美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Pose' Choreographer Creates A Safe Space — On The Runway

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The TV show "Pose" on FX is back for its second season. It's about ball culture in New York City in the 1980s and early '90s. Balls are spaces where trans women and gay men walk the runway, dance and, yes, pose - competing for trophies¹ and bragging² rights.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POSE")

BILLY PORTER: (As Pray Tell) Grand prize goes to the most luminous³ girl in the room, Miss Angel Evangelista.

SHAPIRO: If the show feels authentic⁴, that's because the creator, Ryan Murphy, filled his cast and crew with people who grew up in this world. One of those people is Twiggy⁵ Pucci Garcon. She grew up in Virginia and competed at her first ball in the early 2000s. She started as the show's ball consultant⁶ and is now the runway choreographer⁷. When I asked Twiggy Pucci Garcon to describe a ball, she began with a history lesson.

TWIGGY PUCCI GARCON: In the 1920s and '30s, black and brown queer and trans people found themselves in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance⁹. And in resistance to homophobia and transphobia from the black church, needed to create safe spaces for themselves - right? - space where they could celebrate themselves, feel affirmed. And so what that looked like was groups of folks coming together to form their own houses.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POSE")

MJ RODRIGUEZ: (As Blanca Rodriguez) A house is a family you get to choose. I'm a house mother - I provide a support system for my children and housing, if you need it. Together we compete in the balls uptown.

GARCON: Balls are the competitions that houses compete in. And so they're events where the houses come together in a space and compete in various categories.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POSE")

PORTER: (As Pray Tell) The category is legendary¹⁰ runway.

Executive realness.

Bring it like a weather girl.

The category is linen¹¹ versus¹² silk.

It's showgirl realness (ph).

High-fashion eveningwear.

SHAPIRO: One of the things that seems so appealing about both the ball scene and the TV show "Pose," which depicts¹³ the ball scene, is this hybrid¹⁴ of people who are on the fringes of society, disenfranchised, struggling to meet basic needs and, at the same time, presenting the most high-fashion, high-glamor, 1% slice of life in this beautiful, glittering small space.

GARCON: Mmm hmm. Yeah, so when you find yourselves in the margins¹⁵ and on oppression and always having to face struggle, you learn how to make your way out of no way, and you get real creative, right?

SHAPIRO: Your title for Season 1 was ball consultant.

GARCON: True.

SHAPIRO: Your title for Season 2 is runway choreographer. So tell me about how you choreograph⁸ these ball routines that, in some cases, look very improvised¹⁶ and sort of, like, just of the moment.

GARCON: I get the sides for the scripts before - most of the time beforehand. I get to work with the costume designers using the vision that they come up with. What are the movements that accentuate¹⁷ all of what they come up with that also match with what the category is? What I must add that makes it so beautiful is that the actors are really, really talented. And so it's such a...

SHAPIRO: And they all come from the ball scene, so they've done this.

GARCON: Most of them, yeah. And so some things have to be step by step choreographed¹⁸, and then many things are, like, movement coaching with improvisation¹⁹.

SHAPIRO: You posted on social media an image of you working backstage with one of the actresses on one of the routines.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GARCON: So from there - five, six, seven. And one, two, three, four, five, six - prep and hair whip (ph).

SHAPIRO: Tell us what we're hearing here.

GARCON: Oh, yes. So in this scene, Hailie Sahar, who plays Lulu, who is from the ballroom²⁰ scene, we were able to - Hailie and I were able to work together to co-choreograph.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GARCON: Wait a minute, judges. I got something. I got something. I got something. And we're turning around. And here's the uh-uh-uh-uh (ph) - and then her reveal.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POSE")

PORTER: (As Pray Tell) Oh, oh, oh, yes, mama, yes.

GARCON: There is a moment where Hector Xtravaganza - rest in power.

SHAPIRO: Passed just last year.

GARCON: Who just passed last year. An icon²¹, pioneer, hall of famer in the house and ballroom scene and was a consultant in Season 1 - he walked a category that - he literally²² had on a tuxedo²³ gown and walked, walked, came back and opened it, and it stood up, and he kept walking, right?

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

GARCON: So it's literally a remake of the exact same moment that he created back then.

SHAPIRO: There's a scene partway through the season where the character Pray Tell, played by Billy Porter, who's kind of a father figure, gives a warning.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POSE")

PORTER: (As Pray Tell) We've got to be careful, protected. Remember who this is for - us, our community. We are not a tourist attraction.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) No, we're not.

PORTER: (As Pray Tell) Our greatest asset is our authenticity²⁴.

SHAPIRO: So coming from the ball scene...

