Talk:Jiří Kylián

Jiří Kylián removed
Jiří Kylián removed as no page for Jiří Kylián exists on Czech Wiki. Robert Greer (talk) 21:57, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Awards
In 2008, Jiří Kylián was invited to serve as a mentor for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, an international philanthropic programme that pairs masters in their disciplines with emerging talents for a year of one-to-one creative exchange. RMP2014 (talk) 15:07, 10 March 2014 (UTC)

Suggestions for Article about Jiří Kylián
Dear Editors,

I have been marked with a conflict of interest for Jiří Kylián, I have added a full list of works(with reference) to the article already and added some notable awards. I hope you would the like to review the following article changes, and add them where possible, most of the information is referenced by Jiří Kylián himself.

Kind Regards, Rob Bothof

RobBothof (talk) 02:20, 7 May 2015 (UTC)

Early life
Dancer and choreographer Jirí Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague - Czechoslovakia, to his father Václav, a banker and later director of the largest "Savings Bank" of Czechoslovakia, and to his mother Markéta, who in her young age was a dancer-child protégée. At the age of 9, he became a student at the "School of the National Ballet Prague". In 1962 he was accepted as a student to the Prague Conservatory. One teacher, who left a deep mark on Jirí's professional development, was Zora Šemberová, who is known for her world first interpretation of Juliet (1938) in Prokofiev’s famous ballet. It was in 1967, that he had received a scholarship to study at the "Royal Ballet School" in London, the true cultural center of the world of that time. This scholarship was organized by Jennie Lee, the Arts Minister of UK at that time.

Stuttgart Ballett
There he met the choreographer John Cranko, who offered him a contract, to become a member of the highly acclaimed "Stuttgart Ballett". In the meantime, Czechoslovakia started its process of reformation of the communist regime under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek. After Kylian’s return to Czechoslovakia in August 1968, the invasion of the "Warsaw-Pact " forces began. The “Prague spring” was crushed! On the 28th of August, he left for Germany. The Stuttgart Ballett under the direction of Cranko, was one of the most celebrated companies of that time. It was in the "Noverre Gesellschaft" (the testing ground for young talent, which organized annual choreographic workshops), for which Kylian made his first work entitled "Paradox". His first work for the main company, was” Kommen und Gehen", created with Marcia Haydée and Richard Cragun in 1971. In the early 70’s, Cranko had invited Glen Tetley to become a resident choreographer in Stuttgart. Tetley's work made an enormous impression on Kylián. Tetley was an intellectual, just as Cranko was, but his approach to dance was totally different. His understanding of movement, and its relation to space, was a revelation to Kylián.

In 1973, after a very successful tour to the U.S.A., Cranko's sudden death at the age of 46, left the Stuttgart Ballet in disarray. The company scrambled to preserve Cranko's legacy and at the same time tried to find its way into the future. Kylián had stayed in Stuttgart under various directions including Glen Tetley's, in order to help bridge the difficult time after that terrible loss. In 1974 he created ”Return to a Strange Land”, dedicated to John’s memory.

Netherlands Dance Theatre
In the early seventies the Netherlands Dance Theatre was on tour in Stuttgart. They saw Kylián's work, and they were interested. After creating two works for NDT -“ Stoolgame" and "La Cathédrale Engloutie" the offer to become artistic co-director (together with Hans Knill untill 1977) of NDT had arrived. The “international success of Sinfonietta", which Kylián created to music of Leoš Janácek for the "Charleston Festival" opened many new doors to NDT, which were closed until that time. Many creations followed. Large ensemble works like “Symphony of Psalms” 1978 as well as for intimate pieces celebrating individuality - “Silent Cries”, 1986, dedicated to his longtime partner Sabine Kupferberg.

Many international tours have taken place: diverse places including the Prague National Theater, the Metropolitan Opera House, the Paris Opera or a Kibbutz Theater in Israel. NDT’s guest appearance in communist Czechoslovakia, in the "Prague Spring Festival" in 1980, was an important breakthrough of political dimension. Not only was the success overwhelming, but more importantly, the public with its long standing ovation, decided to send a message to the authorities stating that anybody should have the freedom to make a career abroad, return home, and be allowed to show his work without any restrictions.

