Jiří Kylián is a renowned Czech choreographer. He was born on March 21, 1947, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). Kylián is known for his innovative and expressive dance works, which have been performed by major ballet companies around the world.
Kylián began his dance career at the Prague National Theatre Ballet School and later joined the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany. In 1975, he became the artistic director of Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) in The Hague, Netherlands. Under his leadership, NDT became one of the most influential contemporary dance companies in the world.
Throughout his career, Kylián has created numerous acclaimed ballets, including “Symphony of Psalms,” “Sinfonietta,” “Petite Mort,” and “Sechs Tänze.” His works often blend elements of classical ballet with modern and experimental movement, exploring themes of human emotions, relationships, and the human condition.
Kylián’s choreography is characterized by its musicality, poetic storytelling, and innovative use of space and lighting. His works have received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Lawrence Olivier Award and the Benois de la Danse Lifetime Achievement Award.
Today, Jiří Kylián continues to create new works and collaborate with dance companies and artists around the world. His contributions to the world of dance have had a lasting impact and continue to inspire dancers and choreographers globally.
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The Corps de ballet of the Teatro Massimo brings on stage La grande danza, a triptych of choreographies that includes Sin lo cual no by the Albanian choreographer Gentian Doda, Duende by Nacho Duato and Six Dances, a splendid work signed by Jiři Kylián. The first of the three choreographies is Sin lo cual no…
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One of a Kind applies not just to this full-length work but also to its creator: Jiří Kylián. With this company premiere, the Stuttgart Ballet celebrates one of its heroes and adds a new work to its extensive Kylián repertory for the first time in over 20 years. In the fall of 1968, Jiří Kylián…
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Jiří Kylián has already made many masterpieces, one of them the fascinating Sleepless, a creation for six young dancers in which the set plays an important part. It has a wall behind which dancers – or sometimes just parts of their bodies – appear, disappear and return. The set allows unexpected entrances or creates hallucinating…
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Jiří Kylián feels a great affinity for Stravinsky, who, like himself, was forced to leave his homeland. He describes the composer’s music drama, L’Histoire du Soldat, as a ‘surrealistic fairy tale for grown-up children’. His version of the piece uses the original French version libretto by Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. With scenery and costumes by John…
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Many components of this work are as unstable and unpredictable as the poem “Toss of a dice” by Stéphane Mallarmé (“Un Coup de Dés”) which was my major source of inspiration. The poem was written in 1897 and it is remarkable in every way. It is a unique and visual poem using seemingly unrelated words…
