Jiří Kylián

Jiri Kylian (born 21 March 1947) is a Czech former dancer and contemporary dance choreographer.
Biography
Family
Jiri Kylian was born in 1947 in Prague - Czechoslovakia, as one of two sons to his father Vaclav who was a banker and to his mother Marketa, who was as a young teenager a dancer-child protegee.
Education
During the years 1962-1967 Kylian studied at the Prague Conservatory. One teacher of the Conservatory, who left a deep mark on Kylian's professional development, was Zora Semberova, known for her world's first interpretation of Juliet (1938) in Prokofiev's famous ballet.
In 1967 Kylian 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, Kylian 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, Kylian left for Germany.
In Stuttgart Cranko asked Kylian to create choreographies for the company. His first work was "Kommen und Gehen", created with Marcia Haydee 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 Kylian, namely Tetley's understanding of movement, and its relation to space, was a revelation for Kylian.
Netherlands Dance Theatre
In early seventies, Kylian 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 Cathedrale 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 Leos Janacek 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 Kylians 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 Opera de Paris, the Munich Bayerisches Staatsballett, and the Tokyo Ballet.
Realizing the importance of education of young dancers, Jiri Kylian 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, Kylian 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 Jiri Kylian. The original dancers were: Sabine Kupferberg, Alida Chase, Gerard 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 Kylian'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 Kylian established the Kylian Foundation in The Hague (originally named as "Kylian Choreographic Archive"). In 2008 the Kylian Production BV was set up in the Netherlands and in 2017 Kylian 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 Einzelganger (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 Cathedrale engloutie (1975) Nederlands Dans Theater
Ruckkehr ins fremde Land / Return to a strange land (1975) Stuttgarter Ballett
Verklarte 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 sortileges (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 Tanze / 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'Opera 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'oeil (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'Opera 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'Opera 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)
Zugvogel (2009) Bayerisches Staatsballett Munchen
Memoires d'oubliettes (2009) Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT I) (Kylians 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 Topfer Stiftung, Hamburg
1997 Golden Medal for Outstanding Merit from President Vaclav 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 Legion d'Honneur', Paris
2004 La Medaille d'Or de la cite de Lyon
2005 Knights Cross from the President Kwasniewski of Poland
2006 Jiri Kylian 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 EUR5.000 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 Memoires d'Oubliettes, Prague
2013 Dvorak Award, Prague
2015 Laszlo 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 Legion d'Honneur, Member of Institute Francais, Academie 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 Lanzova, Dorota Gremlicova, Elvira Nemeckova, Roman Vasek: Ruzne brehy / Choreograf Jiri Kylian mezi Haagem a Prahou, issued by Institut umeni - Divadelni ustav (IDU) v Praze (2011), Prague, Czech Rep.,
Raimon Avila: Jiri Kylian : somniador de danses, Barcelona : Institut del Teatre de la Diputacio de Barcelona, Spain, 2003,
Dana Pasekova: Jiri Kylian, NAMU 2001, issued by Akademie muzickych umeni v Praze, Praha, Czech Rep., 2001,
Jiri Hlavac: Jiri Kylian, Doctor Honoris Causa, issued by Akademie muzickych umeni v Praze, Czech Rep., 15.12.2000,
Marie-Noel Rio: Bon qu'a ca, Les Editions du Sonneur, Paris, 2016 (translated into Czech by Michal Laznovsky sen., issued by National Theatre in Prague in 2019 under name Budizknecemu)
References
Other websites
Jiri Kylian in Czech National Theater Archive
Jiri Kylian on Cesko-Slovenska filmova databaze (Czechoslovak film database)
Jiri Kylian on Filmova databaze (Film database)
Nederlands Dans Theater - Finale from Petite Mort
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet - Stamping Ground (Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2011)
Living people
1947 births
Choreographers
People from Prague