VOA标准英语2013--Asian Americans Break Stereotypes Through Urban Dance

 

Asian Americans Break Stereotypes¹ Through Urban Dance

Whether it's dancing freestyle in a cypher or dance circle, or a carefully choreographed² routine, when these dancers move their bodies, something magical happens, said Philippine urban dancer Michelle Salazar.

“My first mentor³, he said dancing is like touching⁴ the face of God.  That’s just how I feel,” said Salazar.

Some call it hip⁵ hop⁶, others -- urban dance.  It’s no longer just associated with African Americans or Latinos.  Philippine American Arnel Calvario is one of the pioneers of Asian American urban dance.  When he was growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, he saw other Filipinos as well as African Americans and Latinos dancing in the streets of his neighborhood in southern California.  In junior high, he said he surprised some African American girls who saw him dance.

“They’d verbally say that 'I’ve never seen an Asian guy dance like that,' you know.  That was a pivotal moment for me.  In one sense you can be kind of offended by that," explained Calvario. "It kind of felt like I needed to do something about that.”

In college, in the early 1990s, Calvario incorporated this uniquely American dance form into a Philippine culture show.  He formed the dance company Kaba Modern and started a phenomenon where Asian American dance companies began emerging throughout universities in southern California. 

“It quickly spread to the Chinese associations, the Japanese, Vietnamese...it was a really interesting time because within a year, it spread so fast,” he noted⁷.

Lorenzo Perillo is teaching a class in hip hop dance at Cornell University this fall.

“It’s kind of like something that is seen as foreign to a particular culture and saying no, it’s not foreign, it’s actually something that we all do, we just don’t consider it; we just haven’t shifted our paradigm⁸ yet,” he said.

African American Dineytra Lee’s paradigm shifted when she auditioned¹⁰ for a hip hop dance crew. 

“I go to the audition⁹ and I see nothing but Asians and I’m like, 'what’s going on there.' It’s literally¹¹ a legitimate¹² culture shock,” she said.

What Asian Americans saw in their community for years was not represented on television until recently with dance competition TV shows where predominantly Asian American urban dancers exploded into mainstream¹³ media.

“It was never so prominent as it is now.  Now we’re all over," said Calvario. "And in these dance shows we did dominate.”

This not only breaks traditional American stereotypes of Asians being either martial¹⁴ artists or nerds. Vietnamese Chinese American Kan Dang said the prominence¹⁵ of Asian American urban dancers in the media helps older Asian immigrants see dance differently. “You normally wouldn’t tell your parents you dance cause they feel like it would be a distraction¹⁶ from your studies, but now I think it’s accepted," Dang explained. "That it’s like a good stress reliever or a time to meet people in school.”

With social media, hip hop dance no longer belongs to any particular minority group.  It has spread globally with dancers around the world expressing themselves through this form of movement. 

1 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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

3 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

4 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

5 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

6 hop   

n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过

参考例句：

• The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛，看谁单足跳跃最快。
• How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远？

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 paradigm   

n.例子，模范，词形变化表

参考例句：

• He had become the paradigm of the successful man. 他已经成为成功人士的典范。
• Moreover,the results of this research can be the new learning paradigm for digital design studios.除此之外，本研究的研究成果也可以为数位设计课程建立一个新的学习范例。

9 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

10 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

11 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。

12 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

13 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

14 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

15 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

16 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。