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VOA慢速英语2012 EXPLORATIONS - Ballet’s History Began as a Dance of Power and Influence

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EXPLORATIONS - Ballet’s History Began as a Dance of Power and Influence

STEVE EMBER: I’m Steve Ember.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Ballet is a formalized kind of dance performance with a rich and interesting history. The word “ballet” comes from the French language, and is based on the Italian word “balletto.” “Balletto” means a little dance. Ballet’s early roots began in Italy in the late fourteen hundreds. But it was in France that ballet developed into the form we know today.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: The French ruler Louis the Fourteenth had a big influence on the direction of ballet in its early history. He ruled France for seventy-two years, starting in sixteen forty-three. He started dancing as a boy and worked hard at it daily. He performed in long and complex ballets.

Louis the Fourteenth turned ballet into a form of dance that reflected his power and influence. Ballet’s many rules and extremely detailed1 movements expressed a person’s power and social relations. The king made sure that ballet became a requirement for the people of his court. He also started the Royal Academy of Dance, where important people could learn this art. The aim of this dance was self-control, order and perfection2.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Louis the Fourteenth’s ballet teacher Pierre Beauchamps created a way to write down the dance steps for ballet. He helped to write out a system of rules for how the body should move during dance. These include the five positions of the body, which are still the foundation for all ballet moves today. 

Many ballet steps are French words because of ballet’s important history in France. Examples of the names for dance movements include pirouettes, pliés and grand jetés.

Ballet slowly changed from a dance performed at the king’s court to one performed by professional dancers. By the time of Louis the Fourteenth’s death in seventeen fifteen, ballet had spread to other parts of Europe and was evolving in other ways.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: Jennifer Homans is the dance critic for the New Republic magazine. She is also a historian3 who teaches at New York University in New York City. In two thousand ten she published a book on ballet called “Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet.” She knows this subject well because she started her career as a ballet dancer.

Ms. Homans’ book is extremely detailed. She spent about ten years researching and writing the book. It shows how ballet changed over time. These changes are similar to the changing ideas about society, men and women’s roles, clothing and the ideals and limits of the human body.

She begins her book with an explanation of how the earliest forms of ballet began in Italy. This ballet was a kind of social dance that was performed during special occasions.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Catherine de Medici of Italy married the French King Henri the Second in fifteen thirty-three. She brought her interest in dance performances and traditions to France.

Ms. Homans describes how ballet developed and evolved during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ballet then was very different from ballet today. Ballets were not stand-alone performances like they are now. Ballet dances were often included in other kinds of theatrical4 performances such as opera. And, people who performed in these dances did not wear ballet shoes, tutus or tight costumes as dancers do today.

People dressed in the fine clothing of their times. Women wore long dresses that covered their legs to the ankle. So, it was not easy to see what steps they were performing. This clothing also limited the movements women could make.

STEVE EMBER: Today we think of female dancers called ballerinas as the stars of the ballet world. But this was not always the case. It was not until the late sixteen hundreds that women began to perform professionally as dancers. And it was not until the nineteenth century that female dancers called ballerinas became the stars of the stage.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: One of the greatest ballerinas of the nineteenth century was Marie Taglioni. She was an extremely hardworking and strong dancer who spent hours each day perfecting her skills. She developed a special method of walking on her toes so that she seemed to be floating on stage.

The ballet “La Sylphide” made her internationally famous when it was first performed in Paris in eighteen thirty-two. She played a magical winged creature who falls in love with a human. Taglioni wore a white dress with airy fabric5 and pink roses. Her clothing marked the beginning of the traditional ballet costumes used in modern ballet.

“La Sylphide” influenced another major ballet, “Giselle.” This ballet is about a young girl named Giselle who loses her mind and dies when she finds out her lover is to marry another woman. Giselle returns as a ghost and protects her lover from evil spirits that have risen from the grave.

STEVE EMBER: Jennifer Homans says that “La Sylphide” and “Giselle” were the first modern ballets. They are still performed today, although with changes. Ms. Homans said by this period, ballet was no longer about men, power and important people. Modern ballet was about women, dreams and the imagination.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: By the middle of the nineteenth century, Denmark and Russia became very important places for ballet. Danish dance creator August Bournonville developed a new method of Danish ballet influenced by French traditions. Ms. Homans writes that in Russia, ballet was at first part of an effort to make the country more western. She says ballet there did not start as an art. It was a system of how one should behave. Dance training there developed into a military-like exactness, which continues to this day.

