Guillem tour and special Olivier award

Posted on March 18, 2015

Sylvie Guillem will be presented with a special award at the 2015 Olivier Awards. The award celebrates the achievements of her 35-year career, from ballerina to contemporary artist, as she prepares for her retirement. More dates have also been announced for her farewell show, Life in Progress.

Life in Progress will have its world premiere in Modena on March 31 and its last performance in Tokyo in December 2015. More UK dates have now been announced. As well as appearing at Sadler’s Wells from May 26 to 31, Guillem will dance at the London Coliseum from July 28 to August 2, at the Edinburgh International Festival from August 8 to 10 and at the Birmingham Hippodrome from September 8 to 9.

Life In Progress features new and existing works by choreographers who have influenced Guillem’s contemporary career. Akram Khan’s new solo for Guillem will be called techne. Khan explains: “My work grows out of the questions I don’t know how to answer. I ask questions and tell stories through the body. I use technology to connect with more people, more often. But are we more connected now than we used to be? Or are we connecting with the technology itself rather than with people? No computer can answer this question. But perhaps the body can…”

Guillem will receive her special award at the Olivier Awards 2015 with MasterCard’s ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House on April 12.

Life in Progress tour schedule, 2015

March 31

Teatro Communale, Modena, Italy

April 2

Equilibrio Festival, Sala Santa Cecilia, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Rome, Italy

May 15 to 16

Lodz International Ballet Festival, Lodz, Poland

May 26 to 31

Sadler’s Wells, London, UK

June 3 to 4

Athens and Epidaurus Festival, Athens, Greece

June 23 to 26

Chekhov Festival, Moscow, Russia

June 29 to July 2

Les Nuits de Fourvière, Lyon, France

July 5 Genoa Opera House, Genoa, Italy

July 28 to August 2,

London Coliseum, London, UK

August 8 to 10

Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh, UK

September 8 to 9

Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham, UK

October 3 to 4

National Theatre, Taipei

December 2

Festspielhaus, St Polten, Austria

December 17 to 20

NBS, Tokyo, Japan

Picture: Sylvie Guillem. Photograph: Lesley Leslie-Spinks

Zoe Anderson

Zoë was born in Edinburgh, and saw her first dance performances at the Festival there. She is the dance critic of The Independent, and has also written for The Independent on Sunday, The Scotsman and Dancing Times. In 2002, she received her doctorate from the University of York for a thesis on “Nationhood and epic romance: Ariosto, Sidney, Spenser”. She is the author of The Royal Ballet: 75 Years and The Ballet Lover’s Companion.