Last night we went to New York City Center to see Sylvie Guillem “Life in Progress”. We booked the tickets the day they came out so I’ve been pretty excited about this performance for a very long time. Before the show yesterday I was both excited and sad. This is Sylvie’s last year, her last tour and yesterday was her last performance in New York City. I cried several times during the performance. She is such an amazing dancer and I have admired her for many years.
There were four different performance pieces last night. The first piece, “Technê” by Akram Kahn, was so incredibly beautiful. This solo might be my favorite of all times. I cried. I enjoyed it. I got inspired. And I cried some more. The second piece, “Duo2015” by William Forsythe, was danced by two male dancers mostly in silence. Great dancers and very nice movements but it got a little tedious after a while to see the same kind of moves, until Sylvie jumped in for a few seconds to join the duo and then disappear again. Third piece, “Here & After” by Russel Maliphant, danced by Sylvie and a female dancer went from good to a little boring but with interesting sounds to amazing with great lights, movements and connection between the dancers. It’s also interesting to see Sylvie dance with another woman, because really good dancers appear like there is no effort in their movements, it looks so easy, until you see a really good dancer next to Sylvie:) The last piece, “Bye” by Swedish choreographer Mats Ek, is a piece that I’ve seen before at Lincoln Center in 2012. I love that piece so I didn’t mind seeing it again. In the end of the piece the apple screensaver came up, haha, but it really didn’t matter, who cares when there is perfect dance to watch in front of it.
She got, of course, standing ovation and the absolute longest applause I’ve ever experienced. It just never ended. And she really deserves it. This is her last time performing there and she should know how much people care for her dancing.
Sylvie Guillem turned 50 years old this year which you really can’t tell when she dances. She can make everything seem easy, she can look very serious but what I love the most is that she has this little child that comes out in her movements in some choreographies, especially in Mats Ek’s work. She is a perfectionist and it shows when she dance. Not a single thing that is not perfect. I will forever admire her and be inspired by her work and I will miss her in the dance world. She has six more performances and her last performance is in the end of December and then she will retire.