In the early eighties, Kylián’s longtime interest in the culture of the Australian aboriginal people inspired the largest tribal gathering ever held in Australia. This powerful experience left a profound mark on him, and had a direct or indirect influence on many creations that followed (”Stamping Ground” 1983).

Netherlands Dance Theatre II
Realizing the importance of education of young dancers, Carel Birnie and Jirí Kylián have decided to create a “Junior company” - NDT II. For this company he created works like ”27’52” or “Sleepless” or "Gods and Dogs”.

At this time some of the most interesting creators produced their works on NDT: Young talented choreographers from around the world: William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Christopher Bruce, Ohad Naharin and many others. Internationally recognized contemporary masters (Hans van Manen, Glen Tetley....). Last, but certainly not least, the encouragement of creativity within the company's own ranks became very important:

Nacho Duato, Paul Lightfoot & Sol León, Patrick Delcroix, Johan Inger, Medhi Walerski, Jorma Elo, Cora Bos-Kroese, Václav Kuneš, Ed Wubbe, Philip Taylor, Lionel Hoche, Lukáš Timulák, Mário Radacovský, Jo Kanamori, Alexander Ekman and many others.

Netherlands Dance Theatre III
It was in 1990, that Kylián decided to create a small group for dancers, who find themselves in the precarious age between "forty and death". The world premiere of NDT III, the “Senior Company” was created by Hans van Manen, Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jirí Kylián. The original dancers were: Sabine Kupferberg, Alida Chase, Gérard Lemaitre and Niklas Ek. The importance of this new development in dance was instantly recognized by the public, as well as by the media. Many choreographers of international stature have understood the importance of this new development, and have generously contributed to its rich and diverse repertoire: Hans van Manen, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Maurice Béjart, Maguy Marin, Ohad Naharin, Jennifer Muller, Christopher Bruce, Martha Clarke, Carolyn Carlson, Nacho Duato, Paul Lightfoot, Robert Wilson, Erik Vos, Patrick Delcroix, Johan Inger, Shusaku Takeuchi, Susanne Linke, Paulo Ribeiro, Meryl Tankard, Michael Schumacher and many others...

Netherlands Dance Theatre Structure
With its unique, three-dimensional structure, NDT I - mature dancers, NDT II - young dancers, NDT III - senior dancers, and with the building of its own theatre, 1987, (designed by Rem Koolhaas), NDT has become different from any other dance company in the world, and was recognized as such by being given various prestigious awards.

Work and Legacy
In the years between 1973 and today Kylián has created more than 100 ballets for NDT. He has made original works for the Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Operaballet, Bayerisches Staatsballett München and the Tokyo Ballet. His creations are danced by more than 100 companies and schools world-wide. He has worked with many creative personalities of international stature:

Composers: Designers:
 * ''Arne Nordheim ("Ariadne", 1997)
 * ''Toru Takemitsu ("Dream Time", 1983)
 * ''Dirk Haubrich (created 16 scores for the latest creations by Kylián)
 * ''Walter Nobbe ("Sinfonietta", 1978),
 * ''Wiliam Katz ("Symphony of Psalms", 1978),
 * ''John Macfarlane ("Forgotten Land", 1980),
 * ''Michael Simon ("Stepping Stones", 1991),
 * ''Atsushi Kitagawara ("One of a Kind", 1998),
 * ''Susumu Shingu ("Toss of a Dice", 2005),
 * ''Yoshiki Hishinuma ("Zugvögel", 2009),
 * ''Joke Visser (created costumes for more than forty of Kylián's works)
 * ''Kees Tjebbes (made light designs for many of his creations)

Together with Film Director Boris Paval Conen, he created films Car-Men and “Between Entrance and Exit”.

