美国国家公共电台 NPR Illustrator Maira Kalman Moving To The Stage With Choreographer John Heginbotham

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Perhaps you've seen Maira Kalman's illustrations on the cover of The New Yorker magazine or in nearly 20 children's books that she also wrote. Or maybe you read her illustrated¹ New York Times blog, "The Principles Of Uncertainty²," which became an acclaimed³ book.

Well, this year, she stepped onto the stage for an ongoing⁴ collaboration⁵ with choreographer⁶ John Heginbotham based on her blog. New England Public Radio's Jill Kaufman reports that's all about living while knowing you're going to die.

JILL KAUFMAN, BYLINE⁷: "The Principles Of Uncertainty" - the show - part dance, part theater - gets its inspiration from the highly-detailed intimate scenes in Maira Kalman's illustrations, and the inherent message comes from what she wrote to accompany them.

MAIRA KALMAN: That life is precious, precarious⁸, funny, tragic⁹ and yet, we keep going on. And how do you live, basically.

KAUFMAN: The show premiered this summer at Jacob's Pillow. It features seven members of Dance Heginbotham, a quartet of musicians and Kalman herself is onstage, not for the first time.

JOHN HEGINBOTHAM: You know what? I encountered Maira as a performer when Isaac Mizrahi cast Maira as the duck in his production of "Peter And The Wolf," which I choreographed¹⁰.

KAUFMAN: John Heginbotham first met Kalman when she was designing sets for the Mark Morris Dance Group. Heginbotham danced for more than a decade with the troupe¹¹. In her own work, Kalman paints and writes about strangers, loved ones, dogs, couches, doughnuts. She uses gouache - a watercolor - for her painting.

KALMAN: It's colorful and there's a lot of movement. I think it's actually something that I've always wanted to see come to life, and to have music and dancing, words, costumes. So all of it is really taking the pages and realizing them in the real world.

KAUFMAN: What Kalman and Heginbotham bring to life is a lot like what she portrays¹² on the page, which is not necessarily linear. It's also very different from where they began, says the choreographer.

HEGINBOTHAM: We organically started creating vignettes. We were doing these little experiments. And quite well into our process, Maira suggested, what if this is "The Principles Of Uncertainty?"

And suddenly, everything clicked into place. All of these little experiments suddenly found a home because the structure of that book is so strong in which each chapter begins with a weather report - sometimes an absurd weather report.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Pompeii, August 24, 79 A.D. Hot and humid. Chance of showers.

KAUFMAN: The show begins with the end of everything - the eruption¹³ of Vesuvius. A Sicilian melody.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Singing in foreign language).

KAUFMAN: For this scene, the set is sparse¹⁴, except for the dancers and an old color TV playing a video loop of the volcanic¹⁵ eruption.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Singing in foreign language).

KAUFMAN: Kalman designed the costumes. She stays seated on stage most of the time, drawing or writing on an iPad. Phrases like, what is dance, project behind her on a screen.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Commence the dancing.

KAUFMAN: Throughout the show, there are little guideposts - a wink¹⁶ and a nod from Kalman saying, I know, this life, it's a lot to take in.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: How can I tell you everything that is in my heart? It is impossible to begin.

KAUFMAN: This passage from the beginning of the book is read almost at the end of the show. "The Principles Of Uncertainty" is the closest Kalman has come to writing a memoir¹⁷. In the book, but not in the show, we learn that her husband - graphic¹⁸ artist Tibor Kalman - died of cancer at the age of 49.

KALMAN: The loss of Tibor was so monumental that I didn't think I would be able to survive. I mean, I literally¹⁹ thought that my life would end. And what is so extraordinary about living is that you find out that you do go on.

KAUFMAN: And Maira Kalman says she thinks her husband would be pleased with the work she's done. For NPR News, I'm Jill Kaufman.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Singing in foreign language.)

[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: A previous version of the headline incorrectly referred to Maira Kalman as Maira Kaufman. ]

1 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

6 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

7 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。

8 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

9 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

10 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

11 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

12 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

14 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

15 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

16 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

17 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

18 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

19 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。