【英语听和读】舞者

 Amber¹: Hello, I’m Amber and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com.

In Entertainment today, we step into the dynamic world of contemporary dance.

We hear parts of an interview with two of the world’s leading dancers: Sylvie

Guillem and Akram Khan. We meet them backstage at the Sadler’s Wells

theatre in London. They talk about dancing together in a new show called

Sacred Monsters. The piece is a ‘duet’ (a dance for 2 performers) accompanied

by a live band. And watch out - Sacred Monsters is about to go on a worldwide

tour!

As we’ll hear, the show is an exciting challenge for both dancers who trained

in very different styles of classical dance.

Sylvie Guillem is a ballet dancer, a ballerina. She caused a sensation² at the

Paris Opera when, at the age of just 19, she was promoted to the role of star

dancer by her teacher Rudolf Nureyev. She then caused a storm of outrage³ in

her native France when, just six years later, she left the Paris Opera and joined

the Royal Ballet in London.

Akram Khan was born in the UK and is of Bangladeshi origin. From a young

age he was trained in the Kathak style of dancing (the classical style of north

India) and he is now one of the most innovative⁴ modern dancers working in

Britain.

First here’s Sylvie Guillem talking about why she was drawn⁵ towards

contemporary dance and away from the classical ‘repertoire⁶’, the complete

range of ballet works. As you listen, try to catch the expression she uses to

refer to the fact that she began performing classical ballet roles when she was a

very young dancer. 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007

Page 2 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Sylvie Guillem

‘I already decided⁷ for a long time not to dance a lot of roles from the repertoire because I

started classical very young and I had time to do all of the repertoire and many, many, many,

many times! So I was born on stage and I was really asking myself: But what am I doing here?

Because there was a lack of weight in what I was doing and then it was only physical, and so I

was not interested by that any more. I spent sometime doing that, and now I want to spend

some time doing something else.’

Amber: Did you catch it? Sylvie Guillem says ‘I was born on stage’!

Listen again and notice the expressions ‘to spend time’ doing something, and

‘a lack of weight’. Sylvie says she was drawn towards contemporary dance

because she felt there was ‘a lack of weight’ in her classical ballet. In English,

if we say something is ‘weighty’, we mean it is serious or important.

Sylvie Guillem

‘I already decided for a long time not to dance a lot of roles from the repertoire because I

started classical very young and I had time to do all of the repertoire and many, many, many,

many times! So I was born on stage and I was really asking myself: But what am I doing here?

Because there was a lack of weight in what I was doing and then it was only physical, and so I

was not interested by that any more. I spent sometime doing that, and now I want to spend

some time doing something else.’

Amber: Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan have very different bodies. Sylvie is

famously tall with very long limbs⁸, and Akram Khan is smaller and stronger.

Here’s Akram talking about how his body remembers the very many

complicated moves in the show Sacred Monsters – he says it’s his ‘muscle

memory’ at work as well as his mind! And the dancers have to be sensitive

to each other’s movements so the piece does not become too ‘mechanical’ –

as if it were being performed by machines!

Akram Khan

‘I think it’s the muscle memory, but your mind is also working. If it’s not working, then the

piece doesn’t live – it becomes mechanical. And so we’re constantly thinking - always

adjusting and negotiating⁹ with each other. If it’s too perfect, or if it’s mechanical, then it

doesn’t live and so the piece has to live.’ 

Entertainment © BBC Learning English 2007

Page 3 of 3

bbclearningenglish.com

Amber: So the dancers are constantly ‘adjusting and negotiating’ with each other – they

make small changes and they work around each other successfully.

Now here’s a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.

 

duet

repertoire

to be born doing something

to spend time doing something

weighty

muscle memory

mechanical

adjusting

negotiating

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 sensation   

n.感觉，感知力，激动，轰动

参考例句：

• He lost all sensation in his legs through cramp.他的腿部因抽筋而失去知觉。
• Seeing him again after so many years was a strange sensation.那么多年以后又见到他，是一种不可思议的感觉。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 drawn   

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。

6 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

7 decided   

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。

8 limbs   

肢( limb的名词复数 )； 大树枝； 肢体

参考例句：

• For a while, she lost the use of her limbs. 好一会儿她四肢都动弹不得。
• The prisoner's limbs flailed violently because of the pain. 那囚犯因为疼痛，四肢剧烈地抖动着。

9 negotiating   

n. 谈判 动词negotiate的现在分词

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• We want to get all the parties back to the negotiating table. 我们想把有关各方拉回到谈判桌上来。