Jiří Kylián

**Jiří Kylián** (born 21 March 1947) is a Czech former dancer and contemporary dance choreographer.

### Family

Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague – Czechoslovakia, as one of two sons to his father Václav who was a banker and to his mother Markéta, who was as a young teenager a dancer-child protégée.

### Education

During the years 1962-1967 Kylián studied at the Prague Conservatory. One teacher of the Conservatory, who left a deep mark on Kylián´s professional development, was Zora Šemberová, known for her world´s first interpretation of Juliet (1938) in Prokofiev’s famous ballet.
In 1967 Kylián had received a scholarship to study at the "Royal Ballet School" in London,

### Stuttgart Ballet

He met John Cranko, choreographer,  there, who offered him a contract, to become a member of his acclaimed "Stuttgart Ballett". Before taking up his contract, Kylián shortly returned to Prague, but on  August 21st, 1968, the invasion of the communist  "Warsaw-Pact " forces began. On the 28th of August, after taking part in many demonstrations against the occupation, Kylián left for Germany.

In Stuttgart Cranko asked Kylián to create choreographies for the company. His first work was "Kommen und Gehen", created with Marcia Haydée and Richard Cragun. In the early 70’s Cranko invited Glen Tetley to become resident choreographer in Stuttgart. Tetley´s work made a great impression on Kylián, namely Tetley’s understanding of movement, and its relation to space, was a revelation for Kylián.

### Netherlands Dance Theatre

In early seventies, Kylián was invited to create his first choreography for the Netherlands Dance Theatre ("Viewers-1973").  Having created two more works for NDT ("Stoolgame" 1974 and "La Cathédrale Engloutie" 1975) the offer to become artistic director of NDT together with Hans Knill, was extented to him.

The creation of "Sinfonietta", to music of Kylian´s  co-patriot Leoš Janáček for the "Charleston Festival" in the USA in 1978 led to international recognition of the company.  Subsequently many important international tours of NDT have taken place incl. Metropolitan Opera House in New York, the Paris Opera etc.

During Kyliáns engagement in NDT (1975-2009), he has created more than 75 choreographies for the company. Further pieces he made for other worldwide companies, such as the Stuttgart Ballet, the Opéra de Paris, the Munich Bayerisches Staatsballett, and the Tokyo Ballet.

Realizing the importance of education of young dancers, Jiří Kylián and Carel Birnie, the managing director of NDT, have decided in 1978 to create a new company - NDT II, in which young people would get the opportunity to develop their skills and talents. After many years of directorship, Kylián saw the departure of many fine and interesting performers. It was in 1991   that he decided to create a small group for dancers, who find themselves in the precarious age between "forty and death". The world premiere of this “Senior Company” was created by choreographers: Hans van Manen, Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jiří Kylián. The original dancers were: Sabine Kupferberg, Alida Chase, Gérard Lemaitre and Niklas Ek. The importance of this new development in dance was instantly recognized by the public as well as by the media.

This unique,  three-dimensional structure, NDT I – mature dancers, NDT II – young dancers, NDT III – senior dancers, residing in its own theater, designed and built by architect Rem Koolhaas in 1987, placed NDT in a totally new category. It has become different from any other dance company in the world, and was recognized as such by being given various prestigious awards.

### Further activities

In the recent years Kylián’s creativity is focused on film, video and photography. The films “Carmen”, “Schwarzfahrer”, “Between Entrance and Exit”, “Scalamare” and the photo installation “Free fall” were all created in collaboration with his lifelong partner and muse Sabine Kupferberg.

In 1988 Kylián established the Kylian Foundation in The Hague (originally named as “Kylián Choreographic Archive”). In 2008 the Kylian Production BV was set up in the Netherlands and in  2017 Kylián Fund Prague was founded in the Czech Republic.

