英国八旬老人九年"追逐"芭蕾之梦

 　　You are never too old to learn. This is never too right for a man who started his ballet dream at the age of 79.

　　An 88-YEAR-OLD man starred in his first ballet production Sunday after learning to dance at the tender age of 79.

　　Retired¹ teacher John Lowe, of Witchford, Cambridgeshire, has been busy perfecting his pirouettes ahead of his role in Prokofiev's The Stone Flower.

　　The pensioner², who has 11 grandchildren, said: "I practise each day and I've got a rope at home that I use to pull my leg up higher.

　　"I'm lucky that I don't have any problem with the routines but that's because I exercise."

　　Mr Lowe started ballet nine years ago, having watched his daughter Alison become a professional dancer.

　　"I think it's a wonderful thing to do and I can't understand why more men don't do it," he said.

　　"There's nothing effeminate about it — you have to be incredibly fit to dance. I see some people crawling around, hunched³ over smoking a cigarette — they should be doing ballet.

　　"It's a wonderful feeling. I had always wanted to dance and it's never too late to learn."

　　Mr Lowe, who is part of the Lantern Dance Theatre Company, acted a lumberman in the play.

　　活到老，学到老。这句话用在一位79岁开始“追逐”芭蕾之梦的老人身上最贴切不过了。

　　上周日，一位88岁的老人上演了他的芭蕾“处女秀”，他在79岁那年才开始学芭蕾。

　　这位老人就是来自（英国）剑桥郡威奇福德市的退休教师约翰?劳伊。劳伊的“处女秀”是普罗柯菲耶夫的芭蕾舞剧《宝石花》，在演出开始之前，他一直在练习脚尖旋转动作。

　　现享受退休金的劳伊共有11个孙子。他说：“我每天都练功，我家里有根绳子，专门用来吊腿。”

　　“我很庆幸自己做这些动作没什么问题，不过这主要是因为我经常锻炼。”

　　九年前，劳伊看到女儿艾莉森成为一名职业舞蹈演员，便开始学习芭蕾。

　　他说：“我觉得跳芭蕾是件十分美妙的事，我不明白为什么大多数男性都不愿意做这件事。”

　　“其实芭蕾并不‘女人气’，反而需要健康的体魄才能跳好。我看到一些人四处闲逛、弯腰驼背、叼着烟——他们应该考虑去学芭蕾。”

　　“跳芭蕾的感觉很美妙。我一直都想学会跳舞，只要你想学，年龄永远不是问题。”

　　劳伊目前是“灯之舞剧团”的一名演员，他在剧中饰演一名伐木工人。

　　Vocabulary:

　　tender age:the time when you are young or do not have much experience（幼年或没经验的年龄段）

　　routine:a set of movements（一套动作）

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 pensioner   

n.领养老金的人

参考例句：

• The tax threshold for a single pensioner is$ 445.单身领退休年金者的纳税起点为445英镑。
• It was the pensioner's vote late in the day that influenced the election of Mr.Sweet.最后是领取养老金者的选票影响了斯威特先生的当选。

3 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。