Sylvie Guillem is a retired ballerina often hailed as the best of her generation. She was dauntless enough to leave Rudolf Nureyev’s wings, criticize a reward gifted to her, and start with contemporary dance when most people would think she was no longer in her prime condition.
A talented dancer with strong body language and a special personality – that’s Sylvie Guillem for you.
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Sylvie Guillem’s Biography
- Birthname: Sylvie Guillem
- Birthday: February 23th, 1965
- Nationality: France
- Parents: Unknown names
- Siblings: One brother and two half-brothers
- Spouse: Gilles Tapie
- Height: 5 feet 9 inches (~172 cm)
- Weight: 123 lb / 56 kg
- Net Worth: ~$1.5 million
Early Life
Sylvie Guillem was born in Paris to a working-class family. Her father was a mechanic and her mother was a teacher of gymnastics. It was quite natural for Guillem to be familiar with gymnastics before anything else.
At 11 years old, Guillem attended Paris Opera Ballet School and her talent caught the attention of former school director Claude Bessy. Five years later, Guillem was a proud member of the corps de ballet.
It was quite surprising that Guillem didn’t feel passionate about dancing until she stepped onto the stage and experienced what a performance would be like.
The Way To Become A Professional Ballet Dancer
In Paris
The 18-year-old Guillem ventured into the professional zone with her participation in the Varna International Ballet Competition, in which she competed in the junior division and won the special prize.
Good news after good news, she got her first solo in Don Quixote after the competition, staged by the legendary Rudolf Nureyev.
The very next year, she starred in Nureyev’s Swan Lake and got promoted to the top ranking, which made her the youngest étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet.
In 1988, she got Giselle’s title role in Nureyev’s 50th birthday celebration, marking a successful ending with Paris and paving the way for her to be an international ballerina.
Most dancers wouldn’t have left such a renowned company where they were known as the protégée of Rudolf Nureyev, yet Guillem has always been different.
Check more: Martha Graham – The American Legacy’s Biography, Ballet Contribution
Global Recognition
In her next destination – London – Guillem became a principal guest artist for the Royal Ballet due to her choice to be an independent ballerina.
She was an exception, allowed to choose suitable partners, costumes, photoshoots, and of course, ballets to perform.
People fondly call her “Mademoiselle Non” (Ms. No) during this special era of her life. And Guillem later agreed that the image created by that nickname probably had intimidated people and taken many great opportunities away from her.
A few years passed before we learned what she had been preparing. The dance TV program Evidentia, created by her, was acknowledged with international rewards.
Bold and audacious, Guillem continued to surprise the audience by staging her version of Giselle, a work she was quite well-known for. The 1995 production belonged to the Finnish National Ballet and she came up with a new version for La Scala Ballet later in 2001.
Not so long after the collaboration with La Scala, Guillem won the first Nijinsky Prize as the best ballerina in the world, which she transparently showed her disdain for and unhesitantly called “the supermarket culture”.
The busy year didn’t end there, as she soon appeared on France’s Vogue in nudity.
In her late thirties, she continued to amaze the audience in Broken Fall (2003). Her dance partners still told stories about how she practiced a move all night long and bruised herself to get it perfected over one night.
Transition and Retirement
Within a few years, Guillem gradually changed her lane from ballet to contemporary dancing and became an Associate Artist for the Sadler’s Wells Theatre alongside fellow performers such as Akram Khan.
Most dance experts saw her moves as brave and maybe even a little crazy. 40-year-old ballerinas are rare, yet Guillem still chose to challenge herself with something different.
She later revealed that she had never gotten a ballet created and given to her only, which inevitably made her feel like she was only a part of something she had no control over. And Sadler’s gave her the exclusiveness in artistry that she always longed for.
In exchange, Sadler’s ticket sales and media coverage also skyrocketed with the name Sylvie Guillem in its lineup.
Roughly a decade later, Guillem decided to retire as a dancer. She organized a worldwide tour named Life in Progress, featuring works of her contemporary dance partners.
The last performance of the tour ended at the very last moment of 2015.
Forward to 2021, Guillem had an interview with Daniil Simkin, where she shared about her life after retirement and her opinions on artistry.
Awards & Honors
As an accomplished dancer, Guillem proudly held the title Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2003.
Across the ocean, the Japan Art Association also extended their acknowledgment to Guillem with a Praemium Imperiale prize in 2015, specifically for the field of film and theatre.
The list of Guillem’s awards is much longer as seen in the following list:
- Special Prize at the Varna International Ballet Competition (1983)
- Grand Prix national de danse & Commandeur of the Arts et Lettres (1988)
- Grand Prix Pavlova (1989)
- Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur (1994)
- Officier of the Ordre national du Mérite (1999)
- Officier of the Légion d’honneur (2009)
- Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Biennale Danza, Venice (2012)
- Critics’ Circle National Dance Award: De Valois Award (2016)
Personal Life
Sylvie Guillem’s husband is Gilles Tapie and they got married in 2006. He is a fashion photographer. When Guillem was occupied with performances and tours, the couple would go back and forth between their French and London houses.
During her leisure time, Guillem enjoys studying Japanese, gardening, and making pottery. She is quite strict about her offstage presence and uninterested in being recognized by her face if people can’t tell what she does.
Sylvie Guillem Nowadays
Now no longer chained to the spotlight, Guillem was more comfortable than ever talking about her life.
As a tight-knit photographer having worked with her wittily noted, what Guillem’s body can do is truly a gift from heaven, a wonder, yet it wouldn’t have made one a superstar without a colorful mind like hers.
Therefore, we believe Guillem wholeheartedly when she says she is still exploring and she is ready for things she has never tried.
Nonetheless, running a company seems off the list for this woman, as she wittily said a director would need to please people and she isn’t one for the job.
Final Words
One could say Sylvie Guillem was technically a follower of Rudolf Nureyev or Mikhail Baryshnikov because they also stepped into the field of modern dancing.
However, no star ballerina has ever negotiated their contract, hired their preferred choreographers, and reached beyond what their company could offer. Beyond her talents, she surely has a mind that could pick anyone’s brain.