sylvie kay's Page

Sylvie KAY studied classical dance from the age of 10, then Tap with her mother Alice KAY, moving on to Paris to study Jazz with Matt MATTOX.
From 1977 to 1983, she travelled to the USA every year to study with the best American teachers of Jazz, Dance and Tap: Al Gilbert, LUIDGI, Phil Black, Henri le Tang, Tommy Walsh and Gus Giordano for whom she became assistant. In New York, in 1981, she gained a diploma from “Dance Educators Of America In Performing Arts”. In 1991, she was named Regional Director of the “American World Jazz Dance Congress"
But Sylvie Kay soon felt the need to create her own choreographic style:
drawing from jazz, tap and contemporary dance she welded together those influences to create an expression that is just hers.
In 1991, she founded her own company and was able to give free expression to her inspiration – always working closely with other musicians. Tap and dance could thus take on a new dimension, full of modernity and emotion. Looking at her panoply of capabilities she opted for a multi-disciplinary approach, where different expressions fuse and synergise without limits of style or technique - all this with dancers performing to tap, contemporary music, jazz or hip-hop, together with singers and musicians from the worlds of rock, jazz or funk.
In parallel to this activity she has been invited to assist in choreographic workshops and classes organised by the Opéra National de Lyon, l'ENSATT and mini residencies (Bron, INSA, Chassieu, Lyon…)
From its beginnings in 1991 the Compagnie Sylvie Kay has choreographed 12 creations: “Transit” 1991, “Vertigo Staccato” 1993, “Contes de Banlieue” 1994, “La Fleur de l’Age”
1995, “Barbara” 1996, “Un Duo Tap & Sax” 1997, “A Deux Pas d’Ici” 1998, "Impromptu !" 2000, "Rhythm" & "Jump!" 2003, "U.Tap" 2004, "Tap & Drum" 2005,"UrbanTap" Biennale Internationale de la Danse - Opéra National de Lyon 2006, "Fascinatin'Gershwin" 2007-2009

PRESS CUTTINGS
"Specialising in performances of a contemporary tap-style associated with live music, the choreographies of Sylvie Kay are above all morsels of boldness and complicity between outstanding artists. The focus on interpretation is absolute and the musicality of the dance is always in the foreground.”DRAC Rhône-Alpes, French Ministry of Culture
“That is the style of Sylvie Kay: her way of making the tap shoes whisper, allowing them to become transported by the classical, to invent a romantic space quite apart from the purely technical school (of dance) which beats only to one drum.” Le Monde (world renowned opinion-leading French newspaper)

“Scene games, musical puns, gestural and vocal expression. Inventing a space where dance rhymes with gentleness – or violence, Sylvie Kay has a very personal way of making tap shoes whisper, alternating between lightness and gravitas, romanticism and pure technique”. Le Dauphiné Libéré (influential newspaper in South Eastern France)

“Sylvie Kay has penned a powerful choreography that allows tap-dance a previously unsuspected richness of expression. She subtly exploits the movements and sonorities of these magical pieces of iron and leather that make of simple shoes that which we have learned to call Tap”. Le Progrès (a leading French national newspaper)

“From acrobatic convolutions to more traditional tap-style, Sylvie amuses to the point of distraction with her unexpected to-ing and fro-ing. ... Each step is amplified and modified by electro-acoustic effects... Sylvie Kay intelligently exploits the noises and sounds. Clacking of feet, hammering of drums and sax keys, the open and mastered dialogue gives free expression to creativity. Everything becomes a pretext for modernisation, for personalising her contemporary vision of tap-dance – and giving us reason to be optimistic for her tomorrows... Breaking with clichés, free as a tagger, Sylvie Kay is at once savage and gracious, surprising and different, she hammers, flips and wallops to the tips of her tap-shoes. She cultivates an air of mystery and insolence – to go just that bit further with tap-dance. ". Le Progrès

CAREER and TRAINING
1968 to 1980: Trained in France with Alice Kay (tap), Matt Mattox (jazz), then in the USA with Al Gilbert, Phil Black, Henri Le Tang, Gus Giordano, Luidgi... Laureate of the Performing Arts of America, Regional Director of the American World Jazz Dance Congress.
1986 to 1988: Singer-Dancer in “Cabaret”, a musical created by Jérôme Savary, on international tour
1988: Awarded 1st Prize of the “Challenge de Chorégraphie Jazz de Lyon”
1991: Creation of the “Compagnie Sylvie Kay”, 12 performances in the repertoire.
1995 to 2006: Twenty pieces choreographed for the “Opéra National de Lyon, l’INSA, la Cie Rozet”
1981 to 2006: Choreography for ten performance events in France and Europe
1993 to 2006: Teacher for the Masters programme of the “Opéra de Lyon, l’ENSATT, les studios Alice Kay, l’INSA, Lyon II, Lyon III, l’AFDAS”. Jury Member for the National Dance Diploma.
CREATIONS
Guy DARMET hosted the first performance, Transit, at the “Maison de la Danse” in 1991. From that production, the company opted for a multi-disciplinary ethic wherein there were no barriers to the enrichment and fusion of expression.

After Vertigo Staccato (Espace Albert Camus, 1993), the company launched itself into the adventure of musical theatre with Les Contes de Banlieue (Tales of the suburbs) et La Fleur de l’Age (the best age to be – a co-production of the Opéra National de Lyon and the Théâtre de la Renaissance, 1994/1995) et Alice au Pays des Claquettes (Alice in Tap-land - Maison de la Danse, 1995).

Moving on to more intimate performances. The duos Tap & Sax (Opéra National de Lyon, 1997) and A Deux Pas d’Ici (Just next door - Opéra National de Lyon, 1998) were supported by an arts grant and toured widely in France and abroad.

At this time the Comagnie Sylvie Kay has a repertoire of 12 creations:

1991 TRANSIT – co-production with Maison de la Danse de Lyon
1993 VERTIGO STACCATO – co-production Espace Albert Camus, Bron
1994 LAND, MIC MAC - creation, INSA Villeurbanne
1994 LES CONTES DE BANLIEUE, co-production Opéra National de Lyon
1995 ALICE AU PAYS DES CLAQUETTES, co-production Maison de la Danse
1995 LA FLEUR DE L’AGE, co-production Théâtre de la Renaissance/Opéra National Lyon
1996 BARBARA - creation for the Winter Festival of Sarajevo
1997 PASSAGES… UN DUO TAP & SAX – co-production Opéra National de Lyon
1998 A DEUX PAS D’ICI – co-production Opéra National de Lyon
2000 IEP CONCERTO & IMPROMPTU ! - Short performances, RAMDAM
2003 RYTHM ! - creation for Le Neutrino, Genas
2004 U.TAP ! - creation for l’Atrium de Tassin
2005 “20 ans de la Maison de la Danse” and "Tap&Drum"
2006 "URBAN TAP" Biennale de la danse Lyon, Opéra de Lyon
2007-09 "FASCINATIN'GERSHWIN" creation Chassieu, Irigny, Lyon, Mornant, Genas...