VOA常速英语2019--哈林（纽约黑人住宅区）纪念“摇摆女王”诺玛·米勒

 

Norma Miller¹ shined with her Lindy Huck moves as seen here in the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin.The swing dance was born in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood and so was Miller.She dazzled audiences during international tours in the 1930s and 40s.But one style fused jazz, tap, breakaway, the Charleston blending African and European dance moves with improvisation².

正如在一九四一年的电影Hellzapoppin中所看到的那样，诺玛·米勒与她的林迪哈克舞步一样闪闪发光。摇摆舞诞生于纽约市哈林区，米勒也出生于此。在二十世纪三十年代和四十年代的国际巡演中，她让观众眼花缭乱。但在风格上融合了爵士、踢踏舞、查尔斯顿舞，混合了非洲和欧洲的舞蹈动作和即兴创作。

I don’t ever remember not being interested in dancing. I’ve danced all my life.I don’t remember if I ever started dancing I always did it.Her career spans decades. Miller worked as a choreographer³, television actor, comedian⁴ and author.

我不记得我对跳舞不感兴趣。我一生都在跳舞。我不记得我是否曾经开始跳舞，我总是这样在跳。她的事业跨越几十年。米勒曾担任舞蹈指导、电视演员、喜剧演员和作家。

Here are she’s performing in 2018 at the age of 98.She died in May at 99.Friends, colleagues and fans gathered at this Harlan church to remember the woman known as the Queen of Swing.

这是她在二零一八年九十八岁时的表演。她于5月去世，享年99岁。朋友、同事和粉丝们聚集在哈兰教堂，纪念这位被称为“摇摆女王”的女子。

Oh my gosh, bigger than life, very real, hysterical⁵ but hard-working, very serious about her craft.She loved the music. She loved to make people laugh. So all you can do is celebrate the life here so we’re not sad.

哦，我的天啊，比生命更伟大，非常真实，歇斯底里但勤奋，对她的跳舞技巧非常认真。她喜欢音乐。她喜欢逗人发笑。所以你能做的就是庆祝这里的生活，这样我们就不会悲伤。

As a girl, Miller lived with her mother right across the street of the legendary⁶ Savoy Ballroom⁷.She danced for money on street corners and sunny walks and her talented soon bought her a job with a famed swing dance move Whities and Indie hoppers.

还是女孩时，米勒和她的母亲就住在传说中的萨沃伊舞厅的对面。她在街角和阳光明媚的人行道上跳舞赚钱，她的才华很快为她赢得了一份著名的摇摆舞和独立舞者的工作。

Later she joined efforts against segregation⁸ at nightclubs and casinos where black entertainers do big crowds at top venues⁹.She was the first black act to play in places like Las Vegas and Miami Beach.

后来，她加入了反对在夜总会和赌场实行种族隔离的行动。在这些地方，黑人艺人会在顶级场所举行大型集会。她是第一个在拉斯维加斯和迈阿密海滩等地演出的黑人演员。

In terms of life values and Standards, she was very focused and clear with what she wanted in her life,and she didn’t allow herself to get distracted, and people of that generation knew how to, I say it as,they did not like the social political condition of America define their humanity.

在生活价值观和标准方面，她非常专注，明确自己想要的生活，她不会让自己分心，那一代人知道如何，我这么说，因为他们不喜欢美国的社会政治条件来定义他们的人性。

Norma would say if you don’t have a horse then ride a cow.She’d figure out a way to do something, one way or the other and she did it with Love.She overcame everything with love.

诺玛会说，如果你没有马，那就骑牛吧。她会想办法做某件事，不管怎样，她都带着爱去做。她用爱战胜了一切。

I say believe in each other, love one another because you must replace hate with love.Listen as you make your bed so will you lie.This is what you do before you die.Before I died there’s just one thing, I’ll do my thing and swing baby,swing, keep on swinging.The last survivor¹⁰ of the original Lindy hoppers, before until her very last days.

我说彼此相信，彼此相爱，因为你必须用爱来取代恨。当你铺床的时候，你要倾听，这样你才会躺下。这是你死前要做的事。在我死之前，只有一件事，我会做我的事，摇摆，宝贝，摇摆，继续摇摆。最初林迪舞者,最后的幸存者，直到她生命的最后一天。

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 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。

3 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

4 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

5 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

6 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。

7 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。

8 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

9 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

10 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。