Kylián Honorary Award
In 2026, Jiří Kylián and the Kylián Foundation initiated a
new award entitled the Kylián Honorary Award.
This Award will be handed out occasionally to a person
who is closely connected to Jiří Kylián’s work and who has
contributed considerably to Kylián’s personal development.
Not only does the Award symbolize this contribution and
lifelong dedication within the field of dance but it also
affirms the impact this person has had on the early years
of Jiří Kylián as director and choreographer.
The first recipient to receive this Kylián Honorary Award is
Hans Knill (1941). Hans Knill co-directed NDT together with
Jiří Kyliàn until 1977. He has made a significant impact on
the beginning of Kylián’s choreographic career as well as
all those lives of numerous dancers through the many past
decades of NDT.
The Award serves as a symbolic validation of past work
and will be honored with an amount of € 5000 as well as a
sculpture-award specially crafted by the Dutch blacksmith,
Dave van Wijngaarden from Smederij Atelier in Alkmaar,
the Netherlands.
2026 - Hans Knill [Jiří's speech]
Good evening,
Your royal highness - Princess Beatrix, Princess Laurentien
and Prince Constantijn - ladies and gentlemen, dear friends..!
Whenever I see someone on stage with a microphone,
I immediately think: "How long will the speech be, and will
there be anything worthwhile for me..!" Well, I am standing
here now with a microphone in my hand, but don't worry,
I will speak only for about 5 minutes and 55 seconds about a
history which took at least 55 years..! And of course it is up to
you to decide whether there was anything worthwhile for you..!
So...today is a special day..! Well...every day is special, but
maybe tonight carries more significance, because we have a
few premieres. Of course we all are here because of one thing...
"the dance"...the most fleeting art form. It is a fascinating
profession because dancers present their bodies as works of art,
and their artistry lives and dies in the very moment it is performed.
This makes the art of dance extremely vulnerable but at the same
time very powerful..! But dancers need help and support. And
there are several people who help them:
1. There is a choreographer,
who has occasionally pretty crazy ideas
2. There are the assistants, who try to calm him down, and act
as referees between the dancers and the choreographer
3. Of course there are the dancers themselves, who have
an incredibly difficult task to understand the ideas of the
choreographer and transmit them to the public.
And finally there is the audience, which is supposed to make
some sense of it all.
This is not very easy. But occasionally such constellation
can actually work..! It takes many people to create a dance
performance - and I am grateful to every single person who
takes part in these events - a designer, costume maker,
a stage hand, light designer or someone in the administration.
And I think that the Netherlands Dance Theatre is a pretty
good example of this. It was created in 1959 by Carel Birnie,
Benjamin Harkarvy and Art van Stegen, and quickly became a
trend setter for most contemporary dance companies around
the world.
As I said at the beginning - today is a special day, because this
year is the 20th anniversary of the Holland Dance Festival,
there is a world premiere of NDT, the "Kylián ring" will be
presented to two extraordinary creators and for the first time
a brand new financially underwritten award will be presented.
And there is someone in the audience, who accompanied me
throughout my entire creative life, someone who was asked
to become the artistic director of NDT, and he said: "Yes I will,
but only if Kylián is my co director!" And that is exactly what
happened..! He accompanied me on my insecure journey to
create my dance pieces: La Cathedrale Engloutie, Torso,
Transfigured Night, Symphony of Psalms, Overgrown Path,
Heart's Labyrinth, Half Past and many others..!
Not only was he a brilliant coach, but also a great cameraman
who recorded the process of creating, the stage rehearsals,
premieres and many performances afterwards - always looking
for the best possible result. He created the largest and most
perfect video library in the world. When I decided to go to
Australia to study the ancient dances of the aboriginal people,
I have asked him to join me. And he did, and filmed everything
in the most brilliant way. And beware nof one fact: He makes
the world's best Christmas cookies..! Probably by now you might
know who I am talking about..!
The Kylián Foundation has chosen Hans Knill to become the very
first recipient of the newly created Kylián honorary award for life
achievement.
Jiří Kylián, February 4, 2026 - Holland Dance Festival 2026
Recipients of the Kylián Honorary Award:
2026 - Hans Knill
Jiří Kylián, Hans Knill and the Kylián Honorary Award.
Jiří Kylián with Hans Knill and family.
Hans Knill, Jiri Kylian, Princess Beatrix.
Jiří Kylián, the smith Dave van Wijngaarden and his wife Renske.
