VOA慢速英语2009-EXPLORATIONS - Arabesque Celebrates the Arts and

VOICE ONE:

I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty¹ with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we visit the Arabesque² festival at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. This three-week event brings eight hundred artists to the city to celebrate the arts and culture of the Arab world. The festival is presenting theater, dance, music, film, literature and art from twenty-two countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Organizers say this is the biggest Arab arts event ever held in the United States.

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VOICE ONE:

That was a traditional song performed by the Children of Al-Farah Choir³ from Syria. It was one of many performances that were offered free of cost to the public. Visitors to the Kennedy Center could also enjoy many free exhibits of art, jewelry⁴ and photography.

VOICE TWO:
　
A bridal dress from Egypt

An exhibit called "Brides of the Arab World" is in the two main halls of the Kennedy Center. The exhibit includes over forty examples of women's wedding clothing from all twenty-two countries in the League of Arab States. Some examples are very old, while others are modern.

One wedding dress from Egypt is made of red material covered in designs of gold thread. Four examples from different areas of Palestine show cloth that is richly embroidered⁵ with many different colors.

VOICE ONE:

The Arabesque festival cost about ten million dollars. Major donors⁶ to the festival include the Helen Ruth Henderson Foundation, the states of Kuwait and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates Embassy⁷ in Washington D.C.

The name of this festival was inspired by the meaning of the word "Arabesque." The word comes from the word "Arab" and is a design term used to describe flowing lines and geometric patterns. Festival organizers say "Arabesque" was a good word to describe dance, theater or musical styles that are marked by an Arab influence.

VOICE TWO:

Several modern art exhibits are on the top floor of the Kennedy Center. One exhibit, called "Breaking the Veils," shows works by women artists from the Islamic world. The art is part of the permanent collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Amman.

A watercolor by the Saudi artist Fahda Bint Saud shows three women sitting in the desert. They are completely covered by their blue head scarves. One woman covers her eyes with her hands, the other covers her ears and the third woman covers her mouth.

VOICE ONE:
　
People inside Lara Baladi's "Roba Vecchia" installation

One of the most striking⁸ exhibits is called "Roba Vecchia" by the Lebanese artist Lara Baladi. The art installation is in a large, dark room. It is a life-size version of a kaleidoscope. In the middle of the room is a tall triangular⁹ tunnel that is covered in mirrors. At the end of the tunnel is a wall of brightly colored moving video images.

As you stand inside the tunnel, you see the video images reflected many times in the mirrors. You too are reflected in the mirrors. The work is both surreal and beautiful. Lara Baladi's work is influenced by the many different sights on the streets of Cairo, Egypt.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

That was music by the Somali-born rapper K'naan who also performed at the festival. His poetic¹⁰ songs have a political message. K'naan's latest album, "Troubadour," came out last month.

VOICE ONE:

Another exhibit at the Arabesque festival features two calligraphy¹¹ artists. The Iraqi artist Hassan Massoudy makes colorful paintings using Arabic writing. The Kuwaiti artist Farah Behbehani uses different traditions of Arabic writing to illustrate¹² "The Conference of the Birds," a poem by a twelfth century Persian writer.

VOICE TWO:
　
Jewelry by Azza Fahmy

One room shows the jewelry of Egyptian designer Azza Fahmy. Her jewelry combines traditional designs from Arabic, Bedouin and Egyptian cultures. The golden jewelry was creatively displayed in a collection of clay pots on a large table.

VOICE ONE:

A room called the "Exploratorium" has soft chairs arranged in a circle. The chairs tilt¹³ back so that it is easy to look up and watch a movie projected on the ceiling.

MOVIE: "Observe, measure, calculate, experiment, classify, debate and teach are key words in the lexicon¹⁴ of Arabic science"

The movie tells about the advances in mathematics, astronomy¹⁵ and medicine in the Arab world from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries.

