Sylvie Guillem - Force of Nature The Culture Show

This is a film about one of the greatest ballerinas and dancers of

our time. Hand-picked by Rudolf Nureyev at the age of 19, she was

the youngest ever highest ranking female dancer at the Paris Opera

Ballet and later the star of the royal beat here in London. Le dancer

at the Paris Opera Ballet and later the star of the royal beat here in

London. -- the Royal Ballet in London. Throughout her career her

career Sylvie Guillem earned a nickname "Madamoiselle Non!". ". You

have one life. If you spend your life just doing what people tell you

to do, it is not your life. It is their life. I want a life. At 48

years old Guillem remains an imperious physical force and is the

closest thing dance has to a Hollywood supersubstantial. She has

a great presence. With Sylvie there were never any limitations. She is

spectacular. She is completely unique. But with an eye on life

after dance, Guillem is now reinventing herself as a radical

environmental campaigner. Does it make a difference between a tuna or

a shark? It kills everything. With exclusive access filmed over several

months, this film explores what happens when a force of nature

becomes a force for nature. There is not enough fish for Africa and not

enough fish for Senegal. And follows Guillem as she continues to defy her

own body, confronting the future while remaining one of dance's most

mesmerising trailblazers. I've got to get naked? I'm going to

cover you up. It is the morning before a major performance of Sylvie

Guillem's latest show called 6,000 Miles Away at London's Sadler's

Wells theatre. A warm-up process honed over 30 years starts. Mentally

it is really relaxing. Usually it is relacking, when you don't have to

answer questions. To keep in form it is a lot of work, but I was lucky to

have a body that was helping me. I didn't have to force my body to a

certain extent. I was, I am supple enough and strong enough at the same

time, and I didn't have a lot of injury. I was quite lucky with that.

I feel good and I am 48. Maybe it is not normal, but I feel good. I never

go on stage without having done everything I could to present it the

best I could. Is it being being a perfectionist? I don't know. I go to

the maximum that I can give to be ready to present it. Guillem has

been doing extraordinary things with her body since she was a child. She

started out with a gymnast with Olympic ambitions before joining

France's boast prestigious dance school. There was an exchange

between the Paris Opera Ballet and the national team of gymnastics. We

had been selected to spend a year at Paris Opera Ballet School. I didn't

want to be a dancer. I wanted to be a gymnast. I had no idea special,

and I discovered dance like that. And I hated the discipline. I said

that gymnastics was more fun. I hated the ballet class. I thought

the teacher was not very nice, but at the end of this year there was a

show. I did the show and I loved it. It was really a trigger for the all

the rest. For me it was incredible. I knew that something was there. I

really knew. So did everyone who saw her perform. And at just 19 she was

promoted by the great Rudolf Nureyev to star dancer at the Paris Opera

Ballet. An unprecedented accolade for one so young. Usually when you

are an etoile much later, so you start your mistakes much later. You

lose time. I was not losing time. This, Rudolf Nureyev knew that. He

was fantastic for that. He knew exactly that when you are a dancer

it is now, it is when you want it, when you are motivated for it. When

you have the will, when your wings are big that you have to go on

stage. He was not part of the people who

was saying you have to wait and you He was not part of the people who

have to suffer and you have to wait again and suffer again. And at the

end you lose all the spirit. But the relationship between old

maestro and young virtuoso was a tempestuous one. Rudolf Nureyev was,

yes, he was difficult. He was a big star. He was very shy. He also had

problems to communicate. I was very young. I was very shy and I will a

lot of problems to communicate. It was quite explosive. Each time we

didn't agree. Rudolf had also a great character and great

personality. But when she was dancing with him it was one person.

Rudolf was very impressed by that. He said, she is so young and she

wants to be like me. She is on stage and I feel I'm not alone, she's

there. She has a presence, a very great presence. The difference of

age was quite a lot. Of size too. But it was being on stage with

Rudolf Nureyev. Nureyev also encouraged Sylvie to

work with modern dance choreographers, nurturing a passion

that endures to this day. It was great for me, because I really

started to see how big the world was. We wanted to show a lot, to

open that door, to go through that window. Those experiences for me

became really important. That's what I wanted to go on doing. The. Those

experiences for me became really important. That's what I wanted to

go on doing. The seal -- this zeal for new challenges has repeatedly

driven her to seek out the world's most experimental dance talent. She

is spectacular. She's has has a flexibility that you rarely see, an

an aesthetic through ular. She's has a flexibility that you rarely see,

an an aesthetic through her body - beautiful feet, beautiful legs,

an an aesthetic through her body - poise through her upper body and

arms so that the positions that she makes are really quite beautiful.

