1930's B.S. Chorus 和 Eddie Brown's B.S. Chorus

人家說斯斯有兩種，B.S. Chorus 也有兩種：
一個是 1930 年代經典的 B.S. Chorus
另一個是 Eddie Brown 的編舞  Eddie Brown's B.S. Chorus

一直以來都搞不清楚為什麼 Eddie Brown 的編舞也剛好叫 B.S.？
於是，我就寫了信去問 Sam Weber
(Sam Weber 有發行一張 DVD，教授 Eddie Brown 的 B.S. Chorus)
熱情的 Sam 不到 6 小時就回了一篇非常詳盡的內容，包含了當時的歷史故事，他也同意了我可以將他的信件內容翻譯成中文發表在 Circle of Tap 上。


以下是 Sam 的回信：

在我看來，如果要把 B.S. 翻譯成中文會有困難度，當然不是 "童子軍" 的意思，恐怕它代表的是 "Bull Shit!" (唬爛、胡扯)。我們平常在講 Bull shit 的時候，會直接說 B.S.，所以你應該不會想要把這隻舞翻成這個意思吧？

1930 年代經典的 B.S. Chorus 被取了這樣的一個名字，因為當時跳舞的人常常在 Wings 和 over-the-top 做做樣子而已。

後來，當 Eddie Brown 開始教舞的時候，他曾經說過，如果所有的踢踏舞者都會跳 1930 年代的 B.S. Chorus，能確實的每個舞步都做到，不是只是做做樣子，那麼整個踢踏圈的水平將會提升一截。

因此，他就把他編的 E.B. Choruses 比喻成 B.S. Chorus (大家都確實會跳這隻舞的話、踢踏水平會提升)

不過你沒辦法在 Eddie's 舞碼裡做做樣子，他非常要求很精確的技巧

這也是為什麼 Honi Coles 不認為 Eddie 的這隻舞碼只是 "B.S. Chorus"

但是，B.S. 這個名字已經被拿來稱作 Eddie Brown's B.S. Chorus 了，至少到目前為止大家都這樣稱呼這隻舞。

其實這隻舞碼有個更普遍的名稱： "E.B. Choruses" ("E.B." 是 "Eddie Brown" 的縮寫)


所以，其實在這些舞名當中，是有些歷史故事的。

其實我也有一直在想一個新名字去取代 1930 的 B.S.，但是以現在的狀況，似乎不能改變什麼，除非你就叫他 "1930's Tap Chorus."

如果你真的要把 1930 的 B.S. 翻譯成 "童子軍篇章" 的話，其實對說英文的踢踏舞者來說，是一件很可笑的事。


附上 Sam Weber 的信件：

Well, I can see how the translation of "B.S." might be difficult!
It certainly doesn't stand for "Boy Scout." I'm afraid it stands for "bullshit"!
We often shorten that to "B.S." You might not want to translate that!
That name was given to the 1930's B.S. Chorus because people would often fake the wings and the over-the-tops.
Then, when Eddie Brown started teaching his dance, he said that he wanted all the tap dancers to know it, the way they all know the original B.S. chorus.

He thought that, if all tap dancers could do it, the level of tap dancing would be much higher.
So he said that the "E.B. Choruses" would be his B.S. Chorus.

But you really can't fake anything in Eddie's dance; it's has to be very precise technically.

That's why Honi Coles didn't think he should call it his B.S. Chorus.
But the name seems to have stuck, at least for now, although the name "E.B. Choruses" ("E.B." for "Eddie Brown") may eventually become more popular.
So there's some history of the names of those dances.

I hope it helps.

I'm trying to think of a name for the 1930's chorus to replace "B.S.," but right now I can't think of anything, unless you just call it the "1930's Tap Chorus."

The name "Boy Scout Chorus" would be very funny to English speaking tap dancers!