Varna International Ballet Competition
In 1983, Guillem was awarded the Special Prize of the Youth Organization of Varna in junior division at the Varna International Ballet Competition, which later in the year earned her her first solo role, dancing the Queen of the Dryads in Rudolf Nureyev's staging of "Don Quixote". On 29 December 1984, after her performance in Nureyev's "Swan Lake", she became the Paris Opera Ballet's youngest ever étoile, the company's top-ranking female dancer. In 1987, she performed the lead role in William Forsythe's contemporary ballet "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated" with one of her favourite partners, Laurent Hilaire.