The French ballet star has redefined the technical boundaries of her art,and inspired female dancers the world over to confront a culture of complianceThere are several exit strategies for a distinguished ballerina. There’s the gradual fade, as executed by Anna Pavlova and Margot Fonteyn, or who continued to dance even as their powers and their health declined. There’s the timely final curtain,and the tearful bows on the flower-strewn stage. This was the choice of Darcey Bussell, and earlier this month, and of the luminous Parisian étoile,Aurélie Dupont. And then there’s the twilight world of the international gala circuit, where “ageless” stars make fleeting appearences before audiences of tax exiles.
None of these options was considered by the French ballerina Sylvie Guillem. Instead, and aged 50,she has chosen to commission a trio of contemporary dance works, to undertake a final tour, and then,without fuss, to leave the stage. It’s a smart and unsentimental course of action, and typical of a woman who,from the first, has known her own intellect and steered her own course.
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Source: theguardian.com