Notable Works:

Psalmensymfonie / Symphony Of Psalms (1978, NDT I)
“Symphony of Psalms” was created in the fall of 1978 - shortly after I became Artistic director of NDT. Soon after its creation, the influence of this work became apparent. It became a “corner stone” of the company’s repertoire, pointing towards the new adventure, this company was about to embark on. Maybe that one of the more interesting aspects of “Symphony of Psalms”, is its unifying effect it had on the company. At that time, I found it necessary to use a large group of dancers for this choreography (16 in total, out of a company of 24). Somehow, in this work we were able to create a certain kind of “spiritual architecture” filled with physicality, and a certain degree of faith….

In a strange way, it was the structure of this piece which had a decisive influence on the company. The simple fact, that the dancers had to share the same space throughout the duration of the piece, created some sense of belonging and togetherness. In some way, this work addresses our understanding, and our doubts and feelings, concerning our very existence and its values.

Silent Cries (1986, NDT I)
Silent Cries is an elementary choreographic study of an intro- spective nature. It portrays in a stylised and dissected manner this process of self-recognition and acceptance.

The music, only ten minutes long, was written in two years of great inspiration and struggle. It became a very rare merging of an immaculate knowledge of a craftsman, and an unreachable dream of a poet. Its beauty is the driving force, which will always make us stretch our arms and run towards it, in a hopeless and eternal trance. It takes the listener from one dreamscape to another, without ever letting him become part of it.

Petite Mort (1991, NDT I)
“Petite Mort” is a poetic, and strangely significant way of describing the ecstasy of a sexual intercourse. In French, and in some other languages, this sensation is described as “small death”.

And it maybe so, that in the moment of pleasure ( or in the moment of potentially creating a new life ) we are reminded of the fact that our lives are of a relatively short duration, and that death is never too far from us.

Bella Figura (2001, NDT I)
For the dancers, it is not only a manifestation of their competence, aesthetic qualities or technical accomplish- ment, but equally, it represents their acceptance of their deficiencies, doubts and vulnerability.

The words “Bella Figura” in Italian don’t only stand for “Beautiful body”, they also represent a philosophical resilience of people facing a difficult situation - conse- quently it also means "Putting on a brave face"….

Birth-Day (1991, NDT III)
We all were born on a certain day, and we all celebrate this event in a cycle of 365 days. This is the period in which nature is born, matures, dies and is reborn again - regardless of our existence. We ask questions about why we were born, about what was before our birth and what will be after we are gone. But there aren’t - and there will never be - any satisfactory answers. Ever since my young age I felt very deeply, that our “Birth certificate” is actually our “Death sentence”- (“We are born in order to die...” - Francis Bacon).

Tar and Feathers (2006, NDT I)
In "Tar and Feathers", Kylián has used (and recited) the last poem Samuel Beckett ever wrote. It is entitled: "What is the word?" And this very question: "What is the WORD" is the question of a man who mastered "The Words" in two languages - English and French. In 1969 he received a "Nobel prize for literature". And yet, with his last breath he asks: "...what is the word..?" None of us will ever know "The Word" - or what this word should represent...

"Tar and Feathers" is a metaphor of the "Unbearable lightness" and the "Unbearable weight" of our being on our tiny planet... Our life very often resembles a person with a "Lead weight" chained to his ankle, and yet holding a flying "Balloon" in his hands, soon to be torn appart by the two contrasting forces.

comments
First, let me say thank you for complying with our conflict of interest guideline and making requests here instead of directly editing the article.

I declined your request. Please read WP:VERIFY, WP:BLP, and Citing sources. You cannot write things here that are not already found in reliable (see WP:RS), independent sources. Each statement needs to be sourced.

Also, we have to be careful to avoid puffery and write in neutral language. See WP:NPOV. Content like " It became a very rare merging of an immaculate knowledge of a craftsman, and an unreachable dream of a poet." is not acceptable in Wikipedia.

