美国国家公共电台 NPR Soul Line Dancing: Come For The Fitness. Stay For The Friendships

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

OK. I know, I know, you just got up, but it is time to get moving.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CHA CHA SLIDE")

DJ CASPER: Funky¹. Funky. Everybody clap your hands. Clap, clap, clap, clap your hands.

MARTIN: NPR's Maria Godoy is here to tell us how line dancing with soul can keep you fit.

MARIA GODOY, BYLINE²: Soul line dancing is really just choreographed³ dance moves that you do in a group without a partner.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Unintelligible) Right, left, right, left.

GODOY: The soul part comes from the music used like R&B and hip-hop. People sign up for soul line dance classes for all sorts of reasons.

CASSANDRA JACKSON: I do it for exercise, socialization and keeping this body nice and tight. Yes, yes.

GODOY: That's Cassandra Jackson (ph). I met her recently at a line dancing social event at a community recreation center in Washington, D.C. She's been line dancing for about two years now. And in all seriousness, she says it helps her keep up with her grandson.

JACKSON: And it keeps your muscles loose and helps you to be able to take the daily grind with ease.

GODOY: Another dancer, Andrea Powell (ph), says she soul line dances for the exercise and camaraderie⁴.

ANDREA POWELL: I love the people. I love the exercise. It's good for your brain. And it's just so much fun.

GODOY: Then there's Daryl Watson. He's a pastor⁵ at a local Baptist church. Everyone calls him the reverend. He says soul line dancing helps him unwind after long days spent ministering to the faithful.

DARYL WATSON: Saving souls is good but I also got to save mine. And part of saving my soul is to be human.

GODOY: Soul line dancing keeps you human?

WATSON: Oh, yeah, keeps me human, keeps me healthy, keeps me in shape and fit.

GODOY: Soul line dancing communities like this have been growing across the United States. People take dance classes at local churches, gyms and community rec and senior centers. They adopt team names like The Sassy Steppers or The Addicts⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Good job. Good job.

GODOY: But can something this fun really count as exercise? Researcher Terri Lipman says absolutely.

TERRI LIPMAN: Yes, it's dance. Yes, it's fun. But it is efficient in improving cardiovascular health and providing activity.

GODOY: Lipman is a professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She says, in general, dance not only boosts cardiovascular health, it improves mobility⁷ and memory, and it helps with depression. Since 2012, she's been running a community soul line dance program called Dance for Health in West Philadelphia. And because soul line dancing is so enjoyable, she says people tend to stick to this exercise program for the long haul.

LIPMAN: When you think about exercise and you think about - I go to the gym, and no one really looks very happy in the gym.

GODOY: But when you go to a soul line dancing class...

LIPMAN: Everyone is smiling. There's such enjoyment⁸ that's part of music and part of rhythm, and it is almost innate⁹.

GODOY: And unlike, say, running on a treadmill¹⁰, line dancing is an inherently social activity. Lipman says her research shows it's that sense of community that ultimately keeps people coming back.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Get on here. That's what's (unintelligible).

GODOY: That's certainly what I experienced at the soul line dance party in D.C.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Let's go.

GODOY: Though the gathering¹¹ is multigenerational - I spot a toddler dancing with her mother - though many of the dancers tend to be women of middle age or older. Many have been taking classes with the same folks for years. In between dances, they catch up and socialize.

(LAUGHTER)

GODOY: I ask people what drew them. Over and over, I heard answers like this one from Marcia Lee (ph).

MARCIA LEE: This is straight family. This is so much family. They just take you and love you from the very beginning. Y'all going to make me cry.

GODOY: Or we could just dance. Maria Godoy, NPR News.

1 funky   

adj.畏缩的，怯懦的，霉臭的；adj.新式的，时髦的

参考例句：

• The kitchen smelled really funky.这个厨房有一股霉味。
• It is a funky restaurant with very interesting art on the walls.那是一家墙上挂着很有意思的绘画的新潮餐馆。

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 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

4 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

5 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

6 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

7 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

8 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

9 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

10 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。