【高级听力】（文末附视频）The Circus in 2018
The Circus Celebrated Its 250th Anniversary in 2018
《文 末 附 视 频》
This may not be a word-for-word transcript.
Ever thought of running away to the circus? This woman did.
Dea Birkett: I had it as a dream since I was a small child and never let it go.
In 2018, it will be her job to lead a year of astounding acts to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the circus.
The allure of running away and joining the circus has been a fantasy for countless children. Dea Birkett actually did it.
Dea Birkett: I ran away to the circus when I was quite old. When I was in my early 30s, I thought “if I don’t do it now, I never will.”
She hitched a caravan to her car and drove to Italy, where she was told she could get work.
Dea Birkett: I used to serve the candyfloss, which is quite a skilled job actually. One day, one of the elephant-girls had an accident. That evening, I was in the ring.
So started a love affair that would change Dea’s life. In 2018, it’s the rich history of the circus that she’ll be putting in the spotlight with acts across the UK and Ireland to mark the 250th anniversary of its birth.
Dea Birkett: People somehow think that circus might have begun in America or even Australia. But no, it began right here in the center of London. In 1768, Philip Ashley, a cavalryman returning from the wars, wanted to put on a show where he rode upon a horse’s back. So he drew out a ring and within that filled it with acrobats, clowns, tumblers, jugglers, a high wire and the horse, and created, in 1768, the world’s very first circus.
From its humble roots on the banks of the River Thames, it rapidly spread. Astley’s first tour overseas was in Ireland. From there, he toured Europe and it later spread to America. You’ll struggle to find a country that hasn’t been touched by a circus. More recently, the circus has come under fire for its use of animals, but performances have always pushed the boundaries.
Dea Birkett: Women all throughout the 19th century used to appear in the ring with very little clothes on at a time when women couldn’t walk on the street with her ankles exposed. In the 1860s, Jules Leotard gave us an extraordinary costume that he was seen to wear that no one had worn before. Leotard invented the flying trapeze and took circus literally to new heights.
Even with all its innovations, the circus is an art form that has retained much of its original appeal.
Tweedy: Welcome to Gifford Circus 2017!
Circus is constantly evolving. It’s always changing, but the essence of it is exactly like you see 250 years ago. You’re encompassed by the whole audience. You’ve got people here all the way around you. When you get that laugh and that sort of warmth from the audience, it’s just coming from all sides.
“Oh, no!”
“Tweedy, get off!”
To be this close to the action where, you know, things can go wrong. It’s real. And that is the beauty of live entertainment as opposed to watching something on your iPad.
In 2018, the circus will take pride of place within the popular culture that it’s helped shape.
Dea Birkett: Circus is incredibly influential on a lot of great artistic creators in our times. John McColgan, who founded Riverdance, credits the fact to when he was a young boy in an Irish village, the circus turned up every year and put on a wondrous show. Vivienne Westwood, her latest show is entirely circus-inspired. Circus is in books, in film, in fashion. I think a very exciting thing about next year is to surprise people about what counts as circus.
Cirque de Soleil, a Canadian reinvention of contemporary circus, now pulls in crowds of 10 million a year.
Dea Birkett: I think the future of the circus is very bright. In 2018, we’re going to celebrate this extraordinary art form that has survived, evolved, changed, and thrived for 250 years.
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