Thomas Leroy, the artistic director of a New York City ballet company, is mounting Swan Lake as the company’s next production. Many of the ballerinas in the company aspire for the lead, which would have previously gone to the company’s former principle dancer Beth Macintyre before her forced retirement. No one wants the the role more than Nina Sayers, who lives to dance, so much so that she wants to be exactly like Beth in every aspect. Nina lives with her overbearing mother, Erica Sayers, a former ballerina who now lives vicariously through her daughter as she never made it as a ballerina herself. Nina is a technically proficient and hard working dancer who can easily capture the essence of the innocent white swan, but Thomas doesn’t believe she has the dark passion required to portray the black swan. An unexpected move by Nina convinces Thomas that Nina may have what it takes, and he gives her the lead. Thomas will do anything to get that passion out of her. Nina feels that her new place in the company is threatened by Lily, a ballerina newly arrived into the company from San Francisco. Lily, who is looser in every aspect of her life than Nina, encompasses the essence of the black swan more so than Nina. But as Nina believes Lily is to her what she herself was to Beth, Nina, in doing whatever it takes to be perfect as both the white swan and the black swan, descends into madness.
参考翻译：
托马斯·勒罗伊是纽约市一家芭蕾舞团的艺术总监，他将《天鹅湖》作为该团的下一部作品。该公司的许多芭蕾舞演员都渴望领衔，而在被迫退休之前，该公司的前首席舞蹈家贝丝·麦金泰尔（Beth Macintyre）原本会担任领衔。没有人比尼娜·塞耶斯更想要这个角色，她以跳舞为生，以至于她想在各个方面都像贝丝一样。尼娜与专横的母亲艾丽卡·塞耶斯（Erica Sayers）生活在一起，她曾是一名芭蕾舞演员，现在通过女儿间接生活，因为她自己从来没有当过芭蕾舞演员。尼娜是一位技术娴熟、工作勤奋的舞蹈演员，她可以轻松捕捉到无辜白天鹅的精髓，但托马斯认为她没有描绘黑天鹅所需的黑暗激情。尼娜出人意料的举动让托马斯相信尼娜可能已经做到了，他给了她领导。托马斯会尽一切努力让她摆脱那种激情。妮娜觉得她在公司的新位置受到了来自旧金山的芭蕾舞女演员莉莉的威胁。莉莉在生活的方方面面都比尼娜放松，她比尼娜更了解黑天鹅的本质。但正如尼娜相信莉莉对她来说就像她对贝丝一样，尼娜为了完美地扮演白天鹅和黑天鹅，不惜一切代价，陷入了疯狂。
重点词汇释义
artistic director艺术总监
New York City纽约市
more than比…更;比…更重要; 超出需要;超乎寻常
so much so that到这种程度以致; 甚或
