William Forsythe
Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy
Thursday, March 13, 10-11:30 a.m. PDT
William Forsythe is a choreographer whose work has extended ballet to a dynamic contemporary art form. Forsythe danced with New York’s Joffrey Ballet and later with the Stuttgart Ballet in Germany, where he was appointed resident choreographer in 1976. Over the next seven years, he created new works for the Stuttgart ensemble and other ballet companies worldwide. In 1984, he began a 20-year tenure as director of Ballet Frankfurt. After the closure of the Ballet Frankfurt in 2004, Forsythe established a new, more independent ensemble, The Forsythe Company, which he directed from 2005 to 2015. Between 2015 and 2021 he served on the University of Southern California’s faculty, where he helped establish the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Forsythe has broken the boundaries of conventional ballet style, challenging traditional artistic frameworks and developing improvisation techniques. His projects include installations and films presented in numerous museums, as well as dance documentation and education.
“A pioneer of contemporary ballet, William Forsythe burst onto the dance scene in the early 1980s disrupting all that had come before him. Building upon the shoulders of George Balanchine, who changed the genre in the early 20th century from a story/spectacle-focused art form to a celebration of pure, minimalist dance, Forsythe introduced improvisation, chance and an iconoclastic wit to ballet,” said Lisa Portes, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at UC San Diego. “His deep curiosity about the possibilities of the form has resulted not only in dozens of choreographed pieces featured in New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris and across the globe, but in numerous experimental installations both in actual space and online. His dedication to exploration, breaking boundaries and the athleticism of the human body chart a new way of collaborating with dancers and of thinking about dance writ large.”
ABOUT THE KYOTO PRIZE: The Kyoto Prize is presented each year by Japan’s nonprofit Inamori Foundation to individuals and groups worldwide who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to the betterment of society, in “Advanced Technology,” “Basic Sciences,” and “Arts and Philosophy.” The prize consists of a diploma, a Kyoto Prize medal and prize money of 100 million yen (approximately $650,000) per category, making it Japan’s highest private award for global achievement.
ABOUT THE INAMORI FOUNDATION: The Inamori Foundation is a nonprofit established in Kyoto, Japan, in 1984 by the late Dr. Kazuo Inamori, whose career included founding Kyocera Corp. and serving as honorary advisor to both KDDI Corp. and Japan Airlines. Inamori created the Kyoto Prize in reflection of his belief that people have no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of humankind and society, and that the future of humanity can be assured only when there is a balance between scientific development and the enrichment of the human spirit.
ABOUT THE KYOTO SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZATION: The Kyoto Symposium Organization is a San Diego-based 501(c)3 nonprofit established to support the Kyoto Prize Symposium and Kyoto Prize Scholarship programs with the Inamori Foundation and co-hosts University of California San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene University. Since 2002, the symposium has generated more than $5 million for scholarships, fellowships and other educational opportunities in the San Diego-Baja region.
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