Jiří Kylián

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

## Biography 
### 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.

This unique,

## 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) 
* 1995 Award for Outstanding Achievement of Cultural Merits by Soka Gakkai, Japan 
* 1995 Premio di Teatro di Roma/City of Roma 
* German Critics Award for the creation of NDT III
* 1997 Honorary Doctorate, Juilliard School of the Arts, New York 
* 2001 Porselli Award, Reggio Emilia
* 2002 VSCD Dutch Theaters Oeuvre Award, Maastricht
* 2004 Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur’, Paris 
* 2007 Silver Medal of the City of Prague
* 2008 *Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement*, Biennale Venezia 
* 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 
* *Car-Men*  (2006) 

## 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*)

## References
## 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)