美国国家公共电台 NPR Not Your Grandpa's Circus: The Big Top Makes Room For Experimental Companies

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, The Greatest Show On Earth will hoist¹ its big top for the last time this spring, but circus arts are evolving. NPR's Jeff Lunden reports on a festival that's focused on human performers - no elephants - this weekend in New York City.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE²: Adam Woolley ran away to join the circus. Well, actually, decided³ to pursue a career after seeing Cirque du Soleil. Today, he runs Circus Now, a nonprofit organization which kind of evangelizes about the art form.

ADAM WOOLLEY: Circus artists have been producing new and incredible circus acts and apparatuses⁴ and shows that have an artistic⁵ context and theatrical⁶ storylines or well-drawn characters. And this has been happening around the world for the past 10, 15 years or so.

LUNDEN: One of those troupes⁷ is the Race Horse Company from Finland.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

LUNDEN: Acrobat⁸ Rauli Kosonen formed it with a couple of other performers nine years ago because, he says, there's something unique about circus.

RAULI KOSONEN: I think it's really pure art form in the sense that you can really feel the risks. There's a lot of risk, so you can get a lot of adrenaline when you watch it. If there is tricks that make your heart bounce because it's real. They can see that if they make a mistake, they might get hurt. So I guess that's always been why circus is appealing. It reminds us that we are humans.

LUNDEN: And Kosonen, whose specialty⁹ is trampoline, has the broken bones to prove it.

KOSONEN: Well, I had three operations. Then - well, it's part of the job. Sometimes you don't get lucky.

LUNDEN: Back here in the U.S., smaller circuses like the Kelly Miller¹⁰ and Cole brothers troupes still pitch their tents across the country. But Adam Woolley says there are some more experimental companies that are pushing the art form.

WOOLLEY: Audiences or families who might not be interested to go see, you know, some very avant-garde modern dance will still go see the circus. You know, people who would prefer to watch movies or television than go see a play will probably still come see the circus.

KENDALL RILEIGH: We sometimes shy away from calling ourselves circus.

LUNDEN: Kendall Rileigh is one of the founders¹¹ of New York's Only Child Aerial Theater.

RILEIGH: There is the implication that the skills or the spectacle is sort of paramount¹² rather than the narrative¹³, and we really have to tried to keep the narrative the most important element and have the skills really drive and support the narrative.

LUNDEN: In a former factory in Brooklyn, Only Child is rehearsing its latest show, "Asylum¹⁴."

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Swee (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Laughter).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: And in real life, you'll have a lot more (unintelligible).

LUNDEN: It's set in a mental institution in the 1970s. There's a story, but there's no spoken dialogue, says co-founder Nicki Miller.

NICKI MILLER: We would describe it as a theater piece that includes a lot of aerial work, dance, some recorded music, some live music, an overhead projection¹⁵ and shadow. So the story is told, rather than through dialogue, through the conversation of all of those theatrical vocabularies instead.

LUNDEN: So even as the performers do aerial tricks, they're dressed like mental patients, doctors and nurses, says Kendall Rileigh.

RILEIGH: You know, there's no sparkles. There's no spandex.

LUNDEN: But they're still doing stuff high off the ground without a net. Circus Now's Adam Woolley says the Only Child and Race Horse Company, with their different skill sets and artistic approaches, all fall under the big tent of what circus can be.

WOOLLEY: With lots of practice and hard work, we can accomplish the impossible. That's the core idea that everyone in circus believes in and that everyone in circus tries to impart to the audiences is that I have dedicated¹⁶ my life to this seven minutes of performance and honed my skill to the place where I'm going to accomplish something in front of you now that you did not think could be done.

LUNDEN: And that's what still thrills audiences. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

1 hoist   

n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起

参考例句：

• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
• Hoist the Chinese flag on the flagpole,please!请在旗杆上升起中国国旗！

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 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。

4 apparatuses   

n.器械； 装置； 设备； 仪器

参考例句：

• That magazine covers all kinds of heating apparatuses. 那本杂志论及所有暖气装置。 来自辞典例句
• Apparatuses and methods for preparing sol-gel solutions are provided. 提供制备溶胶-凝胶溶液的装置和方法。 来自互联网

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 theatrical   

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。

7 troupes   

n. （演出的）一团, 一班 vi. 巡回演出

参考例句：

• There are six Kunqu opera troupes left in the country. 整个国家现在只剩下六个昆剧剧团。
• Note: Art performance troupes include within and outside of the system. 注：艺术表演团体统计口径调整为含系统内、系统外两部分。

8 acrobat   

n.特技演员，杂技演员

参考例句：

• The acrobat balanced a long pole on his left shoulder.杂技演员让一根长杆在他的左肩上保持平衡。
• The acrobat could bend himself into a hoop.这个杂技演员可以把身体蜷曲成圆形。

9 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

10 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。

11 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

12 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

13 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

14 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

15 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

16 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。