SYLVIE GUILLEM & AKRAM KHAN
in
SACRED MONSTERS
"Sacred Monsters" is a public dialogue in speech and motion between two artists supremely skilled in different forms of classical dance — artists who share as well a long commitment to contemporary expression. It brings together dancer-choreographer Akram Khan, a master of kathak, one of India's more brilliant classical idioms, and Sylvie Guillem, a ballet star famed for her technique and daring.
Their 70-minute performance Wednesday in the UCLA Live series in Royce Hall represented not only a starry novelty act but also an affirmation — exactly when we needed it — that cultural isolation can be shattered, that East and West can happily coexist and grow productively from person-to-person exchange Lewis Segal, LA Times
Khan and Guillem linked hands and let ripples shake their bodies. It was part dance, part struggle. At one point, Khan refused to take his partner's hand and instead bowed his head like a bull. Without touching her, he "pushed" her away. Later they launched into a dance-fight, a robotic, hip-hop-like duet. The disjointed effect was like a strobe light without the strobe. It was all done through exquisite control of their exquisite bodies. Later, they became a single, multiarmed undulating figure as Guillem wrapped her legs around Khan.
In the past, it was the statuesque Guillem who grabbed, demanded even, our attention. Not on this night. Khan, the short "bald Krishna," was more than a match for Guillem. He wowed us at the end with an intimate argument with himself – "Is this right?" and "Is this wrong?" – as he repeatedly tried standing up on the tops of his feet. Ouch. Laura Bleiberg, Orange County Register
The dance event, at Royce Hall, was an exhilarating exploration of the boundaries and synergy between two classical dance forms, kathak from the Mughal courts and Western ballet. "Sacred Monsters" showcased ballet and kathak disciplines separately and in combination, translating pure dance, lyrical gymnastic movement, spectacular control of bodies, consummate in the self realization of two distinct art forms blending seamlessly. India Post.com
SACRED MONSTERS brings together Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan in an exciting exploration of the boundaries between two great classical dance forms, kathak and ballet, with additional choreography by Lin Hwai-min, Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Taiwan and kathak guru Guari Sharma Tripath, as well as live music specially created for them by Philip Sheppard.
Akram Khan, speaking about this project, said: “I have spent my life studying and performing kathak. It is the source of my creative process. Working with Sylvie Guillem is an exciting new challenge, giving me the opportunity to explore another classical dance language with one of its greatest exponents, and as a result, creating a situation that will unearth the things that are most often lost between the classical and modern world.”
Choreographer/ Dancer - Akram Khan
Dancer - Sylvie Guillem
Additional Choreography - Lin Hwai Min (Sylvie Guillem’s solo)
Additional Choreography - Guari Sharma Tripath (Akram Khan’s solo)
Composer/Cello – Philip Sheppard
Percussion – Coordt Linke
Violin Alies Sluiter
Male Vocal – Faheem Mazhar
Female vocal – Juliette Van Peteghem
Lighting Designer - Mikki Kunttu
Set Designer – Shizuka Hariu
Costume Designer– Kei Ito
Sound Engineer – Manu Corazzini
Choreographic Assistant – Nikoleta Rafaelisova
Dramaturge – Guy Cools
Producer – Farooq Chaudhry
Co-Producers
Les Nuits de Fourviere, Lyon
Grand Theatre de la Ville, Luxembourg
Sadlers Wells, London
Missno Limited
Suported by
Arts Council, England
Bell Cohen Charitable Trust
The Quercus Trust
Structure
Full length work approx 75mins that has three distinct components. A solo by Sylvie, a classical kathak solo by Akram and duet by Akram and Sylvie. There will be live music in an environment that will recreate the informality and spontaneity of an Indian Classical kathak performance.
“Sacred Monsters. Monstres Sacres. The term was used for the first time in France in the 19th century as a nickname for the big stars of the theatre, such as Sarah Bernhardt. It marks the birth of contemporary stardom in which the icons of the arts and sports world are given divine status by their audience and the media.
Sacred Monsters is first and foremost the meeting and exchange of two such ‘stars’ of the present day dance world: Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan.
But there is also a flip side to stardom. Having to live up to the expectancies of your audience to be perfect, positive, good (at), … There is no more room for failure, imperfection, to express one’s real feelings and emotions. The divine status becomes inhuman, monstrous.
The latter being an experience we all share when as children we had to live up to the expectancies of the adults around us: our parents, our teachers, … To some extent all children are ‘sacred monsters’.”
Guy Cool - dramaturge
“This is a tribute to Sylvie, (based on my impression of her during our brief encounter): a vulnerable child and a warrior who holds her fate in her own palms.”
Lin Hwai Min
Akram Khan is one of the most gifted choreographers and dancers of his generation. He began dancing at the age of seven, studying under the great Kathak performer Sri Pratap Pawar. He presented solo performances in the 1990s, gradually developing larger scale works, drawing on his experience and training as a kathak dancer and breaking new ground in his collaborations with other artists – first seen in his first full-length work Kaash, a collaboration with Anish Kapoor and Nitin Sawhney. His production Ma was presented at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004. In 2005 he was made an associate artist of Sadler’s Wells and zero degrees, a collaboration with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Antony Gormley and Nitin Sawhney was premiered at Sadler’s Wells in the same year. In 2005 he received an MBE for his services to Dance.
Sylvie Guillem is perhaps the world’s most celebrated ballerina. She has worked with many of the great choreographers including Maurice Béjart, William Forsythe, and Mats Ek, as well as being acclaimed for her performances of the major classic works of the ballet repertoire. She was Etoile at the Paris Opera Ballet under the direction of Rudolf Nureyev before joining the Royal Ballet in 1990, where she is now Principal Guest Artist. Throughout her extensive career she has received many awards, including the Nijinsky Prize (2000), the Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur (1994), and an honorary CBE (2003).
Philip Sheppard is a virtuoso cellist and a pioneer of the electric cello. He is a professor at The Royal Academy of Music and has composed extensively for film, television and theatre and is a prolific recording artist. Philip has recently composed BBC Television's Easter production The Manchester Passion as well as compositions for Horizon, Simon Schama's History of Britain and Theatre de Complicite's The Elephant Vanishes. He has recently written and recorded with Scott Walker, David Bowie, Damien Hirst, Oasis and Unkle, and appears as improvising soloist on the
soundtracks of The Business, The Virgin Queen, Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire and Hotel Rwanda.
