芭蕾舞是用音乐、舞蹈手法来表演戏剧情节。芭蕾艺术孕育在意大利，降生在十七世纪后期路易十四的法国宫廷，十八世纪在法国日臻完美，到十九世纪末期，在俄罗斯进入繁荣的时代。芭蕾在近四百年的持久历史成长过程中，对世界列国影响很大,传布极广，至今已成为世界列国都全力成长的一种艺术形式了。
相关词汇
accompaniment n. 伴奏
act n. (戏剧中的)一幕
ballet n. 芭蕾
ballet slippers 芭蕾舞鞋
bent adj. 弯曲的
choreograph v. 编舞
composition n. 作曲
court n. 宫廷
dance n. 舞蹈
dancer n. 舞者
master v. 掌握
overture n. 序曲，前奏曲
pointe shoes 足尖鞋
pointed adj. 尖的，有尖头的
posture n. 姿势
Swan Lake 天鹅湖
The Nutcracker 胡桃夹子
toe n. 脚趾
trained adj. 受过训练的
tutu n. 芭蕾舞裙
情景对话:
A: Nina, your sister is a trained ballet dancer, isn't she?
B: Yes. Ballet is a highly technical form of dance, which is difficult to master. My sister has been trained since she was four.
A: Oh, my God!
B: I used to envy her when she put on her French tutu,looking so beautiful. Later I learned the training was hard
A: I was always wondering how they can stand on their toes.
Did your sister tell you?
B: Well, it's because of their pointe shoes, of course, plus alot of practice.
A: I know that ballet first emerged in European courts and that there're some strict rules dancers should obey.
B: Yes. Like "when your feet are not on the floor, they should be pointed" and "when the leg is not bent, it should be stretched completely". Besides, posture and placement are also very important.
A: You've really learned a lot from your sister. Well, talking about ballet, I like some ballet music.
B: Same here. I like the music accompaniment of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.
参考译文:
A:妮娜，你姐姐是经过专门训练的芭蕾舞演员，对吗?
B:没错。芭苗这种舞蹈形式，技术要求非常高，很难掌握。我姐姐四岁起就开始学舞了。
A:天哪!
B:她穿上法式芭蕾舞裙，看上去美极了，以前我还挺嫉妒的呢。后来我才知道芭蕾舞训练很艰苦。
A:嗯。我总在想她们是怎么用脚尖站立的呢?你姐姐有没有跟你讲过啊?
B:哦，那全是因为穿了足尖鞋呀，当然也少不了大量的练习。
A:我知道芭蕾初出现于欧洲的宫廷。芭蕾舞者还要遵循一些严格的规则。
B:是这样的。比如“脚不在地板上时，一定要绷直足尖”，还有“腿不需弯曲时，应该完全伸直”。此外，姿势和位置也都很重要。
A:哦。你从你姐那儿学到了不少啊。呵呵，说到芭蕾舞，其实我挺喜欢芭蕾舞剧里的一些音乐的。
B:我也很喜欢，比如《天鹅湖》和《胡桃夹子》里的音乐伴奏。