GARCON: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: ...And working on this TV show that is reaching a massive audience that's never heard of the ball scene, how do you balance that tension between giving this culture the attention it has not had in decades without turning it into a tourist attraction?

GARCON: Yeah.

SHAPIRO: You know?

GARCON: I mean, I think the richness of the character development and the richness of the storyline speaks for itself. I think the fact that most folks, when you watch any one episode of "Pose," you're probably going to cry.

(LAUGHTER)

GARCON: Because of the richness of how emotional it gets and how real it is and how true to these folks' actual experiences it is. And so I think we don't lose that rich - that authenticity because the writer's room is full of folks that live this life, right? Folks that are brown and black, folks that are queer, folks that are trans, that are writing the story.

SHAPIRO: Is there anything in the show that was specifically drawn²⁵ from your actual experience?

GARCON: Not intentionally²⁶. But, like, there's a few sort of pieces of folks' experiences that come to mind. In the show, it's depicted²⁷ as a house mother, but in the ballroom scene, like, you you can have "gay parents," quote-unquote. They don't necessarily have to be in the same house, right? And so the ways in which Blanca pushes her children is exactly how my first gay father pushed me.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "POSE")

RODRIGUEZ: (As Blanca Rodriguez) All of my children are required to pursue an education. My house has rules, and I expect you both to follow them.

GARCON: You know, he's the person who pushed me to go to school in New York, and - you know? So it's bits and pieces of a lot of different...

SHAPIRO: Yeah.

GARCON: ...Stories. Yeah.

SHAPIRO: For you, having come up in this scene where ballroom was a place you could go to when others weren't accepting you, what's it like to now walk into a, quote-unquote, "ballroom scene" with cameras and lights and makeup²⁸ artists and directors and sound designers (laughter) and, like, this weird²⁹ apparatus³⁰ all around it?

GARCON: It's surreal. I grew up being told by larger queer community - actually, you know, there was a lot of shade thrown to the ballroom scene when I was coming up. And...

SHAPIRO: Why?

GARCON: Folks looked down on black and brown people, No. 1, because racism³¹ is real in America. Folks that looked down on folks that are lower-income and struggling. And it was always, ballroom are those girls. Ballroom are the folks that, like, don't have education or - you know, just all these stereotypes³² that weren't actually accurate. And I remember this one - I was always told constantly, like, you never - you can't put ballroom on a resume, and that's the thing that people used to say. Well...

SHAPIRO: (Laughter) It's there at the top of your resume now.

GARCON: Well, looky, looky (ph).

SHAPIRO: So many of the legends of the ballroom scene died at a young age, whether because of AIDS or other reasons. If they were alive to see this moment, what do you think they would say?

GARCON: About damn time.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

GARCON: About damn time.

(SOUNDBITE OF STEPHANIE MILLS' "NEVER KNEW LOVE LIKE THIS BEFORE")

SHAPIRO: Twiggy Pucci Garcon, ball consultant for Season 1 and now choreographer for Season 2 of "Pose," which is now on FX. Thank you so much.

GARCON: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEVER KNEW LOVE LIKE THIS BEFORE")

STEPHANIE MILLS: (Singing) I never knew love like this before. Now I'm lonely nevermore since you came into my life.

1 trophies   

n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖

参考例句：

• His football trophies were prominently displayed in the kitchen. 他的足球奖杯陈列在厨房里显眼的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hunter kept the lion's skin and head as trophies. 这猎人保存狮子的皮和头作为纪念品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

3 luminous   

adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的

参考例句：

• There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
• Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。

4 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

5 twiggy   

多细枝的，小枝繁茂的

参考例句：

• Twiggy was a little of both boy and girl a mirror of her time. 崔姬又像男孩又像女孩，是她当时真实的生活写照。

6 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

7 choreographer   

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

8 choreograph   

v.设计舞蹈动作

参考例句：

• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself.阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。
• She has danced,choreographed,lectured and taught all over the world.她在世界各地跳过舞、编过舞、讲过学、也教过书。

9 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

10 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

11 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

12 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

13 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

14 hybrid   

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。

15 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

16 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

17 accentuate   

v.着重，强调

参考例句：

• She has beautiful eyes, so we should accentuate them in the makeup.她眼睛很美丽，我们在化妆时应该突出她的眼睛。
• Mrs Obamas speeches rarely accentuate the positive.奥巴马夫人的演讲很少强调美国积极的一面。

18 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

19 improvisation   

n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作

参考例句：

• a free-form jazz improvisation 自由创作的爵士乐即兴演出
• Most of their music was spontaneous improvisation. 他们的大部分音乐作品都是即兴创作的。

20 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

21 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

22 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

23 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

24 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

25 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。

26 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

27 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

28 makeup   

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？

29 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

30 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

31 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

32 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》