Балеты Матса Эка: Барышников и Гиллем
The ballets of Mats Ek: Baryshnikov and Guillem

Farewell dances

Is age an obstacle for dance? Certainly, yes. But not when it comes to geniuses - those who age like everyone else but flawlessly master their bodies and know the limits of their abilities. Two works by Swedish choreographer Mats Ek serve as an example of this.

"The Place" is performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov (who was over 60 at the time) and Ek's wife, his muse Ana Laguna. It is a half-hour dialogue - reminiscences, arguments, quarrels, grievances, love, warmth, and the reliability of a familiar back. Two solitudes and a united whole. And if one is destined to outlive the other? What remains after so many years? The place where they were happy together.

"Bye" is a ballet created for the French ballerina Sylvie Guillem. With such a telling title, the unique artist bid farewell to the stage, wishing to leave at the peak of her form. This monologue about life, love, and creativity is highly personal and, at the same time, deeply abstract, combining multiple "I's." The "I" of the ballerina Sylvie Guillem, concluding a brilliant dance career. The "I" of a middle-aged woman, shedding the cocoon of age and the burden of worries in memories. The "I" of an actress who is about to step for the first time beyond the stage and blend into the crowd - crossing the glass wall that separates her from the ordinary world. It is time to say "goodbye" and start a new life