Falling Angels (Kylian, 1989)

(Jiri Kylian, speaking in a filmed documentary in 1991) “Maybe many of my later works are full of questions more than answers but I find it extremely exciting to be able to come nearer to the question to which I am pretty sure there are no answers. But just to be able to ask the questions I find very exciting.” (Jiri Kylian, speaking in a filmed documentary in 1991)

Early influences In the early 1990s Czechoslovakia split into two countries: The Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both are recent members of the European Union. Thus, all of Jiri Kylian's formative years were under a communist regime with its stifling conformity and lack of personal freedoms. Kylian has said "the only colours I remember from my youth are grey, brown and black. And I don't just mean visual colours; they were also the colours of my feelings. The bleak uniformity imposed upon us was devastating".

Other influences In 1967 Kylian was awarded a scholarship to Royal Ballet School, London. London pulsed with new drama, new films and music of all kinds and experimental art and fashion. Kylian has said that his one year in London was the most important part of his life to date. He said that he "saw everything"! The young Kylian loved film and this can be seen in the strong visual aesthetic of his works.

Falling Angels is the last of a series of six dances that later became known as the "Black and White Ballets" primarily because of the abandonment of colour.

Style post-1980 Eclectic: Smooth, elegant classical lines are followed by several sharp, percussive movements which introduce a series of spasms, twitches and jerks before a duet of exquisite beauty morphs into a compelling shape only to fall apart. It seems that anything can happen. "There is a line in my work which refers to the whereabouts of our existence ... I have no longing for a message or a mission. I believe that the search for characteristics and values which belong to all races of all times is a journey worthy of the effort.” (Kylian)

Perhaps the strongest feature of his post-1980 works is his use of symbols and metaphors. He has spoken of his dislike for Abstraction referring instead to his process of "economy of means". "Getting to the essence takes a tremendous amount of work; one distils until one gets there. My notebooks are packed with information, designs, associative material. I finally absorb it all, throw it away and begin to choreograph. The material is slowly pared down until a cube emerges that may seem abstract, but that wouldn't have its particular qualities if one hadn't drilled down through all the strata to the point in which one was actually interested."

Dance analysis: Falling Angels (Kylian, 1989) Make notes on the following: Movement components (RADS) Design elements (costume, set, staging) Aural Setting Choreographic devices Structural features Performance characteristics (focus) Meaning / interpretation

Additional notes for analysis: Falling Angels was created in 1989 as one Kylián’s Black and White Ballets. The Black and White ballets consisted of six pieces, with Falling Angel being dance 6. It is choreographed to Steve Reich’s Drumming (Part One) created in 1971, which was based on ceremonial ritual music from Ghana (West Africa). Throughout Fallen Angels there is the use of mesmeric choral movement and repeated phrases. Falling Angels is for 8 women and depicts female dancers in their aim to achieve perfection but succumb in various stages to the human female psyche and female events such as ambition, seduction, pregnancy, birth, death, motherhood and self-awareness.  Kylián was influenced by surrealism and minimalism during the creation of this work and the ‘Black and White Ballets’. In this ballet we see the combination of classical lines and sharp percussive movements that give unpredictability to the piece as a whole.