VOICE TWO:
　
A performance by the Caracalla Dance Theatre

The Caracalla Dance Theatre from Lebanon gave two sold out performances at the Arabesque festival. The group combines theater and dance to create colorful and dramatic performances. One critic said the Kennedy Center stage has never sparkled¹⁶ as brightly as it did the night of the group's "Knights¹⁷ of the Moon" performance. The critic praised the extraordinary energy of the dancers who combine traditional dance with ballet and modern dance.

VOICE ONE:

The Arabesque festival also presented several plays. One was "Richard the Third: An Arab Tragedy." Kuwaiti director Sulayman Al-Bassam recreated Shakespeare's famous play in a modern Arab setting. The performance also included live music.

Another play was "Alive from Palestine: Stories Under Occupation." It was written by Palestinian artists as a way to tell personal stories about the conflict in their homeland. The performers are part of the Al-Kasaba Theater and Cinematheque in Ramallah. Both of these plays were performed in Arabic.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:
　
Nawal

That was music by Nawal, another performer at the Arabesque festival. Nawal is from the Comoros Islands but now lives in France. She has been singing professionally for over twenty years. Nawal sings in Comorian as well as in French, Arabic and English. She plays musical instruments including the gambusi, the daf and the guitar.

VOICE ONE:

Several of the festival events featured literature. For example, one afternoon a group of writers and critics gathered to discuss book sales in the Arab world. Another day, a group of poets from Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt discussed the future of poetry in Arab countries.

VOICE TWO:

Several new and old movies are being shown at the festival. For example, "The One Man Village" will be shown in the United States for the first time. This Lebanese movie was directed by Simon El Habre. It is about a man who lives alone in a village from which everyone fled during Lebanon's fifteen-year civil war.

The Palestinian movie "Wedding in Galilee" will also be shown. The movie was released in nineteen eighty-seven and became the first Palestinian film to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

VOICE ONE:

Food from the Arab world was also part of the festival. Ambassadors¹⁸ from countries including Lebanon, Syria, and Morocco welcomed visitors to their homes to try traditional foods from these countries.

VOICE TWO:

Michael Kaiser is the president of the Kennedy Center. He says he believes the arts create peace by providing a way to understand other people. Mister Kaiser says he hopes the Arabesque festival will bring such understanding between the Arab and Western worlds.

VOICE ONE:
　
The five performers of B'net Houariyat

We leave you with music by another group that performed at the Arabesque Festival. B'net Houariyat is made up of five women from Marrakech. These musicians sing and dance to traditional music from different areas of Morocco.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. You can see pictures of the Arabesque festival events on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 arabesque   

n.阿拉伯式花饰；adj.阿拉伯式图案的

参考例句：

• I like carpets with arabesque patterns.我喜欢带有阿拉伯式花饰的地毯。
• The Arabesque solution is the answer to a designer's desire for uniqueness.阿拉伯风为设计师渴望独一无二给出了答案。

3 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

4 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

5 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

6 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 embassy   

n.大使馆，大使及其随员

参考例句：

• Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
• He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。

8 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。

9 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。

10 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

11 calligraphy   

n.书法

参考例句：

• At the calligraphy competition,people asked him to write a few characters.书法比赛会上，人们请他留字。
• His calligraphy is vigorous and forceful.他的书法苍劲有力。

12 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

13 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

14 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

15 astronomy   

n.天文学

参考例句：

• Mathematics is connected with astronomy.数学与天文学有联系。
• Astronomy is an abstract subject.天文学是一门深奥的学科。

16 sparkled   

v.发火花，闪耀( sparkle的过去式和过去分词 )；（饮料）发泡；生气勃勃，热情奔放，神采飞扬

参考例句：

• Her jewellery sparkled in the candlelight. 烛光下，她的首饰光彩熠熠。
• Her eyes sparkled with excitement. 她的眼睛由于兴奋而发亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

18 ambassadors   

大使( ambassador的名词复数 )； （派驻联合国等国际组织的）代表； 特使； [比喻]使者

参考例句：

• Kennedy, greatly admiring, rated him very high among his ambassadors. 肯尼迪十分赏识他，在所有大使中对他评价很高。
• Many countries were represented by their ambassadors at the Independence Day celebrations. 庆祝美国独立纪念日时，许多国家都派其大使代表参加。