Sometimes you see something and think, God, I would like to be part

of it, to try that. To experience it with something with maybe you don't

know, you haven't seen, or it is a way of saying things differently,

and you want to experience it. To work with Russell Maliphant was

that. I wanted to be part of it. In order to love something you have

to question it. I think that's something that she really, she has

that thirst for questioning things, to constantly visit new places,

visit new areas through her body. When it comes to perfection she is

annoying. She just annoys the hell out of me. When we are super-tight

and we've done loads of shows she is still fussy about this little

movement. I keep on saying to myself, who is the director of the

show? Shouldn't I be the one? In a way, she sets the example. That's

why she is who she is partly, way, she sets the example. That's

because she is a perfectionist. So sustain such impeck possible

standards Sylvie follows a strict performance day routine. I have to

eat, sleep, go back and start to warm up and try to fix everything

before the show. Come on, I'm hungry. During the day, the hours

before the show, they are terrible, because you know what you are going

to go through. It's the knowledge that makes you scared. When you

don't know anything you are not scared. When you do, you are.

The only thing I know is that it is needed. One day I was not afraid, I

danced. It was very difficult. Even more than usual. And I didn't have

the pleasure. So I said, next time I'm not afraid, I don't go on stage.

But fear alone has never been enough to stop Guillem doing exactly what

she wants. In 1989 she shocked the dance world by abandoning Nureyev

and the Paris Opera Ballet. I started to be invited here and

there. I realised that I was very tied to Paris Opera Ballet in the

kind of an administrative way. You had to ask for permission to go

outside, and they could say yes or no. I said to them, give me the

freedom or I leave. No-one leaves Paris Opera Ballet. In fact I did. I

wanted to make my own choice. I wanted to take responsibility for my

life basically. The world's most excite young dancer chose London as

her new home, becoming principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet.

It is good because I have 25 performances after I'm free I do

what I want. I like London, because of the town and of the people. It is

very charming. But it was here she earned the nickname "Madamoiselle

Non!". When Sylvie first joined the Royal Ballet I wasn't sure how the

relationship would go. I was thrilled she was there but it wasn't

long before some of my suggestions for getting her into a different

repertoire was met with a rather blu n non. I suppose in the Royal Ballet

and the British spirit of don't make a wave, and be polite and avoid

confrontation, that was not in her repertoire. I was not going to start

again the same mistake that in Paris Opera, where you have to do what

they tell you to do. If they offer you something and you don't that

that something and you say no. They were a little bit upset by that.

First because it was a no and maybe the way I said it. Maybe I should

have said it nicely. I said just no. A lot of feathers were ruffled at

times, but what you got on that stage, if that's the way she got

there, it was worth it. I can't feel happy with compromise.

I never could do things that I didn't feel.

She had this ability to lift her legs very high. She is so strong she

was able to hold those extensions securely at that height, which I

don't think anybody else could do. She was probably the first to be so

extreme. The thing that sticks out in my mind

is the double flips that she does in the air. She seemed to be able to

get more height than anyone. She would be three or four feet above my

arms. Sylvie was more intense than other partners. You felt you were

getting deeper into the role. I think because of her commitment to

it. To be on stage it is a person, it is not only a dancer, otherwise

why me? Why me on stage at that moment? It's really personal.

APPLAUSE This year has already seen Guillem

perform in Australia, Russia and Italy, with upcoming dates in

Singapore and Japan. But when not touring home is high up in the Swiss

mountains. I guess I'm sensitive to this kind of environment. Strong,

beautiful, quiet, except for the water. There are some places where I

feel comfortable and this is one of them. It's good, because it replaces

you a little bit among these big things we are part of. It's not only

controlling, I need to go, there I need to do that. No, here it is like

OK, you are not the one who decides all the time. She's going to smell

terrible, because she found some, what kind of... No, time. She's

terrible, because she found some, going to smell terrible, because she

found some, what kind of... No, no - OK, I time. She's going to smell

terrible, because she found some, what kind of... No, no - OK, I don't

have kids - I have dogs. It's fine. I didn't especially want kids. OK.

No problem. Less problem in fact. Not to have any kids. It's hard

enough to take care of yourself and on top of that if you have to raise

kids, especially in the world we are living in. I don't think they are

going to have a nice life. There are others that feel the same and this

cynicism springs from a recent environmental awakening that's

offered a timely new focus for Guillem's unyielding passion. She's

become an ardent supporter of a controversial marine protection

society called Sea Shepherd. The group's founder, Paul Watson, is a

hero to many. But also the world's most wanted eco-warrior, famous for

using direct action to expose and confront destructive whaling and

fishing practices. You are in a whale sanctuary and you are

assisting in illegal activity. Remove yourself from these waters

immediately! They are on the spot, at sea, or where the problem is to

try to stop it. It is less communication, more action and it is

try to stop it. It is less more like me. It is more what I

think. After a while you have to do things otherwise you can't just sit

and wait for these things to be worse and worse. She's come to

Senegal in West Africa, as part of a Sea Shepherd recce to discover more

about the human and environmental impact of illegal trawler fishing in

the country's waters. The fishermen here, they can't compete with those

huge boats who are taking everything. Destroying life at sea

huge boats who are taking and life here. The situation is

quite critical. Traditional fishing communities give Sylvie an insight

into the scale of the problems. He is the President of the artisan for

the fishery and he wants to say the problem they have is all the

countries who can't have any fish in their own country they come and fish

here. In Senegal the only thing they have to live. Those people, they

don't even come legally. They fish have to live. Those people, they

without licence, without paying anything, and they just empty the

sea. So it affects the whole anything, and they just empty the

population, the way that economically they can't survive.

