A dancer whose technical perfection is unique, Sylvie Guillemis recognized as one of the greatest ballerinas of our time. Her fame soared in the Eighties, when not only did Guillem revolutionize the aesthetics of the classical ballerina with her “atypical” height and particularly long legs which she twists and throws to the limits of dislocation, but she changed the cliché forever, establishing her artistic personality with determination and independence through the choices she made. Hailed by the public of ballet lovers, Guillem not only possessed physical strength and a technique forged of steel, but she also had the charisma of a real diva. Trained at the school of the Opéra de Paris, which she entered at the age of 12, by the age of 16 she was a member of the corps de ballet and at 19 she was named étoile, the youngest in the history of the Opéra de Paris, by Rudolf Nureyev for her performance in Swan Lake. A series of important roles followed this acknowledgment, often with Nureyev as her partner. From the Opéra de Paris to the Royal Ballet and back to the Opéra, Guillem built a vast repertoire which contributed to her artistic longevity on stages around the world: from the most important ballets in the classical repertoire – Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Raymonda, La Bayadère, Agon, Apollon musagète - to pieces choreographed for her by the most significant contemporary artists, such as William Forsythe, Maurice Béjart, Karole Armitage, Mats Ek, and more recently Russell Maliphant and Akram Khan.

Now appearing at the Biennale di Venezia for the first time, Sylvie Guillem will present her latest production 6000 Miles Away, consisting in a triptych of pieces composed for her by the greatest choreographers: the pas de deux Rearray by William Forsythe, to music by David Murrow, the solo Bye by Mats Ek, to the notes of Beethoven’s last piano sonata, and the duet from 27’52” by Jirì Kyliàn, the latter performed by Aurélie Cayla and Kenta Kojiri, to the music of Dirk Haubrich. An event not to be missed.