April 23, 1999
I did not know the existence of Sylvie Guillem not until the beginning of this year when I happened to view the excerpt of her interview and her dancing on TV in Los Angeles. I was very much impressed with her stunning figure and superb dancing and more so with her pure expression on her face, which was closed up on the screen and the way she spoke and the content of her talking. “She is a real person!” I felt like finding an oasis in a desert. Fortunately, I got a ticket for her performance of Manon in Tokyo. I flew to Japan to see her performance.
Three acts and seven scenes.
It wasn’t easy long hours for performing sides and spectators’. But, from the beginning to the end, I kept muttering, “Wa…great!” Her beautiful long leg artlessly extended so high and stopped as if nailed in the air. She raised her arms effortlessly, yet she never failed to form grace in each second with her movement. It was more than that Sylvie was acting as Manon. Sylvie transformed to be Manon. Her partner, Jonathan Cope, was also no longer Acting.
He himself transform into Des Grieux.
Moreover, even spectators were no longer the audience, being engulfed by the exciting drama of Manon and Des Grieux, they identified with the stage and became themselves Manon and Des Grieux. Amid that excitement, Manon finally fell.
De Grieux tried to revive her in vain.
Amid the grief of Des Grieux, the final curtain had fallen. Caution Calls! Among thunderous applause, Guillem and Cope came back to be themselves and faced the audience.
With a beaming smile, they responded to the audience’s heart. As if they were saying, “Yeah! We did a good job, didn’t we, ha.” padding shoulders of each audience.
Guillem put her message on the performance program of the following content. “We are actors rather than dancers. With intelligence, sincerity, talent and passion, we will be acting. I do believe that Ballet should be danced as we do.” After the performance, I deeply understood what she meant. Why can she dance so energetic? Why can she express such lively feelings through her precise technique? As she talked in several interviews, she never danced just to be accepted by others. She dances as she feels right. She disciplines herself to her satisfaction and perfection and subjects herself to self-revelation. The core of her personality structure is to respect own feeling and own value and to establish true self. Her well-integrated and unified personality structure, in Japanese, we have an inclusive word, “Seishin” ( which she calls “personality”) permeate through her movement and Acting and bloom to make Guillem the most sensational dancer.
There is a lot of dancers who can leap as high as Guillem. There is a lot of dancers who can extend their legs as high as Guillem does. But when Guillem does the same thing, she does not fail to storm sensation. When she raises her leg high and stops it in the air as if it were nailed, there is an overwhelming sensation which is keen to when a great Kabuki Actor does “Omie” (pose for dramatic effect).
Jonathan Cope was also completely transformed as a young man in the 18th century who was captivated by attractive Manon. If the prima donna is Light, he becomes Shadow to make a beautiful contrast. He forms the perfect partner to support a prima donna physically, mentally, and emotionally. He devotes himself, mentally and physically, and emotionally to let a prima donna leap, jump most gracefully.
Becoming supporting forth, lighting up the prima donna, he proudly exhibited his excellence as a male dancer.
Ballet was born in the culture of “Ladies First.” Under the assumption, “Frailty, thy name is a woman.”, To protect and respect the weak, women are the virtue of gentlemanship to proud masculinity. So, “ladies first” does not mean that “Respect women and look-down men.” Because men are strong and superior, that is the very reason to protect and respect weak women.” So “lady is first.” is still a product of male superiority. As long as westerner male dancers danced Ballet, it was smoothly accepted as foreign art. But when Japanese male dancers dance Ballet, traditional Japanese value, “Respect Men and look-down Women” submerges in the Japanese audience and Japanese male dancers. Japanese male dancers are to dance Ballet, rejecting and fighting with that notion.
The notion, “How dare keep lifting women’s bud shamelessly. Aren’t you a Japanese man? Shame on you.” To which a counter-response would be, “You, Barbarian! The way you think is anachronism.” Such psychological turmoil will cause self-consciousness and disturb Japanese male dancers to give themselves wholly to act out the role.
This is the big hurdle for the development of Japanese male dancers in Japan.
There is a theory that “Art is the sublimation of sex drive.” If we define the ultimate sex is how beautifully a man can let a woman feel and let her leap high(ecstasy) and on the other hand, how beautifully a woman can feel and interpret the strength of a man and how high she can leap(ecstasy), then Ballet is a sublimation of sexual drive, that is ART.
When we learn from the personality structure of Sylvie Guillem, “I don’t want to dance to be approved by others. For my satisfaction, as I feel right, as I satisfy, I do give my soul and body, my feeling and mind to dance and act the given role.”, Japanese male dancer will be able to transcend from the obstacle, “It’s an embarrassment to treat women with western manner for Japanese men.”, which derived from traditional values, “Respect men, look down women.”
According to an interview taken by Cristina Cabarillo De Albornoz ( Dec 1997), Guillem said she is fond of Japan. There are still good traditional customs and values that, she worries, may be lost in the course of westernizing themselves. This graceful princess of dance, Sylvie Guillem, is addressing to Japanese, demonstrating a role model by her dancing, “Dear Japanese, please do not lose, KOKORO, SEISHIN, (Japanese words which include feeling, mentality, conscientiousness). In this era, no longer we were molded by exterior force to have them, but, we still can have kokoro, seishin in ourselves for ourselves.”