## Selected works (choreography)

Theatre works from 1973 to 2019:
- _Paradox_ (1970) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Kommen und gehen_ (1970) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Incantations_ (1971) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Der Einzelgänger_ (1972) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Der stumme Orpheus_ (1972) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Viewers_ (1973) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Blaue Haut / Blue skin_ (1974) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Der Morgen danach_ (1974) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Stoolgame_ (1974) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _La Cathédrale engloutie_ (1975) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Rückkehr ins fremde Land / Return to a strange land_ (1975) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Verklärte Nacht / Transfigured night_ (1975) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Torso_ (1975) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Nuages_ (1976) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Elegia_ (1976) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Symphony in d_ (1976) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _November steps_ (1977) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Ariadne_ (1977) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Kinderspelen_ (1978) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Sinfonietta_ (1978) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Intimate pages_ (1978) Sabine Kupferberg
- _Rainbow snake_ (1978) Nederlands Dans Theater
- _Psalmensymfonie / Symphony of Psalms_ (1978) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Glagolitic Mass_ (1979) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Dream dances_ (1979) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Soldatenmis / Field Mass_ (1980) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Overgrown path_ (1980) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Forgotten land / Vergessenes Land_ (1981) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _Nomaden / Nomads_ (1981) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Svadebka_ (1982) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen / Songs of a Wayfarer_ (1982) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Stamping Ground_ (1983) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Dream time_ (1983) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Curses and blessings _(1983) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Wiegenlied_ (1983) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I and II)
- _Return to a strange land_ (1984) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Valencia_ (1984) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _L'enfant et les sortilèges_ (1984) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Heart's labyrinth_ ( 1984) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Heart's labyrinth II_ (1985) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Piccolo mondo_ (1985) Scapino Ballet
- _Silent cries_ (1986) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _L'Histoire du soldat_ (1986) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Sechs Tänze / Six dances_ (1986) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Frankenstein !!_ (1987) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Sint joris rijdt uit_ (1987) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Evening songs_ (1987) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Kaguyahime_ (1988) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _No more play_ (1988) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Tanz-schul_ (1989) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Falling angels_ (1989) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Sweet dreams_ (1990) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Sarabande_ (1990) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Feuillet d'automne_ (1990) Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris
- _Un ballo_ (1991) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT II)
- _Petite mort_ (1991) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Obscure temptations_ (1991) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Stepping stones_ (1991) Stuttgarter Ballett
- _As if never been_ (1992) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _No sleep till dawn of day_ (1992) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Whereabouts unknown_ (1993) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Tiger lily_ (1994) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Perfect conception_ (1994) The Tokyo Ballet
- _Double you_ (1994) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Arcimboldo_ (1994) Nederlands Dans Theater I / II / III
- _Bella Figura_ (1995) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Anna and the ostriches_ (1996) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Tears of laughter_ (1996) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Trompe-l'œil_ (1996) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT II)
- _If only…_ (1996) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Compass_ (1996) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Wings of wax_ (1997) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _A way a lone_ (1998) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _One of a kind_ (1998) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Indigo rose_ (1998) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT II)
- _Half past_ (1999) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Doux mensonges_ (1999) Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris
- _Arcimboldo 2000_ (2000) Nederlands Dans Theater I / II / III
- _Click – pause – silence_ (2000) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Birth-day_ (2001) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT III)
- _Blackbird_ (2001) Saitama Arts Theater
- _Claude Pascal_ (2002) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _When time takes time_ (2002) Saitama Arts Theater and Nederlands Dans Theater III
- _Far too close_ (2002) Saitama Arts Theater and Nederlands Dans Theater III
- _Last touch_ (2003) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Il faut qu'une porte_ (2004) Ballet de l'Opéra National de Paris
- _Sleepless_ (2004) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT II)
- _Toss of a dice_ (2005) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Chapeau_ (2005) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT II)
- _Tar and feathers_ (2006) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Vanishing twin_ (2008) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Last touch first_ (2008) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)
- _Gods and dogs_ (2008) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT II)
- _Zugvögel_ (2009) Bayerisches Staatsballett München
- _Mémoires d'oubliettes_ (2009) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I)     (Kyliáns last piece for the NDT)
- _Anonymous_ (2011) Kylworks
- _East shadow_ (2013) Aichi Mini Theatre
- _Fortune cookies_ (2014) Kylworks

