叠的发生。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 癌症与艾滋病
  • The guard was laughing at his contortions. 那个警卫看到他那难受劲儿感到好笑。 来自英汉文学
11 wrench FMvzF     
v.猛拧;挣脱;使扭伤;n.扳手;痛苦,难受
参考例句:
  • He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
  • It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。
12 mischievous mischievous     
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的
参考例句:
  • He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
  • A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。
13 makeup 4AXxO     
n.组织;性格;化装品
参考例句:
  • Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
  • Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗?
14 simian 2ENyA     
adj.似猿猴的;n.类人猿,猴
参考例句:
  • Ada had a wrinkled,simian face.埃达有一张布满皱纹、长得像猿猴的脸。
  • Curiosity is the taproot of an intellectual life,the most valuable of our simian traits.好奇是高智生命的根源,也是我们类人猿特征中最有价值的部分。
15 dart oydxK     
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲
参考例句:
  • The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
  • Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。
16 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
17 twitches ad4956b2a0ba10cf1e516f73f42f7fc3     
n.(使)抽动, (使)颤动, (使)抽搐( twitch的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • No response, just a flutter of flanks and a few ear twitches. 没反应,只有胁腹和耳朵动了几下。 来自互联网
  • BCEF(50,100 mg·kg~-1 ) could distinctly increase the head-twitch number in the 5-HTP induced head-twitches test. BCEF50、100mg·kg-1可明显增加5羟色胺酸诱导甩头小鼠的甩头次数。 来自互联网
18 pros pros     
abbr.prosecuting 起诉;prosecutor 起诉人;professionals 自由职业者;proscenium (舞台)前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 );赞成的理由;抵偿物;交换物
参考例句:
  • The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前,应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 hybrid pcBzu     
n.(动,植)杂种,混合物
参考例句:
  • That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
  • The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。
20 shrieking abc59c5a22d7db02751db32b27b25dbb     
v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》
21 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
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TAG标签:   npr  公共电台  british  devote  npr  公共电台  british  devote
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