Waltz—nothing is more wonderful

华东政法大学 张 弛

华尔兹又名圆舞，这是因为华尔兹在整个舞蹈过程中，大部分都在不停地旋转。华尔兹起源于欧洲，到了18世纪，华尔兹成为极流行的交际舞。华尔兹舞曲轻快，明朗而动人，舞步也是如此，让人有飘飘欲仙的感觉，比其他舞步更有诗意，更温文尔雅。这也是华尔兹能流行百年并成为标准的主要原因。

Some dances gain more popularity than others because they can beperformedto different kinds of music and the steps changeaccordingly.One such dance is the waltz.

There is a basic form for the waltz，which you can see in this drawing of a dancing couple.The man places one arm around the woman's waist and she places heroppositehand on his shoulder.Then，they stretch their other arms out and clasp hands.If someone tries to teach you a formal kind of dancing，chances are your teacher will start with the waltz.Have you ever tried to dance like this?

There are lots of different kinds of waltzes，all performed to different types of waltz music.The music might be fast or slow but what they all have is a regular one-two-three，one-two-three rhythm.The traditional form is the oldschool waltz in which dancers turn all the time with a hopping（活跃的），springy（有弹性的）step.This waltz has a slow，smooth，gliding（流畅的）step.There's also the Mexican waltz，which moves much faster.

Formal dancing has even become a profession，with people entering competitions.Have you ever seen a formal dance competition?

Today，ballroom dancing is almost considered a competitive sport;professionals perform different dances，each with strict rules.Everything from where the dancers place their hands to how they move is judged.In the glide waltz， dancers are judged by how smoothly they move.“I can dance with a glass of water on my head，” is a well known sentence used by skilled dancers in the old days.In the past， some people learned how to dance by reading books， while others studied with a teacher called the“dancing master.”How do people learn to dance today?

Reading Check

1.When a couple are dancing，________.

A.the girl places one arm around the man's waist B.the man puts one hand on the girl's shoulder

C.they stand face to face with one of their hands held together

D.the man puts one arm around the girl's waist and the other on her shoulder

2.If one says “I can dance with a glass of water on my head，” we know that______ _.

A.he is a good dancer

B.he is a beginner

C.he is practicing dancing

D.he is tired of dancing

Language Study

Vocabulary

1.perform vt.表演

2.accordingly adv.相应地；另一边地

3.opposite adj.相对的

4.professional n.专业人员

5.smoothly adv.流畅地

Difficult sentence

The traditional form is the old school waltz ____________dancers turn all the time with a hopping，springy step.

传统的形式是古老的华尔兹舞，舞者们总是以跳跃而富有活力的步伐旋转。

【点石成金】所填的部分属于“介词+关系代词”结构，引导限制性定语从句，相当于关系副词where。