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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