Recent Photo of Sylvie Guillem
Photo of Dance 6000 Miles Away
Sylvie Guillem's Upright Posture with Ease
In NCPA Dance Festival from October 24 till November 24, Sylvie Guillem was absolutely the most shining superstar. In 1981, Sylvie Guillem entered Paris Opera Ballet, and two years later won the gold medal at the Varna International Ballet Competition, which earned Rudolf Nureyev's favor and the promotion of solo role. She was then only 19 years old, and now 28 years have passed by. It is even 13 years since she premiered in Beijing. During this period, she left Paris Opera Ballet for Royal Ballet of London, which was totally beyond expectation. Moreover, her dances kept shifting between classical ballet and modern dance and she became a constant matador and “Miss No” against the conservative school in ballet. This time, this pioneering lady presented the latest compound creation 600 Miles Away dedicated by three famous modern choreographers William Forsythe, Mats Ek, and Jiri Kylian as well as classic ballet Marguerite and Armand adapted from well-known French literature La Dame aux Camelias.
Reporter(R): In your career, you are involved with both kinds of dance, classic and modern, and then what do you think of those two definitions? Does it make a difference to you? Is it a must to make a choice of them?
Sylvie Guillem (S): As far as I am concerned, the above two kinds never contradict with each other. In our opinion, there are only good dance and bad dance whether they are of classic or modern kind. Similarly, we have good dancers and bad dancers, both of whom will participate in the same works and their performance will tell everything to the audience. The fact is that so long as the choreography or dancers are not good enough any kind will become a disaster.
Personally, I prefer to realize my curiosity and try out different styles and performances, so I must keep moving from one place to another. I hate being limited within a certain location.
R: Have you got what you want in Royal Ballet in UK? Some people complain that you always say no. Will such a rebellious spirit or notorious reputation be some kind of pressure on your dance career?
S: As a matter of fact, Royal Ballet is always in its conservative tradition, but my contract with them told a different plan, which exerted comparatively loose restriction on me. Thus I would spend more time in exploring something different and traveling to somewhere more. I would leave ballet circle for some time, which might be so-called rebellious spirit. I often say no to some famous ballet companies and quit without any reason or explanation because I hate being confined to a fixed arrangement. To me, it is very important to make a decision or choice by myself. As is well-known, a dancer has a short professional career, and then I will never waste all my time in doing everything others require with my obedience. Some might be in my favor and some will not. I will not spend much time and experience if I am not interested at all. Even if I make a mistake, I will take responsibility for my choice. I know it is a bit hard for others to understand my position. At the very beginning when I left ballet stage, someone told me that my quit made no sense because I used to be so lucky with such a prestigious ballet company. Nevertheless, I felt it was high time I should go outside to try out something new. Of course I will bear responsibility for my choice and keep endeavoring in my life, which in the end earned a bad fame. But such a bad fame is not always bad. We sometimes joke that hobby of gardening is not a bad one because we can bury all our enemies into our back garden. I must carry many tasks on my shoulders and I must take care of one after another, which might be a bit painful or depressive to me. Were there no such fame, everything would be natural. However, the barrier is still there and I have no choice but to transcend. This barrier will strengthen my personality and perfect my character.
I will become a different person from time to time, and will act as different characters. Then my different existences and varied characters in the dances will lead to a rather complicated combination which turn out to be an art presentation.
R: For so many years, you have been seeking for novelty and changes. Particularly, I am eager to know what you will never abandon in your creation. In your opinion, what is the highest realm for a dancer or what is your highest pursuit?
S: I always hold that there are two things that we shall never abandon. Talent comes first and then candid manners. If a talented dancer treats the works in candid manners, his or her performance will move us and we are willing to enter his or her world. As to your second question, I would like to make a comparison. Sometimes, dancers on the stage will have a different feeling about time. They feel as if time went extremely slow and they do not exist in the reality any longer. Even we realize that time has stopped or been postponed, which is indeed an unusual and wonderful experience. Though it is impossible in the reality, dancers feel it vividly in the process of performance. When time is postponed, we can step backward to appreciate our own performance just as audiences do. Such a situation does happen to me sometime on the stage, though it is so hard to explain to others, which, I think, is the best realm of a dancer.