St. Petersburg became a center for dance supported by the Imperial6 Russian rulers. Russian ballet experts were extremely conservative7 and guarded its traditions fiercely.

STEVE EMBER: The French-born dance creator Marius Petipa lived in Russia for over fifty years. He helped redefine ballet in Russia by making it bigger and more expansive. One of his famous ballets, “La Bayadere,” was first performed in eighteen seventy-seven.

Petipa worked with Russian music composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky to create the famous ballet “The Sleeping Beauty.” Ms. Homans describes “The Sleeping Beauty” as the first truly Russian ballet. She says Tchaikovsky’s music pushes the mind and spirit of the dancer to move with fullness and care.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Dance creators Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov used Tchaikovsky’s music to create two other famous ballets, “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake.” 

Russia’s importance to ballet continued in the twentieth century thanks to the forward thinking Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes dancers. He introduced Russian ballet to Europe by bringing top dancers, including Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky, to Paris. Diaghilev’s Russian ballets include “The Firebird” and “Petrouchka.” These bold works, in addition to Nijinksy’s “Afternoon of a Faun,” redefined ballet and modern art.

However, ballet changed during Soviet8 rule in Russia. The repressive government supported and controlled ballet and its dancers. Ballet became a sign of state culture, both for Russians and the rest of the world.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER:In the United States, the nineteen fifties and sixties were a time of great economic success. This helped fuel support for the performing arts. Ballet was part of this success.

The New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater were two of the early American ballet companies. They travelled widely in Europe and other areas of the world.

This was part of the American government’s efforts to show the country’s dance culture. Russian-born dance creator George Balanchine worked hard to modernize9 ballet further and increase its popularity10 as an American art. So did American choreographer11 Jerome Robbins.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The subject of Jennifer Homans’ closing chapter is somewhat unexpected. She says ballet has been slowly dying around the world since George Balanchine’s death in nineteen eighty-three.

She says today’s dance companies have the choice of recreating either ballet’s nineteenth century past, or its modern past. But there is little great new work or energy remaining. She says that she hopes she is wrong. But she says the force to awaken12 this sleeping art must come from outside the ballet tradition.

Many critics have dismissed Ms. Homans’ prediction. But her statement raises real questions about how an art based on the past can successfully survive in the future.

STEVE EMBER: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Steve Ember.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I’m Shirley Griffith. Our programs are online with transcripts13 and MP3 files at www.voanews.cn. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的
参考例句:
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
2 perfection GMKxd     
n.尽善尽美,无比精确
参考例句:
  • Their works reach to a great height of perfection.他们的作品到了极完美的境地。
  • The picture wants something of perfection.这幅画还有些不够完美。
3 historian vcExw     
n.历史学家,编史家
参考例句:
  • As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家,他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
  • He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家,但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。
4 theatrical pIRzF     
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的
参考例句:
  • The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果,叫人失望。
  • She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。
5 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织
参考例句:
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
6 imperial McuzD     
adj.帝王的,至尊的;n.特等品
参考例句:
  • They made an objection to the imperial system with resolution.他们坚决反对帝制。
  • The Prince Imperial passed away last night.皇太子昨晚去世了。
7 conservative jprzC     
adj.保守的,守旧的;n.保守的人,保守派
参考例句:
  • He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
  • The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。
8 Soviet Sw9wR     
adj.苏联的,苏维埃的;n.苏维埃
参考例句:
  • Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
  • Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。
9 modernize SEixp     
vt.使现代化,使适应现代的需要
参考例句:
  • It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化,明显失败了。
  • There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。
10 popularity bO4xU     
n.普及,流行,名望,受欢迎
参考例句:
  • The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
  • Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。
11 choreographer LVvyn     
n.编舞者
参考例句:
  • She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员,也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
  • It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁,我优雅的舞蹈指导,并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网
12 awaken byMzdD     
vi.醒,觉醒;vt.唤醒,使觉醒,唤起,激起
参考例句:
  • Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
  • Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。
13 transcripts 525c0b10bb61e5ddfdd47d7faa92db26     
n.抄本( transcript的名词复数 );转写本;文字本;副本
参考例句:
  • Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样,都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
  • You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书,你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

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