8 Chapter 7 Mr. Balanchine's Muse

Chapter 7 Mr. Balanchine's Muse George Balanchine was the new choreographer for the Ballet Russe. Every day, he watched Maria closely. One time she was doing exercises at the barre. Her right hand lightly held the rail as she slowly slid her left foot across the floor, pointing the toes. The exercise is called battement tendu. Finally, the new choreographer stepped forward. "If only you would learn to do battement tendu properly," he said, "you wouldn't have to learn anything else." His words crushed her. She felt as if she were still a child who had to relearn once again the basics of ballet. In the ballet world, some people thought George Balanchine was a genius while others

乔治·巴兰钦(George Balanchine)是俄罗斯芭蕾舞团的新编舞。 每天，他都密切注视着玛丽亚。 有一次她在杠上做练习。 她的右手轻轻地握住栏杆，左脚慢慢地在地板上滑动，踮起脚尖。 这种练习被称为batement tend。 最后，新来的编舞走上前来。 他说:“只要你学会正确地做batement tend，你就不需要学习其他任何东西了。” 他的话使她崩溃了。她觉得自己好像还是个孩子，必须重新学习芭蕾舞的基本知识。 在芭蕾舞界，有些人认为乔治·巴兰钦是天才，而另一些人则认为他是天才

thought him cold and unemotional. Maria had seen him work with dancers. He created magic on the stage.

觉得他冷酷无情。 玛丽亚见过他和舞者一起工作。 他在舞台上创造了魔法。

Madame Nijinska had given Maria a passion for ballet. Mr. Balanchine, another Russian, could give her discipline. With his help, she began to retrain her legs to move more precisely. During the day, she took classes. In the evening, she danced. Months passed. The changes in her body surprised her. Her legs seemed longer. Her muscles had stretched. Even her neck seemed more gracefully long. As her dancing improved, her confidence in herself soared. Mr. Balanchine's interest in Maria was more than just professional. He was falling in love with her. One night, he asked her to marry him. Maria was unable to speak. Mr. Balanchine was twenty

尼金斯卡夫人使玛丽亚对芭蕾舞产生了热情。 另一位俄罗斯人巴兰钦可以管教她。 在他的帮助下，她开始重新训练自己的腿，使其移动更加精确。 白天，她上课。 晚上，她跳舞了。 个月过去了。她身体的变化使她吃惊。 她的腿似乎更长了。她的肌肉伸展了。 就连她的脖子也显得更修长了。 随着她舞蹈水平的提高，她对自己的信心大增。 巴兰钦对玛丽亚的兴趣不仅仅是出于职业上的考虑。 他爱上了她。 一天晚上，他向她求婚。 玛丽亚说不出话来。 巴兰钦先生当时20岁

years older than she! And he had been married and divorced, not once but twice! Her mother and father would never approve of such a marriage. The Russian was very handsome with his dark eyes. In the weeks that followed, Maria began to feel as if she were living in a ballet fairy tale. She was Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. Mr. Balanchine was her handsome "prince of dance." They married in the summer of 1946 in New York City. The bride was twenty-one years old. Just as Maria had predicted, her mother and father did not come to the wedding. Nor was Marjorie there. Maria's sister had graduated from high school and joined a different ballet company. She was performing and could not get away. Even though Maria missed her family, she felt real joy when George slipped the wedding ring onto her finger. She and George had each other, and that was all that truly mattered. "You are my muse, my inspiration," George told his young wife. In Greek mythology, a muse is a goddess who sparks the imagination of an artist or a poet. George used music and dance to create great works of art. With Maria as his muse, he began choreographing new ballets just for her.

比她大好几岁!他结过婚又离过婚，不是一次，而是两次!她的父母决不会同意这样的婚事。 俄国人长得很英俊，一双黑眼睛。 在接下来的几个星期里，玛丽亚开始觉得自己好像生活在一个芭蕾童话里。 她是睡美人或灰姑娘。 巴兰钦先生是她英俊的“舞蹈王子”。 他们于1946年夏天在纽约结婚。 新娘21岁。 正如玛丽亚所预料的那样，她的父母没有来参加婚礼。 玛乔丽也不在。玛丽亚的姐姐高中毕业后加入了另一个芭蕾舞团。 她正在表演，走不开。 尽管玛丽亚想念她的家人，但当乔治把结婚戒指戴到她的手指上时，她感到了真正的快乐。 她和乔治拥有彼此，这才是最重要的。 “你是我的缪斯女神，我的灵感，”乔治告诉他年轻的妻子。 在希腊神话中，缪斯是激发艺术家或诗人想象力的女神。 乔治用音乐和舞蹈创造出伟大的艺术作品。 以玛丽亚为缪斯，他开始专门为她设计新的芭蕾舞。

He was patient but demanding. "Do it over again, this way," he told Maria. He danced the steps himself so she could see exactly how he

他很有耐心，但要求很高。 “再来一遍，这样，”他告诉玛丽亚。 他自己跳着舞步，这样她就能清楚地看到他是如何