## Selected Awards

During his career, Kylian has received many prestigeous, international awards and honours, such as:
- 1983 Carina Ari Medal, Stockholm
- 1986  VSCD Dutch Theaters Award for Choreography, Maastricht
- 1989  Sonia Gaskell Prijs, Amsterdam
- 1991 Dutch Theatre Critics Award
- Premio Internazionale Gino Tani, Rome
- 1993, 1999 Benois de la Danse, Moscow
- 1994 _Dance Magazine Award_ New York
- 1995 Award for Outstanding Achievement of Cultural Merits by Soka Gakkai, Japan
- 1995 Premio di Teatro di Roma/City of Roma
- 1995 _Decoration of the Royal Dutch order of Oranje-Nassau_
- German Critics Award for the creation of NDT III
- 1997 Honorary Doctorate, Juilliard School of the Arts, New York
- 1997 Edinburgh Festival Critics Award
- 1997 Joost van den Vondel Prijs  from The Alfred Töpfer Stiftung, Hamburg
- 1997 Golden Medal for Outstanding Merit from President Václav Havel, Prague
- 1998 Honorary Prize for Dance and Choreography  from the Institut del Teatre Barcelona
- 1999 Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Paris
- 1999 First Cultural Award of the City of The Hague
- 2000 _Sir Laurence Olivier Award_, London
- 2000 Arch Angel Award, Edinburgh International Festival
- 2000 Honorary Doctorate, Music Academy of Prague
- 2000 Three „_Nijinsky award_“, Monte Carlo; in the following categories: as choreographer, for choreography, for company (for unique structure of NDT: NDT I, NDT II, NDT III)
- 2001 _Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres_, Paris
- 2001 Porselli Award, Reggio Emilia
- 2002 VSCD Dutch Theaters Oeuvre Award, Maastricht
- 2004 Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur’, Paris
- 2004 La Medaille d’Or de la cité de Lyon
- 2005 Knights Cross from the President Kwasniewski of Poland
- 2006  Jiří Kylián Ring - an award in a form of a ring,  which the new recipient can pass on to any artist in the ‘Dance Field’. The recipients will receive a sum of €5.000 provided by the Kylian Foundation (2006)
- 2006 Premio Dansa Valencia
- 2006 _Thalia Award_ – College Special Award (Czech Republic)
- 2007 Silver Medal of the City of Prague
- 2008 _Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement_, Biennale Venezia
- 2008 Highest cultural award for ‘Art and Science’ of the order of Oranje Nassau by Queen Beatrix
- 2011 _Award for exceptional achievement in the field of Dance and Choreography_, Czech Ministry of Culture, Prague
- 2011 Golden Prague Award for the film Mémoires d’Oubliettes, Prague
- 2013 Dvořák Award, Prague
- 2015 László Seregy Award, Budapest
- 2015 Jovan Cirilov Award, Belgrade
- 2016 Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences Award
- 2017 Honorary Citizenship of the city of The Hague
- 2017 Premio Positano alla Carriera Lifetime Achievement Award, Positano
- 2018 Honorary Citizenship of the city of Prague
- 2018 _Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Member of Institute Français_, Académie des Beaux Arts, Paris
- 2019 Benois de la Danse Lifetime Achievement Award, Moscow
- 2019  Golden Prague Lifetime Achievement Award, Prague

## Films

Films from 2006 to 2017:
- _Car-Men_  (2006)
- _Between Entrance & Exit_  (2013)
- _Schwarzfahrer_  (2014)
- _Scalamare_ (2017)

## Further reading

- Isabelle Lanzová, Dorota Gremlicová, Elvíra Němečková, Roman Vašek: _Různé břehy / Choreograf Jiří Kylián mezi Haagem a Prahou_, issued by Institut umění – Divadelní ústav (IDU) v Praze (2011), Prague, Czech Rep.,
- Raimon Àvila: _Jiři Kylián : somniador de danses_, Barcelona : Institut del Teatre de la Diputació de Barcelona, Spain, 2003,
- Dana Paseková: _Jiří Kylián_, NAMU 2001, issued by Akademie múzických umění v Praze, Praha, Czech Rep.,  2001,
- Jiří Hlaváč: _Jiří Kylián, Doctor Honoris Causa_, issued by Akademie múzických umění v Praze, Czech Rep., 15.12.2000,
- Marie-Noël Rio: _Bon qu'à ça_, Les Éditions du Sonneur, Paris, 2016 (translated into Czech by Michal Lázňovský sen., issued  by National Theatre in Prague in 2019 under name _Budižkněčemu_)

## Other websites

- Jiří Kylián in Czech National Theater Archive
- Jiří Kylián on Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze (Czechoslovak film database)
- Jiří Kylián on Filmová databáze (Film database)
- Nederlands Dans Theater – Finale from _Petite Mort_
- Aspen Santa Fe Ballet – Stamping Ground (Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2011)

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Jiří Kylián
- **image**: Jiří Kylián 2020.jpg
- **caption**: Jiří Kylián (2020)
- **birth place**: Prague, Czechoslovakia
- **nationality**: Czech
- **occupation**: contemporary dance choreographer
- **partner**: Sabine Kupferberg
- **website**: [http://www.jirikylian.com/ jirikylian.com]