There's not enough fish for Africa and there is not touch for Senegal.

Way that economically they can't survive. There's not enough fish for

Africa and there is not touch for Senegal. -- not enough fish for

Senegal. They said that now they are reduced

to fishing the small fish instead of letting them grow, so they are

fishing their future basically. Illegal fishing causes other

unwanted side effects, and the Senegalese Minister for Ecology is

taking Sylvie to see a Spanish tuna trawler that's run aground just off

the coast. So the problem is that this boat, it hit the island here

and it is sinking is, but there is some gas oil in it. They are pumping

the petrol out. They are trying to take off the net. An enormous net

that doesn't make the difference between a tuna or a shark. Shark. It

kills everything. It is better if it is out of the sea. So they are going

to take care of it. Here we have two tanks of gasoline. We put here the

first pump and we take the gasoline, because we need that, they don't go

to the sea. It is difficult, because here we have some waves, the boat is

moving. We have to go fast because the sea can be strong. With limited

resources at his disposal the Minister is hoping for Sea

Shepherd's assistance in the future to help patrol and survey Senegalese

waters. Sea Shepherd can help, because they have a strong

experience for survey. We need to survey our sea, because we have a

lot of big boats who come in Africa, who take fish. We need help for

survey that. I think that Sea Shepherd is strong for that. We need

that help. MJ is pulling that cable through...

Senegal's problems seem a long way from the bright lights of the

international dance world, but back at Sadler's Wells theatre in London

Sylvie Guillem is using her 6,000 miles away show to raise awareness

and funds for Sea Shepherd's campaign as. Yet behind the scenes

the pressures of performance remain the same. We were in New York and

Rudolf asked me, are you afraid before you dance, before you go on

stage? I said to him, yes, I am very afraid. He looked at me with his

little shiny eyes and he said, you will see it is going to be worse and

worse. He was right. He was right. It's getting worse and worse. But

once I am on stage it's over. Her first performance of the evening is

a duet called Rearray created by American choreographer William

Forsythe. A lot of it is improvisation, so you can't let

yourself go. You have to have the concentration.

You have to use your brains. It is very tiring. Improvisation can be

good one day and can be reterrible the other day. It is very tiring.

Improvisation can be good one day and can be reterrible the other day.

-- really terrible the other day. But it is interesting, because

really about the moment. And also it is very difficult, because the music

is not easy. Usually we get the music to help us. It takes a part of

the body, doing the things without really noticing it. But this one we

really ody, doing the things without really noticing it. But this one we

really have to - I don't know how you say ody, doing the things

without really noticing it. But this one we really have to - I don't know

how you say it in English - to tame it.

APPLAUSE Her final piece is a more intimate

creation by Swedish choreographer Mats Ek. The piece of Mats Ek, which

is the solo, is different in respect that it's a character that Mats

imagines being inspired by maybe me. I think he had a very precise idea

of what this solo should tell. It's a story of a woman. I feel that

there is many women in that solo. Solo. There is someone that didn't

really grow up. And someone who doesn't like to turn

pages but someone who has to turn pages. Some people see it as a

little girl who has a kind of a great time, a crazy time on stage.

And some people see it as a woman facing age and time. I would say

something like 48 years of reaction of a woman and the experiences.

I didn't need that solo to know that things have an end. A love store,

all have an end. I know that for a long time. But it's a nice way to

put it. And also to face the things directly, sometimes it is much

better than to put your head in the sand.

Some moments, even if they are great, have to tend at one point.

And to start something else. A trance is has to be made. That's are

great, have to tend at one point. And to start something else. A

trance is has to be made. That's for sure -- a transition has to be made,

that's for sure, but I have the things, the fact that I made Sea

Shepherd and the association and I'm really into those kinds of things.

It helps you to take another direction. I can't just stop and cry

all the tears of my body because I'm going to stop dancing. That's it.

That's the way it is. Is. Everything has a time. I did it the way I

wanted all those years. I'm still doing it for a few years the with

way I like it, best I can. But I know that I want to do it that way

and not going downhill and trying to just get a grip on that hill. I

prefer to use it to go up again. To use it as a springboard. Voila.