【英语时差8,16】The Cancan 康康舞

Do you recognise that tune¹? Well, it’s a famous piece of music called Orpheus in the Underworld. And it was written 150 years ago! And who better to tell us more about it than David Price, who’s written a book about it. It’s very difficult to actually identify when it started. It sorted of emerged really, around 1830. From what I can ascertain², it seemed to be men who did it first. They sort of introduced a lot more athleticism³, high kicks, generally prancing⁴ about and having a good time. And soon women decided⁵ that they wanted to join in too. I guess the petticoats are the most important thing. They’re vintage, very, very vibrant⁶, very full and we do lots of petticoat work, lots of frou-frou, as you can hear (sound of material rustling). And we have bespoke⁷ corsets and jewellery, and we all have boots obviously with red-trimmed laces. Mandy explains how she trains other girls to do those high-kicks. We use balloons. We start off with somebody holding a balloon and somebody else kicking. And we raise, and raise and raise. And then we give the girls homework to tie the balloon in a doorway⁸. And kick and kick and kick until they can remove the balloon. And if you thought the kicks were difficult, take a listen to this! You have to make sure you’re extremely warm and well-trained, and once you reach that edge, as long as you’re warmed up it’s not difficult. And there’s a psychological part to it. People are quite frightened. Even when you can do the splits, to run and launch yourself and jump into them is quite a psychological leap from just gently going down into the splits. So it is quite hard.

1 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

2 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

3 athleticism   

n.运动竞赛，崇尚运动，竞技热

参考例句：

• He brings defense. He brings talent. He brings athleticism. That's a lot. “他带来的防御，他带来了人才，他带来了身体，这是很多”。 来自互联网
• Each of these sports isn't won through sheer athleticism alone. 每个体育项目无法凭借纯粹的运动能力而获胜。 来自互联网

4 prancing   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lead singer was prancing around with the microphone. 首席歌手手执麦克风，神气地走来走去。
• The King lifted Gretel on to his prancing horse and they rode to his palace. 国王把格雷特尔扶上腾跃着的马，他们骑马向天宫走去。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

7 bespoke   

adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求

参考例句：

• His style of dressing bespoke great self-confidence. 他的衣着风格显得十分自信。
• The haberdasher presented a cap, saying,"Here is the cap your worship bespoke." 帽匠拿出一顶帽子来说：“这就是老爷您定做的那顶。” 来自辞典例句

8 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。