SFDanceworks presents

a workshop on master choreographer Jiří Kylián, given by stager Fiona Lummis

Saturday, November 9, 2-4p
On Z Space’s Steindler Stage
Doors open at 1:30 for self warm up

$25 for participant dancers
$15 for observers

Jiří Kylián started his dance career at the age of nine, at the School of the National Ballet in Prague. In 1962 he was accepted as a student at the Prague Conservatory. He left Prague when he received a scholarship for the Royal Ballet School in London in 1967. After this, he left to join the Stuttgart Ballett led by John Cranko. Kylián made his debut as a choreographer here with Paradox for the Noverre Gesellschaft. After having made three ballets for Nederlands Dans Theater (Viewers, Stoolgame and La Cathédrale Engloutie), he became artistic director of the company in 1975. In 1978 he put Nederlands Dans Theater on the international map with Sinfonietta. That same year, together with Carel Birnie, he founded Nederlands Dans Theater II, which served as a bridge between school and professional company life and was meant to give young dancers the opportunity to develop their skills and talents and to function as a breeding ground for young talent. He also initiated Nederlands Dans Theater III in 1991, the company for older dancers, above forty years of age. This three dimensional structure was unique in the world of dance. After an extraordinary record of service, Kylián handed over the artistic leadership in 1999, but remained associated to the dance company as house choreographer until December 2009.

Jiří Kylián has created nearly 100 works of which many are performed all over the world. Kylián has not only made works for Nederlands Dans Theater, but also for the Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opéra Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsoper Münich, Swedish television and the Tokyo Ballet. Kylián has worked with many creative personalities of international stature – composers: Arne Nordheim (”Ariadne” 1979), Toru Takemitsu (”Dream Time” 1983) – designers: Walter Nobbe (”Sinfonietta” 1978), Bill Katz (”Symphony of Psalms” 1978), John Macfarlane (“Forgotten Land” 1980), Michael Simon (”Stepping Stones” 1991), Atsushi Kitagawara (”One of a Kind” 1998), Susumu Shingu (”Toss of a Dice” 2005), Yoshiki Hishinuma (‘’Zugvögel’’ 2009) To this day, Kylián’s masterpieces are frequently performed by numerous dance companies and schools around the world. http://www.jirikylian.com/existence/

Fiona Lummis was a principal dancer for two decades with the Netherlands Dance Theatre, and was involved in over thirty creations by Jiří Kylián, Hans Van Manen, Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, Christopher Bruce and Mats Ek among other choreographers, as well as dancing featured roles in ballets by William Forsythe, Jerome Robbins, Lar Lubovitch and Glen Tetley and many more. Ms. Lummis is a graduate of the Elmhurst School of Dance in Birmingham, England and the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London. Fiona can be seen on many of the Arthaus films of Kylián’s ballets, including the “Black and White Ballets” and “Kaguyahime.” Fiona works closely with the Kylián and Van Manen foundations, teaching their repertoire in colleges, schools, and companies in the US and Europe.

https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2024/02/19/fiona-lummis-eddy-dance-as-silent-communication/