Life-changing work of a master
Inspiration can be found at every corner, according to Jiri Kylian. «If your eyes and heart are open, you can be inspired by anything. All you need is the imagination to transform everyday things into works of art.» One of the most celebrated choreographers of our times, 60-year-old Kylian looks back on life with the knowledge that his work as a choreographer and as artistic director of the Netherlands Dance Theater for over 20 years has had a pivotal influence on the international dance scene. He may poke fun at himself («Can you imagine me dancing, at my age!») but he has certainly thought everything through with the same sensitivity and insight that imbues his work. A few days prior to his group’s run in the Greek capital, Kylian spoke to Kathimerini. Could you tell us a few words about the ensemble with which you will be in Athens? We have named the group Paradox. It is paradoxical to see elderly people dancing. Maybe because we usually think of dance as something aimed at the young. We have proved that that’s a complete fallacy. The ensemble, which I put together in 1991, is made up of older dancers. It was an incredible event at the time. I like to say that the dancers are somewhere between 40 and death. There is something very youthful about elderly people. They have contributed what they can, have completed their career cycle and here I am, pulling them out of the grave. A new page is turned and that makes for a very youthful atmosphere. Picasso had said something wonderful, that it takes a long time to grow young. What is most important to you as a choreographer? Firstly, that dance is now recognized as an art equal to all others. Dance always played second fiddle to painting, literature or music. We have made great progress in the last 20 years. We inherited stories for children, all the wonderful «Swan Lakes» and «Nutcrackers» and «Cinderellas.» It was extremely difficult for the creators of the 20th century, like Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham or Pina Bausch to transform dance into a mature art form. We have traveled a long way to get there. Another thing I find very interesting is the merger of different media. Lighting, for example, is an art in its own right. Video has become extremely important, as have other visual media. How do you see the future of dance? Dance is a fascinating medium. You don’t need speech; it is an international means of communication. With the NDT we have traveled all over the world and have gone to places during controversial times, such as Greece during the dictatorship, South Africa during apartheid, Czechoslovakia during the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Union. Our credo and desire was to communicate with the audience. Politicians don’t do this, so someone has to tell people that we know they are there. This is a very interesting mission. It is worth looking into the manner in which the arts can communicate, especially those that are not language-based. What inspires every new work you create? When I was very young I would prepare myself so well that I would know every single little step before walking into the studio. Now I draw my inspiration from my dancers. I am 60 years old and can no longer dance as I used to. I need their ideas on a practical level, but I also need to feel the atmosphere of the studio, I need to know what my dancers think when they walk into the studio. I want them to have an active participation in the creative process. That is my greatest source of inspiration; being with them and figuring out what we’ll do. You have likened the three groups that make up the Netherlands Dance Theater to the three stages of a dancer’s life. Tell us about them. The famed main group (NDT 1) was established in 1959. I ran it for 20 years and made sure it had as good an international repertory as possible. I invited the best choreographers I could find: Mats Ek (who was a dancer with the group and created a lot of original works for it before becoming famous), William Forsythe (who had danced in my earliest works and whom I invited to work with the NDT long before he became director of the Frankfurt Ballet), Nacho Duato, who also began his career as a choreographer at the NDT, and many more. Later, when I realized that schools were unable to produce students with the high technical standards we required, I decided to create a group for young dancers to help bridge the gap between the graduate and the professional. This group was very successful. The third stage, NDT 3, was created in 1991 to serve a particular purpose. Imagine working with someone very intensively for 20 years and one day having to say, «Thank you very much, bye-bye.» It was awful. You are saying goodbye to a good friend, a fantastic artist who has so much to give and who loves giving. They are at their most vulnerable, having to face a midlife crisis. No one will hire a middle-aged dancer who didn’t have the time to learn how to do anything else. If this were the case in the theater, there would be no actors aged above 40. Many famed choreographers have worked with NDT 3. But, financial problems and an absence of new ideas led the group to be disbanded. It’s a shame and I hope that one day it will be put back together. I am, however, very curious to see how the performances with this former group do in Greece, how the audience accepts them. I personally feel they have great potential. Paradox will perform at the Pireos Street Theater on June 9-12 as guests of the Athens Festival (39 Panepistimiou, tel 210.327.2000, www. greekfestival. gr).
