Jiří Kylián on Paving the Way for Aging in the Dance World

Isabelle Calabre

Getting older often means the end of a professional dancer’s career, especially for women. But some choreographers and company leaders have found the aging body to be rich terrain for artistic exploration. Renowned Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián has long been considered one of the pioneers on the topic of “senior” dancers. Isabelle Calabre spoke with this 77-year-old artist, in a four-part video interview, in light of how a new generation has been rethinking what it means to age on stage.

Aging has long been a taboo topic in the dance world. Both male and female bodies seem subject to a kind of programmed obsolescence, disappearing rapidly from the choreographic landscape after the age of forty. Despite notable examples like famed ballerina Alicia Alonzo performing Giselle well into her fifties, the relative absence of older dancers on stage has been even more glaring in classical ballet. How many principals have been forced to put away their pointe shoes when they were at their artistic peak? Fortunately, perceptions have started to change over the last twenty years, withs physical maturity increasingly on display on stage.

A number of recent initiatives in the dance world have been tackling the question of aging head on. The Dance on, Pass on, Dream on project, a four-year cooperation between twelve European organizations from 2016 to 2019, aimed to showcase the experience, charisma and pedagogical qualities of older dancers. And Berlin-based Dance On Ensemble, open to professionals over forty, has called on international choreographers – including high-profile names like William Forsythe – to create a dedicated repertoire for the company. Its founder Madeline Ritter spoke alongside sociologist Juliette Rennes, artist Cécile Proust, and choreographer Anne Martin on the topic of “dance and age” at the 2023 Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, at an event co-organized by the CN D and the production company Kumquat. The four women discussed what older dancers bring to the field, the problem of many companies’ repertories, and the need to “shake things up.”

These themes were echoed in a series of interviews with Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián, recorded at his long-time home in The Hague. He spoke about NDT 3 – a company for so-called “senior” dancers that he founded in 1991, well before others in the dance world had begun to tackle the topic of aging.  These four exclusive videos for CN D Magazine shed light on this pioneering choreographer’s singular point of view.

Isabelle Calabre is a journalist specializing in culture and dance, who works with several magazines: Danza&Danza, CN D Magazine and Le Parisien Week-end. She is the author of the book Hip hop et Cies, 1993-2012 as well as the YA book Je danse à l’Opéra (ed. Parigramme). Additionally, she has conducted research on West Indian and Guyanese quadrilles that has led to an essay submitted to the CN D in 2023, as well as an inventory of theses Creole social dances for their inclusion in France's Universal Cultural Heritage list. In 2024, she published the illustrated album Moi aussi je danse le quadrille (ed. Caraïbéditions). This is the first title in a new collection showcasing the diversity of dances and the children who practise them.

Composer and violinist Gabriel Majou holds a degree in image music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was awarded the Georges Delerue Foundation composition prize. He collaborates with dance companies: in 2023 he created the score for Vïa by Fouad Bossouf with the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, and in 2024 for Moun Bakannal, a new piece by choreographer Chantal Loïal. He also produces videos presenting dance performances and dance artists.

NDT 3 - Four interviews with Jiří Kylián: birth, identity, repertoire, uniqueness
Director: Gabriel Majou
Journalist: Isabelle Calabre

DoPoDo
By Bureau Ritter, Berlin; Sadler's Wells, London; Holland Dance Festival, Den Haag; STUK, Leuven; Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia, Ljubljana; Mercat de les Flors, Barcelona; Station Service for Contemporary Dance, Belgrade; Jus de la Vie | Age on Stage, Stockholm; Codarts, Rotterdam; Kumquat, Paris; Onassis Stegi, Athens.
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The question-and-answer session for the “dance and age” event at CN D Lyon was led by two students from the Master of Performing Arts program at Lyon II University: Océane Megevand and Violette Dulac Chabrière, under the direction of Marie Quiblier.

Ce que l’âge apporte à la danse (What age brings to dance)
Program coordinated by Cécile Proust
From October 15 to 19 at la Maison de la danse de Lyon