That is how Wikipedia works. Thanks. Jytdog (talk) 13:53, 7 May 2015 (UTC)


 * thank you for your response, I understand the language that I've used is here too biased, but the suggestions are based on factional information which can be found in Jiri Kylian's official website and biography, perhaps some of the more neutral parts of the suggestions i have posted can be included in the article ? At a later time I would like to post additional suggestions on this talkpage that are referenced from independent sources. I hope you will consider them for inclusion, kind regards, RobBothof (talk) 14:53, 7 May 2015 (UTC)


 * there is no way that " It became a very rare merging of an immaculate knowledge of a craftsman, and an unreachable dream of a poet." is factual.   Look, you can either really deal with the fact that this is an encyclopedia that provides neutral information to the public, and not a place to promote Jiří Kylián and his work, or you can continue to try to ignore that.  If you don't deal with it, you will not be able to change this article, at all.  It is your choice.
 * here is some advice. Try again, and do not use any citations from jirikylian.com.  Sources need to be independent.  And every statement needs to have a source.  With those two "rules" (every statement has a source, and no sources from  jirikylian.com), see what you can produce.  Jytdog (talk) 15:01, 7 May 2015 (UTC)

Request edit on 20 May 2015
Dear wikipedians, please review this shorter and more factual biography provided by Jiri Kylian for inclusion kind regards Rob Bothof

Dancer and choreographer Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague - Czechoslovakia, to his father Václav, a banker and to his mother Markéta, a dancer-child protégée. At the age of 9, he became a student at the "School of the National Ballet Prague". In 1962 he became a student to the Prague Conservatory. His main teacher was Zora Šemberová In 1967 he received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School" in London.This scholarship was organized by Jennie Lee, the Arts Minister of UK at that time. After his return to Czechoslovakia in August 1968, the invasion of the "Warsaw-Pact " forces began. The political movement known as “Prague spring” was crushed! He left for Germany where John Cranko offered him a contract, to become a member of his highly acclaimed "Stuttgart Ballett". There he made his first choreographies for professional dancers (Marcia Haydée, Richard Cragun....) “Paradox”, “Kommen und Gehen”, “Incantations” and others.... After Cranco’s death in 1973 Glen Tetley became the new director of the company. In 1975 Kylian became the artistic director of the Netherlands Dance Theatre. Choreographies: Stoolgame, La Cathédrale Engloutie, Sinfonietta, Symphony of Psalms have followed. More than 90 choreographies have followed. Many international tours have taken place: diverse places including the Prague National Theater, the Metropolitan Opera House, the Paris Opera or a Kibbutz Theater in Israel. NDT’s guest appearance in communist Czechoslovakia, in the "Prague Spring Festival" in 1980, was an important breakthrough of political dimension. In the early eighties, Kylián’s longtime interest in the culture of the Australian aboriginal people inspired the largest tribal gathering ever held in Australia. In 1978 Carel Birnie and Jiří Kylián have decided to create a “Junior company” - NDT II. For this company he created works like ”27’52” or “Sleepless” or "Gods and Dogs”. At this time some of the most interesting creators produced their works on NDT: Young talented choreographers from around the world: William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Christopher Bruce, Ohad Naharin and many others. Internationally recognized contemporary masters (Hans van Manen, Glen Tetley....). The encouragement of creativity within the company's own ranks became very important: Nacho Duato, Paul Lightfoot & Sol León, Patrick Delcroix, Johan Inger, Ed Wubbe Alexander Ekman, and many others. In 1990, that Kylián decided to create a small group for senior dancers NDT III. The world premiere of NDT III, the “Senior Company” was  created by Hans van Manen, Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jiří Kylián. The original dancers were: Sabine Kupferberg, Alida Chase, Gérard Lemaitre and Niklas Ek. In recent years Kylian shows interest in film and video - Together with Film Director Boris Paval Conen, he created films “Car-Men” and “Between Entrance and Exit”.

RobBothof (talk) 11:05, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

❌ As explained before, you need to add reliable sources- no Wikipedia editor is going to accept the removal of a sourced article and replacement with an unsourced article. Also, so many buzzwords and weasel words. Also, the date today is 27 May, not 20 May. Joseph2302 (talk) 11:08, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

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