soooo perfect and amazing, this is the last year we can see Sylvie on the stage, 2015, 50 years old and the most incredible dancer we have never seen before and maybe after, thanks Sylvie, you are an inspiration in dance world.
Sylvie is still the most AMAZING classical dancer to appear on stage. Not only did she have a ridiculous, and out of theis world facility, but she had such impeccable musicality. Did u see how she took the 'In The Middle' music and made it fit her choreography? That, I tell you, is hard to teach. Many dancers with great facilities, but to be able to literally manipulate it and gain what we call true 'control'...priceless
This is Sylvie Guillem, perhaps one of the world most famous ballerinas in our time. She is rehearsing "In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated" Chor. by William Forsythe. The piece is physically & technically difficult & challenging. Mr. Forsythe created this dance to showcase Ms. Guillem's extraordinary skills, the dance is quite modern.Anyhow, the choreography is NOT bad at all, just different.
I remember this documentary! Sylvie Guillem is absolutely amazing and was one of my idols when I was doing ballet during the 80s. Her flexibility, control, and extension are unreal. Thanks for putting this up for everyone!
this video is so hard to watch!!! she's in so much pain..her feet are killing her. i remember being in this position before. you can see how hard she's trying to hold it back..wow what a trooper
I purchased this video in the 80's and have watched it "a thousand times". Like some eternal meditation and intimate "window" on to the magnificent Sylvie Guillem and the supremely talented William Forsythe. I must say that I am now following Polina Seminova with that same sense of awe and excitement.
In class, they always talk about "everything being one movement," and it always made sense to me, but watching Guillem's dancing makes that idea come to life.
I KNEW it was Billy Forsythe from the back of his head (as well as the movement) immediately. This is marvelous for both that he both worked with Sylvie as he prized what was in her agility and style in his choreography.(many lithe Soviet and later Russian ballerinas should have had such opportunity, even though gushing youtube commenters have NO idea of the breadth of talent an d movement capacity in worlds they did not, nor possibly will know, exist). There is more, is the proper response, always.. Gamelan? related music . . .
"If i was shy, i think i still m shy. It seems silly 2 say it, but its not b/c u go on stage that u r very ez in life, & very communicative....Maybe the fact 2 b difficult, & shy, or aggressive,or wtevr, it gives u sumthing more onstage b/c it opens a gate onstage that u close as soon as u r off stage." S. Guillem.
"Its 2 diff personalities...not just 4 myself..wen u go onstage u hav 2 b. On stage, i am free.i m myself sumtimes, i am sumbodyelse othertimes. I can express watever i want. I wont b judged. So its quite comfortable 4 sum1 2 hav all of the possibilities in the world & to hav all the facets u can hav. B the faces of so many characters. U can b violent. U can b in love. U can hate. U can do evrithing on stage. In life its much more difficult...b/c u don't live alone. On stage u can." S. Guillem
And, I think, nowadays standards are such, because Guillem introduced extreme extension anf flexibility and athelticism which weren't common in dance. She was also criticized for this.
I don't remember. This is the first time I've seen it since 1989 or so, but it aired on Bravo back in the day. I think it might have just been called "Sylvie Guillem." Fascinating documentary!
@kimmois1 darling....i learned years ago...some people don't understand that sylvie is the best. no point in arguing with them. they will never understand.
Such discipline she has to keep continuing when she feels extreme pain in her feet while wearing those pointe shoes. xD I guess that's what it takes to become a beautiful ballerina like Sylvie.
I think that seeing as he is not only professional but world famous, he can pretty much eat whenever he feels like it. He is not just any member of a ballet company, he is the choreographer.
I will definitely be using the concept of “awe-inducing to the point of stupefaction” in the future. I don’t know why I haven’t heard it, nor pieced it together until now.
it was Tina leBlanc. You raise a good point. Modern and contemporary pieces can be more dangerous if the ballet dancer does not have modern training. but even in preprofessional ranks these days you'd be hard pressed to find a dancer that isn't versed in modern as well as ballet.
God, her shoes were DEAD. I mean seriously. How could she even get on point in them? There were HUGE bags out the sides - no wonder she was in so much pain. But not only that - but why was no one there to say "stop rehearsing her to death!" on those shoes? I don't know. I feel some arts administrators - directors- and choreographers like to use artists up and spit them out.
i use to dream of being able to perform choreography like this in my sleep, maybe the new hip improvements will inspire new hope...ummm, tony where are you? gotta watch all of it!
Tout est parfait, il faut préciser que son guide intervient sur les énergies, les rythmes, et le sens du passage qui peut aider à ajuster des positions dans le bon timing, mais la personne est parfaite. Je dis tout cela pour les néophytes...qui ne comprendraient pas 🤓 Une fois que la danseuse est archi prête, il y a ce travail là... Ce n’est pas rien. Vous voyez... 😘🌹
@cooperneely what is this "greater facility" you speak of? I'm lost and confused because no dancer has greater ANYTHING than Sylvie. Not one. sorry hun but you must be mistaken
yea i would like to see you dance as much as Sylvie. even though Sylvie is one of the best dancers ever, we all have our limits no matter how long you have been dancing. its better to save yourself and prevent an injury than to keep going until your muscles get so tired, they dont hold you up and risk twisting your ankle and not be able to perform and she DOES have major blisters, did you even WATCH the video???
she is 1,70m. I don't remember where I red it. Maybe on wikipedia. Anyway, what you say, it's not so true at the present. Durcey Bussel or also Natalia Volochkova are 1,80m and there are a lot of companies which requires 1,68m at least
@Irritata I have read that as well. However, I also read an article / interview in which the 5'10" interviewer (1.78m) was surprised to find that he was taller than her.
I have always wondered, does anyone know? She looks so tall because she's got sooooo long legs, arms and neck, but she can't be so tall than she looks like, because of her partners, women dancers can't normally be taller then 1'68.
(in response to gbendanny1) Classical ballet can cause injuries too. A principal at San Francisco just recently tore her knee on stage in a production of Don Quixote. It's not just modern and contemporary ballet. Any type of dance runs the risk of injury. It's not the choreographer's fault, that's just the way dance is sometimes.
OMG! that guy is evil!! I mean eating infront of hyper tired dancers rehearsing!!! hahaha and yeah sylvie is just awsome she has beautiful lines and god she has flexibility and strenght oh and she makes it look so easy HA
Sylvie can make anything look good. And that was fortunate because that piece in the beginning was garbage - just meaningless steps set to noise. Ugh! Why are charlatans allowed to do this to dancers? That garbage didn't belong anywhere near Sylvie's great talent.
I saw Sylvie in "Rise & Fall" - a modern, but very beautiful, ballet. I'm afraid what this clip shows is disjointed, awkward, unattractive. Sometimes modern choreography is, like modern art, simply degenerative.
ug for some reason i think that shes just not sucking it up like a dancer should. honestly pointe hurts but not THAT bad. not to the point where you have to stop in the middle of a variation, unless you have like MAJOR blisters or your injured.
I suspect the intensity of her pain was due to rehearsing William Forsythe’s extremely challenging and strenuous work at about the same time. Most dancers do have to suck it up even when overworked, but Ms. Guillem described having to crawl the mornings after she was working with Mr. Forsythe’s “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated”, however little that may have shown when the work was performed.
