Another Award for Jiří Kylián
On May 23, 2015, Jiri Kylian received the László Seregi Award in Budapest, Hungary. Kylian writes about being recipient of this Award the following:
Dear friends,
Let me thank you for choosing me as the recipient of the first László Seregi award. As you know, I was always interested in promoting cultural exchange between the countries of the former “Eastern block” of Europe and the western countries. This was something very close to my heart. I always felt that these two parts of Europe, separated by extremely unfortunate consequences of World war II, have many possibilities to Erich their cultural horizon. I always believed, that our company - Nederlands Dans Theater - should travel to all countries of the world, even to countries with oppressive or even dictatorial political leadership.
I found it important that artists from countries of any political system should have the opportunity to be in dialogue with the rest of the world. I spent much of my life in the time of the “cold war”, the time in which politicians from the east would not speak with their counterparts in the west. And if they did, their mouths were filled with insults. In the meantime it seems that this situation has improved, but in fact it didn’t improve essentially at all. Yes, we are the first central European generation, which was incredibly lucky, because it didn’t have to experience war.... But how long will this last....? Are we so sure that our children will be as lucky? The answer is “No”, we are not sure of this at all. And we should do everything in our power to prevent this from happening again.
Please forgive me for my small excursion into the world of politics, but as you are aware, this year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism. When I see the photographs and the films of this terrible time, I feel that it must have been 200 years ago, but no.... it was happening two years before I was born. Since then there were two wars fought at the doorstep of Hungary - in Yugoslavia and in Ukraine. I am sorry, and I beg you for your forgiveness one more time....
About dance....! Well, dance and music are the best communicators people have ever invented. They do not need words. They are the two art forms connecting all humanity. They are the most positive cultural output human beings ever created. They speak from heart to heart without having to be translated. And I think that a significant part of our energy should be focused on their unique quality: communication.
Dear friends, please let me express my profound thanks for giving me this award, which carries the name of a very important and charismatic figure of dance of the post war era - László Seregi. We have never met, but his name accompanied much of my life. My contacts to Hungary and my admiration for Hungarian artists have a great tradition. I will not be tempted to mention any names out of fear of omitting someone. But please rest assured that there are many....!
Thank you and with sincere gratitude - Jiří Kylián The Hague, the Netherlands – May 9, 2015Zdroj: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jiří-Kylián/11043429335
Josef Bartos
Thank you for your thoughts. One got stuck in my mind – that passion makes us different from AI. Just yesterday I read…I am a dance critic. I am a member of an endangered species