Choreography: Russell Maliphant
'I do, I suppose, tend to infringe rules and traditions.'Over here and out on a limb, L. Jennings, The Independent, 21.o3.1993
Sylvie Guillem is widely acclaimed as the most significant contemporary dancer, as well as one of the best dancers of all time. As an unconventional and uncompromising artist, she is constantly evolving and experimenting with the limits of her art, as well as with her own limits, having characteristically moved from ballet to contemporary dance. Sylvie Guillem is, I think above all, a model of naturalness. Her technique is developed to such an extent that it is no longer visible; it is totally absorbed by the artistic content it conveys, with the result being a complete lack of formalism. In this respect, she is the most significant contemporary dancer because her sophisticated performance is carried out as naturally as one breathes. As she puts it at the beginning of her film Evidentia, "movement is life"; and perhaps this is the reason why her approach to dance is able to express unique emotions.
“I think dance is suffering because you still have a lot of ghettoes,” she said. “You’re either a classical dancer, or you’re a contemporary dancer and all that goes with it. I don’t like this veneration for one technique.”A Diva Ballerina’s Long Leap, D. Solway, The New York Times, 08.10.2006
“To be a ballerina at the Paris Opéra was not my dream,” she says. “I was not born into a family that went to the opera or ballet. I didn't even know it existed.”Raising the barre: prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem, R. Millard, The Times, 28.03.2008
She was, in many respects, ballet's first feminist. She puts some of her revolutionary spirit down to the fact that she never had childhood dreams of pink tulle. She was a gymnast first, a 'garçon manqué' as she says, a tomboy with cropped hair, awkward and angular.Sylvie Guillem, T. Adams, The Observer, 09.03.2008
I can tell you that the people who come to see me, they are not all rich people. I mean they are every night at the stage door, every night they find a ticket even if it is not easy. It is true that the seat prices could be lower, and I agree they should bring them down. But people should stop thinking that it is for elitists.Sylvie Guillem on Ballet and Dance, B. Marriott, ballet.magazine, April 1999
The reason these choreographers want to work with her lies in what Ek calls her 'distinctive voice’. He thinks it arises from a contradiction: 'Her body has a fragile structure. It’s not only all flashing or knife-sharp. There is also this quality of vulnerability, and that’s very important. It is what makes the thrill about it.’ Forsythe emphasises something different: 'I am completely mesmerised by the intelligence of her art. Everything she has done becomes part of her. She makes knowing natural. It’s what she does: she knows how to dance. She has always been trying to find out what she could do.’Sylvie Guillem interview: raising the barre, S. Crompton, The Telegraph, 03.07.2011
Choreography: Akram Khan
Choreography: Mats Ek
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